w:en:Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2022-10-31/In the media

{{Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Templates/Filler image-v2|image=File:WikiHerStory - Jess Wade.png|size=325px|caption=Jess Wade, a scientist and Wikipedian}}

Jess Wade, a scientist and Wikipedian, had several media reports appear about their article-writing prowess this month:

• [https://www.today.com/parents/jessica-wade-wikipedia-female-scientists-rcna51628 "This 33-year-old made more than 1,000 Wikipedia bios for unknown women scientists"] (today.com), also republished under the headline [https://news.yahoo.com/jessica-wade-makes-wikipedia-bios-222457823.html "Jessica Wade Makes Wikipedia bios For Unknown Female Scientists"] (yahoo.com)
• [https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/10/17/jess-wade-scientist-wikiepdia-women/ "Jess Wade has written 1,750 biographies of women scientists"] (The Washington Post)
• [https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/physicist-on-a-mission-to-add-top-women-scientists-to-wikipedia-151020101662 Physicist on a mission to add top women scientists to Wikipedia] (nbcnews.com)
• [https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/this-physicist-wrote-1750-wikipedia-bios-for-female/437447 "This Woman Was Honored By Queen Elizabeth For Writing 1,750 Bios For Women Scientists on Wikipedia"] (Entrepreneur)

The deletion debate for Clarice Phelps, a scientist whose biography was created by Wade, was covered by Today and in readers' comments on a previous Signpost{{'}}s Community view "The Incredible Invisible Woman" by Megalibrarygirl, and an Op-ed by Wade herself. – {{small|B}}

{{Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Templates/Filler image-v2|image=File:Screen_shot_of_suggested_edits_module_in_Czech_Wikipedia_2020-03-20.png|size=200px|caption=Screenshot of suggested edits module in Czech Wikipedia}}

The Wikimedia Foundation has decided that the Growth Team features are ready for the public spotlight. Adi Robertson, a reporter at The Verge, Vox Media's technology news outlet, picked up the pitch, running with the headline [https://www.theverge.com/2022/10/24/23404425/wikipedia-wikimedia-foundation-mentors-suggested-edits-newcomers-machine-learning-updates "Wikimedia is adding features to make editing Wikipedia more fun"].

"Wikipedia is one of the sturdiest survivors of the old web, as well as one of the most clearly human-powered ones, thanks to a multitude of editors making changes across the globe," she writes. From there, the article provides a straightforward overview of the new mentorship system and suggested edits tool. It is mostly deferential to the foundation's perspective, although Robertson notes that gamified interfaces have been criticized as addictive, and that "the algorithm's own accuracy rate isn't exemplary: editors deem about 75 percent of the link recommendations accurate". (After the newcomer chooses which recommendations to adopt, 10 percent of edits have been reverted.)

The Indo-Asian News Service published a [https://www.business-standard.com/article/technology/wikipedia-introduces-new-features-to-enhance-user-experience-details-here-122102500409_1.html short, thinly reported version] of the same story. – {{small|Sdkb}}

The time draws nearer for the WMF's annual plea to donate, accompanied by a plea from Andrew Orlowski to [https://unherd.com/thepost/the-next-time-wikipedia-asks-for-a-donation-ignore-it/ not donate]. This year, appearing in Unherd, he argues that –

{{signpost inline quote|These banner ads have become very lucrative for the NGO that collects the money – the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit based in San Francisco. Every year the NGO responsible for the fundraising adds tens of millions of dollars to its war chest. After a decade of professional fund-raising, it has now amassed $400 million of cash as of March. [...] Wikipedia’s Administrators and maintainers, who tweak the entries and correct the perpetual vandalism, don’t get paid a penny — they’re all volunteers. What has happened is that the formerly ramshackle Foundation, which not so long ago consisted of fewer than a dozen staff run out of a back room, has professionalised itself. It has followed the now well-trodden NGO path to respectability and riches.}}

Much to think about. For additional coverage on the subject, see this month's News and notes. Orlowski has been a harsh critic of the project since [https://www.theregister.com/2004/09/07/khmer_rouge_in_daipers/ at least 2004], when he described Wikipedians as "the Khmer Rouge in diapers".

– {{small|AK, }}{{small|S, }}{{small|J}}

{{Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Templates/Filler image-v2|image=File:Les sans pagEs drawing Fhala.K.svg|size=300px|caption=Wikimedia LGBT+ organized an open letter of support for Les sans pagEs}}

In June, trans comic artist Jul Maroh, the French creator of the graphic novel Blue Is the Warmest Color [https://www.instagram.com/p/Ce31PjKDv2n/ posted to Instagram] about the turmoil they were experiencing as a result of discussions on :fr:Discussion:Jul' Maroh around misgendering and the repetition of their deadname on their French-language biography. They also [https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17950655560940244/ posted to Instagram Stories] asking for support from Wikimedians. This was lightly covered in the media at the time, mainly by French-language online magazine {{lang|fr|[https://www.actuabd.com/Transphobie-sur-Wikipedia-les-auteurices-de-BD-s-indignent ActuaBD]}}. After the discussion, they [https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17943123593109724/ posted a toolbox for other trans BLP subjects] and attended the annual general meeting of {{lang|fr|Les sans pagEs}}, the French-language equivalent to Women in Red.

After that AGM, {{lang|fr|Les sans pagEs}} announced that they were professionalising, having secured funding from the French national chapter (with grants proposals under review with WMF and Wikimedia CH) to employ project founder Natacha Rault as a director, causing several days worth of heated discussion on {{lang|fr|Le Bistro}}, the Francophone equivalent to our Village pump. As a result, Wikimedia LGBT+ organized an Open letter of support for Les sans pagEs, criticising "bad-faith arguments" and "harassment" that included calls for the disestablishment of the project. The open letter has been signed by 77 wikimedians, including representatives of affiliates such as AfroCROWD, Art+Feminism, {{lang|fr|Noircir Wikipédia|italic=no}}, Whose Knowledge?, WikiDonne, Wikimedians of Slovakia and the Wikimedians in Residence Exchange Network plus national chapters including Wikimedia Belgium and Wikimedia UK, as well as individuals. (Note: the author here was lead organiser on the Open letter.)

{{lang|fr|Les sans pagEs}} came back energised from the controversy, with Natacha presenting with Wikimedia LGBT+ to promote Queering Wikipedia 2022 at Wikimania before working on gaining a consensus update to frwiki's MoS guidelines on trans biographies and being featured in young-women's magazine Madmoizelle, headlined " [https://www.madmoizelle.com/wikipedia-reproduit-les-biais-sexistes-de-notre-societe-les-sans-pages-le-collectif-qui-comble-le-fosse-de-genre-de-lencyclopedie-1448321 'Wikipedia reproduces the sexist bias of our society': Les sans pagEs, the collective filling in the encyclopedia's gender gap]".

Which brings us neatly back to Jul' Maroh, who in October led an [https://www.nouvelobs.com/bibliobs/20221013.OBS64554/nous-denoncons-le-traitement-que-reserve-wikipedia-aux-personnes-trans-non-binaires-et-intersexes.html open letter in French news-weekly] {{lang|fr|L'Obs}}, reported in literary news magazine {{lang|fr|[https://actualitte.com/article/108273/acteurs-numeriques/artistes-et-auteurs-une-tribune-contre-la-transphobie-sur-wikipedia Actualitte]}} denouncing insensitive coverage of trans, nonbinary and intersex biographies on the Francophone Wikipedia and crediting the efforts of {{lang|fr|Les sans pagEs}} and {{lang|fr|Noircir Wikipédia}} in countering systemic bias. – {{Small|O}}

{{Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Templates/Filler image-v2|image=File:Frog Clown DALL-E 2.png|size=250px|caption=Some folks think Wikipedia is a great search-engine replacement. Some don't. Oh, were you looking for a frog in a clown suit?}}

James Vincent in The Verge offers [https://www.theverge.com/23416056/wikipedia-app-vs-google-mobile-search a hearty recommendation of Wikipedia's mobile app] as an alternative to Google Search. He says it's more useful, less bloated, and more fun.

After a frustrating search session blighted by nearly a full page of ad-cruft, the author sums up their experience: "why the hell am I Googling this stuff anyway? If half of my Google searches on mobile are just Wikipedia lookups, why not cut out the middleman altogether?" The Wikipedia app goes straight to the juice and provides diverting and illuminating side trips for "a nerd with an affinity for factoids" in the bargain: "Wikipedia is actually one of the true wonders of the internet", they say.

"Up with the knowledge keepers and down with the middlemen," he concludes. We're blushing.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette also [https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2022/oct/29/online-mentors-help-make-corrections-in-wikipedia/ acknowledged] that "some people" use the Wikipedia app instead of searching with Google, but found an error in a pirate-related search that resulted in the answer Alexander von Humboldt – who, the Democrat-Gazette reminds us, "was not a pirate". – {{small|B}}, {{small|Sdkb}}

{{Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Templates/Filler image-v2|image= File:James Fenimore Cooper. Book - the spy. img 09.jpg |size=200px|caption=Cover page of The Spy by James Fennimore Cooper, in Russian for some reason}}

Think tanks Institute for Strategic Dialogue and Centre for the Analysis of Social Media presented [https://www.isdglobal.org/isd-publications/information-warfare-and-wikipedia/ a report] discussing the possibility of state-sponsored bad actors using Wikipedia as a channel for disinformation, propaganda, or as part of an information warfare campaign. Various media sources reacted. El País in particular called out the study's concern over "long-term infiltration by state-sponsored actors" to take over Wikipedia's "underlying policies and governance processes". Later, an ISD employee was able to add enough citations to the organization's article to save it from a nomination at Articles for Deletion. – {{small|B, BR, J}}

• [https://www.wired.com/story/wikipedia-state-sponsored-disinformation/ "The Hunt for Wikipedia's Disinformation Moles: Custodians of the crowdsourced encyclopedia are charged with protecting it from state-sponsored manipulators. A new study reveals how."]: Wired
• [https://therecord.media/researchers-wikipedia-a-front-in-russian-propaganda-war/ Researchers: Wikipedia a front in Russian propaganda war]: The Record by Recorded Future
• [https://www.wired.com/story/wikipedia-state-sponsored-disinformation/ "Wikipedia's 'suspicious' edits could be pro-Russian campaigns, study suggests"]: The Independent (via Yahoo! News)
• [https://english.elpais.com/society/2022-10-28/catching-spies-on-wikipedia.html "Catching spies on Wikipedia, a new report warns of elaborate state-sponsored disinformation campaigns on one of the most widely used and trusted websites"]: El País

See also Disinformation report and Recent research in this month's Signpost.

{{Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Templates/Filler image-v2|image=File:Attack - Flickr - Gexon.jpg|size=250px|caption=Deaditor?}}

{{Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Templates/Filler image-v2|image=File:Komodo dragon with tongue.jpg|size=250px|caption=The world's most popular reptile is the Komodo Dragon.}}

{{Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Templates/Filler image-v2|image=File:Neko Wikipe-tan.svg|size=250px|caption=Wikipe-tan supports everyone's right to access restrooms and, uh, litter boxes.}}

• "Deaditors", again ...: This time in [https://theface.com/life/inside-the-world-of-wikipedias-deaditors-editors-volunteers-queen-elizabeth-ii The Face]. Mentions of these mythical beasts in press sources now outnumber uses of the word "deaditor" on Wikipedia itself ([https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?search=deaditor%7Cdeaditors&title=Special:Search&profile=advanced&fulltext=1&ns0=1&ns1=1&ns2=1&ns3=1&ns4=1&ns5=1&ns6=1&ns7=1&ns8=1&ns9=1&ns10=1&ns11=1&ns12=1&ns13=1&ns14=1&ns15=1&ns100=1&ns101=1&ns118=1&ns119=1&ns710=1&ns711=1&ns828=1&ns829=1&ns2300=1&ns2301=1&ns2302=1&ns2303=1 outside of discussions of articles] on death and Wikipedia, that is).
• Too many crises: The Telegraph [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/10/17/wikipedia-adds-separate-page-truss-government-crisis-avoid-confusion/ noted] ([https://archive.ph/BtFhv archive]) that Wikipedia had to [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2022_United_Kingdom_government_crisis&type=revision&diff=1116384537&oldid=1114618872 disambiguate] its article on the 2022 United Kingdom government crisis ... readers could no longer be relied upon to have just this particular one in mind. PWilkinson, who added a hatnote, was duly credited for the important intervention. Gizmodo [https://gizmodo.com/wikipedia-liz-truss-resign-specific-2022-uk-govt-crisis-1849680468 picked the story up] a few days later, by which time 2022 United Kingdom government crisis had become a full-fledged disambiguation page.
• Expansion: Wikimedia Community User Group Rwanda hosted a "WikiVibrance 2022" challenge from September 14 to 30, netting 557 new articles on Kinyarwanda Wikipedia, reports The New Times [https://www.newtimes.co.rw/article/1886/news/technology/over-500-articles-added-onto-kinyarwanda-wikipedia]
• Contrasting TikTok's "quantum flapdoodle" with Wikipedia: Wikipedia beat journalist Stephen Harrison observes in a [https://slate.com/technology/2022/10/quantum-theories-nobel-prize-tiktok.html Slate article] that in response to the 2022 Nobel Prize winners research in quantum entanglement, popular TikTok content promotes quantum mysticism while Wikipedia continues its attempt to promote and verify science.
• "Why I sued Wikipedia": Author and BJP spokesman Tuhin Sinha is suing the Wikimedia Foundation as a reaction to the community's March 2022 decision to delete the article featuring him as a subject. In [https://www.news18.com/news/opinion/page-not-found-why-i-sued-wikipedia-6208339.html a public statement published in news18.com], Sinha expresses his belief that Wikipedia deleted his biography because of his political beliefs, and that Wikipedia in India is a channel for disinformation and propaganda by bad actors in Western states and corporations. Media outlet [https://www.republicworld.com/india-news/politics/bjp-spokesperson-tuhin-sinha-sues-wikipedia-for-wilful-deletion-of-his-wiki-profile-articleshow.html republicworld.com] reacted with additional opinions.
• Wildfires, ranked: 247wallst.com presents a [https://247wallst.com/special-report/2022/10/25/the-13-most-destructive-wildfires-in-us-history/ report of the worst wildfires in United States history] as determined by reading Wikipedia articles.
• Reptiles, ranked: The St. Louis Post-Dispatch [https://www.stltoday.com/news/world/top-10-most-popular-reptiles-in-the-world-according-to-wikipedia-pages/video_b23c66aa-2abf-5a75-a21d-177248e88661.html identifies the world's most popular reptiles] by examining Wikipedia's Pageview Statistics. This journalism may be referring to [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.03.037 the 2016 study on a similar topic]. Casual users can access different but similar data quickly through [https://pageviews.wmcloud.org/massviews/?platform=all-access&agent=user&source=category&range=latest-20&subjectpage=0&subcategories=1&sort=views&direction=1&view=list&target=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Reptiles Massview Statistics].
• High school furries are not litterbox trained: [https://www.kten.com/story/47587813/gop-new-hampshire-senate-nominee-repeats-hoax-that-kids-are-using-litter-boxes-in-schools KTEN describes] how a United States politician's campaign claims that toilet training for American high school students in furry fandom includes classroom access to a litter box. Wikipedia has an article for the litter boxes in schools hoax, and describes the claim as disinformation and propaganda often tied to a bathroom bill for denying toilet access to queer and trans youth.
• Those who work to feed the AI will get their ideas promoted; or, influential but anonymous: thought provoking ideas about the future information apocalypse utopia? From Tyler Cowen writing for Bloomberg [https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-10-25/ai-will-require-you-to-relearn-how-to-use-the-internet]: "those who are happy to produce content with little credit, such as Wikipedia editors, may gain influence."
• "Would I be knitting?": Aussie editor Annie Reynolds [https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/this-australian-has-written-400-profiles-of-deserving-women-on-wikipedia-heres-why-shes-obsessed/a3vu4dn5j creates biographies] instead of knitting – over 400 of them (SBS World News). See the list of creations at User:Oronsay#Articles I have created.

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