Wikipedia in culture

File:Wikipedia Monument 2.JPG in Słubice, Poland]]

The Wikipedia Monument, located in Słubice, Poland, is a statue designed by Armenian sculptor Mihran Hakobyan honoring Wikipedia contributors. It was unveiled in Frankfurt Square (Plac Frankfurcki) on 22 October 2014 in a ceremony that included representatives from both local Wikimedia chapters and the Wikimedia Foundation.{{cite news|title=Poland to Honor Wikipedia With Monument|url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/poland-honor-wikipedia-monument-26069258|access-date=9 October 2014|publisher=ABC News|date=9 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141011113635/https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/poland-honor-wikipedia-monument-26069258|archive-date=11 October 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://www.thenews.pl/1/11/Artykul/185125,Worlds-first-Wikipedia-monument-unveiled-in-Poland|title=World's first Wikipedia monument unveiled in Poland|publisher=thenews.pl|access-date=24 October 2014|archive-date=25 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025132523/http://www.thenews.pl/1/11/Artykul/185125,Worlds-first-Wikipedia-monument-unveiled-in-Poland|url-status=dead}}

A scene in the 2006 music video for the "Weird Al" Yankovic song "White & Nerdy" shows Yankovic vandalizing the Wikipedia page for Atlantic Records, replacing it with the words "YOU SUCK!", referencing recent trouble he had had with the company in getting permissions.{{cite news|last=Adams |first=Cameron |url=http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20523843-5006024,00.html |title=Weird Al Yankovic |newspaper=Herald Sun |date=October 5, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312053314/http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20523843-5006024,00.html |archive-date=March 12, 2007 }}

Ukrainian composer Andriy Bondarenko wrote a musical piece, "Anthem of Wikipedia", which was performed in a concert devoted to the 15th anniversary of Wikipedia in Kyiv in 2016.{{cite news|url=http://www.radiosvoboda.org/content/article/27490707.html|script-title=ru:Редактор української "Вікіпедії" створив для неї гімн|work=Радіо Свобода|date=January 18, 2016 |last1=Тюхтенко |first1=Євгенія }}[http://mon.gov.ua/usi-novivni/novini/2016/01/16/u-mon-vidbuvsya-konczert-z-nagodi-15-oyi-richniczi-vilnoyi-internet-encziklopediyi-vikipediya/ У МОН відбувся концерт з нагоди 15-ої річниці Вільної інтернет-енциклопедії Вікіпедія] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160128082424/http://mon.gov.ua/usi-novivni/novini/2016/01/16/u-mon-vidbuvsya-konczert-z-nagodi-15-oyi-richniczi-vilnoyi-internet-encziklopediyi-vikipediya/ |date=January 28, 2016 }} // Ministry of Education and science of Ukraine

File:Malamanteau.png

References to Wikipedia have been made several times in the webcomic xkcd. A facsimile of a made-up Wikipedia entry for "malamanteau" (a stunt word created by Munroe to poke fun at Wikipedia's writing style) provoked a controversy.{{cite web | publisher = Slashdot | date = May 13, 2010 | access-date = May 17, 2010 | url = https://slashdot.org/story/135596 | title = Wikipedia Is Not Amused By Entry For xkcd-Coined Word | author = ObsessiveMathsFreak | archive-date = October 1, 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181001070305/https://slashdot.org/story/135596 | url-status = live }}{{cite news |url = https://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/05/30/one_day_wonder/ |title = One-day wonder: How fast can a word become legit? |work = The Boston Globe |date = May 30, 2010 |access-date = May 10, 2014 |author = McKean, Erin |archive-date = September 3, 2014 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140903104042/https://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/05/30/one_day_wonder/ |url-status = live }}

During the Russo-Ukrainian war, a meme titled Battle of Techno House 2022, which features footage of a Russian soldier's failed effort at opening a door, went viral and was reposted millions of times.{{Cite web |date=March 3, 2022 |title=Russian soldier's embarrassing 'loss' to locked door |url=https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/conflict/russia-ukraine-war-russian-soldier-loses-fight-to-locked-door-in-battle-of-techno-house-c-5916729 |access-date=March 6, 2022 |website=PerthNow |language=en}} Media coverage included discussion of an initial Wikipedia page for the incident/meme, which lampooned the event by using Wikipedia formatting generally used only for actual battles, making it seem like a real battle. The belligerents in the "battle" were humorously listed as "Russian Soldier" and "store door" with the battle results referred to as a "decisive door victory" and "pride" referred to as one of the Russian casualties.{{cite news |last1=Backhouse |first1=Andrew |title=Hapless Russian soldier loses fight against door |url=https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/social/battle-of-techno-house-hapless-russian-soldier-loses-fight-against-door/news-story/975d1cfd1c1cd6bb781c7d6ade7e7507 |access-date=5 May 2023 |work=news.com.au |date=3 March 2022}}{{cite news |last1=Rafter |first1=Darcy |title=Battle of Techno House memes spawn from hilarious Russian soldier vs door clip |url=https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2022/03/03/battle-of-techno-house/ |access-date=5 May 2023 |work=HITC |date=3 March 2022}}{{cite news |title=Video: Ruský vojak prehral boj s dverami |url=https://www.info.sk/sprava/206583/video-rusky-vojak-prehral-boj-s-dverami/ |access-date=5 May 2023 |work=www.info.sk |date=3 March 2022 |language=sk}} The humorous content was later removed from the Wikipedia page.{{Citation |title=Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Battle of Techno House 2022 |date=March 12, 2022 |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Battle_of_Techno_House_2022&oldid=1076670077 |work=Wikipedia |language=en |access-date=July 27, 2022}}

{{See also|List of films about Wikipedia}}

In drama-film Tár (2022), Lydia Tár discovers her Wikipedia page being anonymously vandalized, contributing to her mental health decline.{{cite web |title='Tár' Review: A Maestro Faces the Music |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/06/movies/tar-review.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=25 January 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006154451/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/06/movies/tar-review.html |archive-date=6 October 2022 |date=6 October 2022|url-access=subscription}}{{cite web |title=Oscar-tipped drama Tár thrillingly captures digital and cancel culture |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/oct/26/tar-movie-cate-blanchett-digital-cancel-culture |website=The Guardian |access-date=25 January 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241213055442/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/oct/26/tar-movie-cate-blanchett-digital-cancel-culture |archive-date=13 December 2024 |date=26 October 2022 |url-status=live}}

The 2024 novel The Editors, by Stephen Harrison, is centered around a group of editors of an online encyclopedia, Infopendium, based on Wikipedia.{{cite web|publisher=Yahoo! Life|title="Wikipedia says no individual has a monopoly on truth": an interview with author Stephen Harrison|quote=Harrison's forthcoming novel, "The Editors," is a timely techno-thriller based in its author's experience reporting on Wikipedia.|date=July 16, 2024|author=Caitlin Dewey|url=https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/story/wikipedia-says-no-individual-has-a-monopoly-on-truth-an-interview-with-author-stephen-harrison-170427521.html|access-date=July 18, 2024|archive-date=July 18, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240718224853/https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/story/wikipedia-says-no-individual-has-a-monopoly-on-truth-an-interview-with-author-stephen-harrison-170427521.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web |title=The Editors |website=Inkshares |date=18 August 2021 |url=https://www.inkshares.com/books/the-editors |access-date=26 November 2024}}{{Cite news |last=Purdy |first=Kevin |date=January 16, 2025 |title=The Editors weaves Wikipedia's volunteers into a global suspense tale |url=https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/01/the-editors-weaves-wikipedias-volunteers-into-a-global-suspense-tale/ |access-date=January 17, 2025 |work=Ars Technica}}

{{See also|Consensus theory of truth|Reliability of Wikipedia|Cultural impact of The Colbert Report#Wikipedia references|Woozle effect}}

In a July 2006 episode of the satirical comedy The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert announced the neologism "wikiality", a portmanteau of the words Wiki and reality, for his segment "The Wørd". Colbert defined wikiality as "truth by consensus" (rather than fact), modeled after the approval-by-consensus format of Wikipedia. He ironically praised Wikipedia for following his philosophy of truthiness in which intuition and consensus is a better reflection of reality than fact:

You see, any user can change any entry, and if enough other users agree with them, it becomes true. ... If only the entire body of human knowledge worked this way. And it can, thanks to tonight's word: Wikiality. Now, folks, I'm no fan of reality, and I'm no fan of encyclopedias. I've said it before. Who is Britannica to tell me that George Washington had slaves? If I want to say he didn't, that's my right. And now, thanks to Wikipedia, it's also a fact.

We should apply these principles to all information. All we need to do is convince a majority of people that some factoid is true. ... What we're doing is bringing democracy to knowledge.[http://www.comedycentral.com/motherload/index.jhtml?ml_video=72347 The Colbert Report / Comedy Central recording] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080308053730/http://www.comedycentral.com/motherload/index.jhtml?ml_video=72347 |date=March 8, 2008 }} of The WØRD "Wikiality", Comedy Central, July 31, 2006.

Colbert suggested that viewers change the elephant page to state that the number of African elephants has tripled in the last six months.{{Cite news|title=Colbert speaks, America follows: All Hail Wikiality!|publisher=c-net news.com|url=http://news.cnet.com/2061-10802_3-6100754.html|first=Caroline|last=McCarthy|date=August 1, 2006}} The suggestion resulted in numerous incorrect changes to Wikipedia articles related to elephants and Africa.{{efn|"Loxodonta", "African forest elephant", "African bush elephant", "Pachydermata", "Babar the Elephant", "Elephant", "Oregon",
"George Washington", "Latchkey kid", "Serial killer", "Hitler", "The Colbert Report" and "Stephen Colbert" are/were temporarily protected. "Mûmak" (formerly at "Oliphaunt") has also been vandalized.}}{{efn| Wikipedia administrators subsequently restricted edits to the pages by anonymous and newly created user accounts.}} Colbert went on to type on a laptop facing away from the camera, claiming to be making the edits to the pages himself. Because initial edits to Wikipedia corresponding to these claimed "facts" were made by a user named Stephencolbert, many believe Colbert himself vandalized several Wikipedia pages at the time he was encouraging other users to do the same. Whether the account was Stephen Colbert himself or someone posing as him, it was blocked from Wikipedia indefinitely.{{cite news | url=http://spring.newsvine.com/_news/2006/08/01/307864-stephen-colbert-causes-chaos-on-wikipedia-gets-blocked-from-site | title=Colbert Causes Chaos on Wikipedia | publisher=Newsvine | date=August 1, 2006 | access-date=September 28, 2006}}{{efn| Wikipedia blocked the account for violating Wikipedia's username policies (which state that using the names of celebrities as login names without permission is inappropriate), not for the vandalism, as believed.}}

Wikipedia is not always referenced in the same way. The ways described below are some of the ways it has been mentioned.

• People who are known to have used or recommended Wikipedia as a reference source include comedian Rosie O'DonnellHall, Sarah. [http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b54017_rosie_vs_donald_she_said_said.html "Rosie vs. Donald: She Said, He Said"], E! Online, December 21, 2006 and Rutgers University sociology professor Ted Goertzel.Skeptical Inquirer. Vol. 35 No. 3. Page 64"The Conspiracy Meme", Skeptical Inquirer. Vol. 35 No. 1. January/February 2011. Page 37
• Various people including Sir Ian McKellen,{{cite journal|url=http://www.empireonline.com/magazine/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060405220427/http://www.empireonline.com/magazine/ |archive-date=April 5, 2006|title=Lunch with Gandalf|journal=Empire|issue=203|date=May 2006}}{{subscription required}} Nicolas Cage,{{Citation |title=Nicolas Cage Answers the Web's Most Searched Questions {{!}} WIRED | date=April 21, 2022 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TccwMWVtmj0 |language=en |access-date=April 24, 2022}} and Marcus BrigstockeBrew, Simon (March 23, 2009). [http://www.denofgeek.com/television/223196/marcus_brigstocke_interview.html "Marcus Brigstocke interview"]. DenOfGeek.com. have criticized or commented about Wikipedia's articles about themselves.

• In June 2011, Wikipedia received attention for attempts by editors to change the "Paul Revere" article to fit Sarah Palin's accounting of events during a campaign bus tour.{{cite video|people=Lee Cowan|title=Wikipolitics: Palin fans try to rewrite history|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3032619/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130808110658/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3032619/|date=June 7, 2011|publisher=NBC Universal|work=NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams|archive-date=August 8, 2013 }}{{cite video|people=Brian Williams|title=Palin defends her telling of Revere's ride|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3032619/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130719173829/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3032619/|date=June 6, 2011 |publisher=NBC Universal|work=NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams|archive-date=July 19, 2013 }} The New York Times reported that the article "had half a million page views" by June 10, and "after all the attention and arguments, the article is now much longer ... and much better sourced ... than before Palin's remarks."{{cite news|title=Shedding Hazy Light on a Midnight Ride|first=Noam|last=Cohen|date=June 12, 2011 | newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/13/business/media/13link.html?_r=1 |access-date=August 1, 2011}}
• In a speech given on October 28, 2013, to support Ken Cuccinelli for the candidacy of the governor of Virginia, Senator Rand Paul appeared to include close paraphrasing of the Wikipedia entry on the 1997 film Gattaca ({{Plain link|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gattaca&oldid=574415464 |name=version prior to speech}}) in his comments on eugenics, as noted by MSNBC host Rachel Maddow.{{Cite news| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/10/29/rand-paul-does-what-gets-kids-in-trouble-borrow-from-wikipedia/ | title = Rand Paul does what gets kids in trouble: 'Borrow' from Wikipedia | first = Valerie | last = Strauss | date= October 29, 2013 | access-date= October 29, 2013 | newspaper = The Washington Post }}{{Cite web | url = http://video.msnbc.msn.com/rachel-maddow/53400653#53400653 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131030035326/http://video.msnbc.msn.com/rachel-maddow/53400653/#53400653 | url-status = dead | archive-date = October 30, 2013 | title = Where'd you get your speech, Rand? | first = Rachel | last = Maddow | date= October 28, 2013 | access-date = October 24, 2013 | publisher = MSNBC }}
• In April 2015, The Guardian reported claims that Grant Shapps, then-Chairman of the Conservative Party, or a person working under his orders, had edited Wikipedia pages about Shapps and other members of the British Parliament during the runup to the 2015 election, to which Shapps had denied involvement.{{Cite web | url = https://www.bbc.com/news/election-2015-32407991 | title = Election 2015: Grant Shapps denies Wikipedia claims | publisher = BBC | date = April 21, 2015 | access-date = April 21, 2015 }}
• In October 2018, Jackson A. Cosko, a former staff member for US Senator Maggie Hassan, edited Wikipedia to dox several Congresspersons after being fired. Republican Senators Lindsey Graham, Orrin G. Hatch, Mitch McConnell, and Mike Lee had their personal addresses, cell phone numbers, and email addresses inserted into their respective Wikipedia pages. The Senators were targeted for the role they played as Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee during the contentious Supreme Court nomination hearings of Brett Kavanaugh.{{cite web |last=Tully-McManus |first=Katherine |date=April 5, 2019 |title=Senate doxxing suspect pleads guilty, faces over 2 years in prison |url=http://www.rollcall.com/news/congress/senate-doxxing-suspect-pleads-guilty-faces-prison |access-date=April 5, 2019 |work=The Hill}} Cosko pleaded guilty in April 2019 and on 19 June 2019 was sentenced to four years in federal prison on five charges related to the event.{{Cite web |date=2019-06-19 |title=District of Columbia {{!}} District Man Sentenced to Four Years for Stealing Senate Information and Illegally Posting Restricted Information of U.S. Senators on Wikipedia {{!}} United States Department of Justice |url=https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/district-man-sentenced-four-years-stealing-senate-information-and-illegally-posting |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=www.justice.gov |language=en}}
• In February 2022, journalists at The Independent found that text from Wikipedia articles on Constantinople and the list of largest cities throughout history had been lifted by civil servants from the UK's Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and placed verbatim into the government's Levelling Up White Paper.{{cite news|last=Stone|first=Jon|date=February 3, 2022|title=Parts of Michael Gove's levelling-up plan 'copied from Wikipedia'|work=The Independent|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/levelling-up-plan-copied-wikipedia-michael-gove-b2006757.html|access-date=February 3, 2022}}

• Wikipedia is parodied at several websites, including Uncyclopedia{{cite news | title = The brains behind Uncyclopedia | publisher = .net |date=May 3, 2007 | url = http://www.netmag.co.uk/zine/discover-interview/the-brains-behind-uncyclopedia | access-date =November 19, 2007 }}{{cite news |url = http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/142615 |title = Online parody of Tucson not always funny, but interesting |work = Arizona Daily Star |date = August 18, 2006 |access-date = August 22, 2006 |archive-date = August 22, 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060822225644/http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/142615 |url-status = dead }} and Encyclopedia Dramatica.{{Cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/01/magazine/01WIKIPEDIA-t.html|title = Wikipedia |first = Jonathan |last = Dee |work = New York Times Magazine |date = July 1, 2007 |access-date =November 19, 2007}}
• In May 2006, British chat show host Paul O'Grady received an inquiry from a viewer regarding information given on his Wikipedia page, to which he responded, "Wikipedia? Sounds like a skin disease."
• Comedian Zach Galifianakis claimed to look himself up on Wikipedia in an interview with The Badger Herald,{{cite web |url=http://badgerherald.com/artsetc/2007/03/22/comedian_galifianaki.php |title=The Badger Herald |access-date=March 22, 2007 |year=2007 |archive-date=July 7, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707204307/http://badgerherald.com/artsetc/2007/03/22/comedian_galifianaki.php |url-status=dead }} stating about himself, "...I'm looking at Wikipedia right now. Half Greek, half redneck, around 6-foot-4. And that's about it... The 6-foot-4 thing may be a little bit off. Actually, it's 4-foot-6."

• Slate magazine compared Wikipedia to the fictional device The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy from the series of the same name by Douglas Adams. "The parallels between The Hitchhiker's Guide (as found in Adams' original BBC radio series and novels) and Wikipedia are so striking, it's a wonder that the author's rabid fans don't think he invented time travel. Since its editor was perennially out to lunch, the Guide was amended 'by any passing stranger who happened to wander into the empty offices on an afternoon and saw something worth doing.' This anonymous group effort ends up outselling Encyclopedia Galactica even though 'it has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least wildly inaccurate.'"{{cite web|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/webhead/2005/05/galaxy_quest.2.html|title=Wikipedia is a real-life Hitchhiker's Guide.|first=Paul|last=Boutin|date=May 3, 2005|work=Slate Magazine}} This comparison of rivaling texts resembles the mainstream comparisons between Wikipedia and professional Encyclopedias.{{cite web|url=http://mashable.com/2012/03/16/encyclopedia-britannica-wikipedia-infographic/|title=Encyclopedia Britannica vs. Wikipedia [INFOGRAPHIC]|first=Matt|last=Silverman|date=March 16, 2012|work=Mashable}}

Redactle is a game in which the player must identify a Wikipedia article (chosen from the 10,000 vital articles) after it appears with most of its words redacted. Prepositions, articles, the verb "to be", punctuation and word lengths are shown. Players guess words, which are revealed if present in the article. {{As of|June 2024}} there have been over 800 daily games.{{cite news |last1=Livingston |first1=Christopher |title=Redactle is a brutal spin on Wordle that may take you hundreds of guesses |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/redactle-is-a-brutal-spin-on-wordle-that-may-take-you-hundreds-of-guesses/ |access-date=18 June 2024 |work=PC Gamer |date=20 April 2022 |language=en}}{{cite news |last1=Skwarecki |first1=Beth |title=14 of the Best Wordle Variants You Should Play |url=https://lifehacker.com/entertainment/best-wordle-alternatives |access-date=18 June 2024 |work=Lifehacker |date=23 May 2024 |language=en}}{{cite web |title=About |url=https://redactle.net/en/about |website=Redactle |access-date=18 June 2024 |language=en}}

{{main|Criticism of Wikipedia}}

Andrew Keen's 2007 book The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet Is Killing Our Culture asserted the proliferation of user-generated content on Wikipedia obscured and devalued traditional, higher-quality information outlets.{{cite news|first=Michiko|last=Kakutani|author-link=Michiko Kakutani |title= The Cult of the Amateur (book review)|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/29/books/29book.html |work= New York Times|date=July 27, 2008 |access-date=July 8, 2008 }}

{{Portal|Society}}

• Truth in Numbers? Everything, According to Wikipedia, 2010 documentary

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{{Reflist|30em}}

• Wikipedia:Wikipedia in the media

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