wikipedia

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The Accidental Architect of the Internet's Brain
2 months ago
- Steven Pruitt is the most prolific Wikipedia editor, with over six million edits and 30,000 articles created, working as a volunteer from his home in Virginia.
- Pruitt focuses on improving existing articles, correcting errors, standardizing categories, and writing biographies of obscure historical figures, avoiding living subjects and current events.
- Wikipedia's editing community relies heavily on a small percentage of super editors who contribute the majority of content, with Pruitt and others using tools like AutoWikiBrowser for mass edits.
- AI-generated encyclopedias like Grokipedia repurpose Wikipedia content but lack the accountability and collaborative fixability of Wikipedia, raising concerns about misinformation.
- Wikipedia remains dependent on human volunteers despite AI's growing use of its data, with policies banning AI-generated content without human oversight.
What 20M Bans Reveal About the Stress on Wikipedia's Volunteers
2 months ago
- Wikipedia's role as an information infrastructure has grown, but its volunteer base has not, with administrator numbers shrinking from 1,800 in 2011 to just over 800.
- The frequency of blocks has risen sharply, partly due to automated proxy blocking, which prevents abuse but may also deter good-faith contributors.
- Administrators are increasingly using vague block reasons like 'disruption' and issuing longer bans, prioritizing efficiency and content quality over rehabilitating new users.
- The most active 10% of administrators have historically made about 80% of blocks, though this dropped to 37% in 2024 due to changes in one prolific admin's activity.
- Wikipedia is preserving end-user experience at the cost of volunteer well-being, raising questions about the sustainability of the volunteer system.
Odin, Wikipedia and Engagement Farming
2 months ago
- The Wikipedia article on the Odin programming language was deleted due to lack of notability and reliable sources, sparking controversy.
- GingerBill, Odin's creator, initially dismissed Wikipedia as an ideological playground gatekept by activists, but later expressed concern about its guidelines for programming languages.
- Casey Muratori argued that Wikipedia's sourcing rules are unfair to modern programming knowledge, which often lacks traditional academic coverage.
- Wikipedia's policies emphasize verifiability, reliable sources, and notability, with guidelines designed to maintain objectivity and avoid indiscriminate inclusion.
- GingerBill's contradictory behavior—claiming indifference while engaging extensively—suggests engagement farming and alignment with right-wing provocateurs he follows on Twitter.
- Analysis of Wikipedia editors involved in the deletion shows no evidence of ideological bias against Odin; they appear focused on general content moderation.
- The author criticizes GingerBill and Casey's clique for fostering a toxic, reactionary culture that prioritizes ego and spite over constructive discourse and software quality.

wikipedia

The Accidental Architect of the Internet's Brain

What 20M Bans Reveal About the Stress on Wikipedia's Volunteers

Odin, Wikipedia and Engagement Farming