The Article in the Most Languages
15 days ago
- #Self-Promotion
- #Disinformation
- #Wikipedia
- David Woodard's Wikipedia article became the most translated, surpassing articles on countries and Wikipedia itself, with 335 language versions.
- A single user, 'Swmmng', was responsible for creating a significant number of these articles, suggesting a large-scale self-promotion operation.
- Woodard is described as an eccentric artist known for his 'prequiem' music and connections to controversial figures and locations, including Nueva Germania.
- Multiple accounts and IP addresses were used to upload photos of Woodard and edit articles across various Wikipedia projects, indicating a coordinated effort.
- Swmmng conducted a mass translation campaign, creating articles about Woodard in at least 92 languages, often using machine translations.
- A second mass-translation campaign involved unique accounts following a similar pattern of edits before creating Woodard articles and then disappearing.
- Investigations revealed that most articles about Woodard were not organically created but were part of a promotional network, likely operated by Woodard or associates.
- Global Wikipedia communities took action, deleting 235 articles and blocking involved accounts, reducing Woodard's article count from 335 to 20.
- The case highlights issues of notability, reliability of information, and the abuse of Wikipedia's platform for self-promotion.