Wikipedia in culture: Difference between revisions
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===Citations of Wikipedia in culture=== |
===Citations of Wikipedia in culture=== |
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In the [[Homestar Runner]] cartoon ''[[HRWiki:No Hands On Deck!|No Hands On Deck!]]'', [[Homestar Runner (character)|Homestar Runner]] mentions that "'Kipedia said [[vulcanization|vulcanized]] was the way to go" in reference to the type of nails used to [[Deck (building)|build a deck]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hrwiki.org/index.php/No_Hands_On_Deck%21 |title=No Hands On Deck! |accessmonthday= [[October 15]] |accessyear=[[2006]] |year=2006 |work=[http://www.hrwiki.org/ Homestar Runner Wiki]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.homestarrunner.com/deck.html |title=No Hands On Deck! |accessmonthday= [[October 15]] |accessyear=[[2006]] |year=2006 |author=[[Matt Chapman|Chapman, Matt]] |coauthors=[[Mike Chapman|Chapman, Mike]] |work=[http://www.homestarrunner.com/ Homestar Runner]}}</ref> At the time the cartoon was released, the Wikipedia article on decks made no reference to nails or vulcanization.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Deck_%28building%29&oldid=63676894 |title=Deck (building) |accessmonthday= [[October 15]] |accessyear=[[2006]] |year=2006 |work=[http://www.en.wikipedia.org/ Wikipedia] |language=English}}</ref> |
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The cartoon ''[[FoxTrot]]'' features Peter being criticized by his teacher for copying a homework assignment directly from Wikipedia. Peter replies, "Who's to say I didn't write the Wikipedia entry myself?" |
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During a debate on Québécois nationhood in the [[Canadian House of Commons]] on [[November 27]], [[2006]], Conservative [[Member of Parliament]] [[Scott Reid]] mentioned Wikipedia.<ref>[http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=39&Ses=1&DocId=2544166 ''Hansard''], November 27, 2006.</ref> |
During a debate on Québécois nationhood in the [[Canadian House of Commons]] on [[November 27]], [[2006]], Conservative [[Member of Parliament]] [[Scott Reid]] mentioned Wikipedia.<ref>[http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=39&Ses=1&DocId=2544166 ''Hansard''], November 27, 2006.</ref> |
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An altmuslim.com review of a new television series, ''[[Sleeper Cell]]'', about terrorists noted that the characters routinely gave detailed background of events in the history of Islam and stated, "no one, and I assume even terrorists, talks like a walking Wikipedia."<ref name="sleeping cell">{{cite web | first = Wajahat | last = Ali | url = http://www.altmuslim.com/perm.php?id=1629_0_25_0_C | title = Sleeping Cell | publisher = altmuslim.com | date = 2006-01-16 }} </ref> |
An altmuslim.com review of a new television series, ''[[Sleeper Cell]]'', about terrorists noted that the characters routinely gave detailed background of events in the history of Islam and stated, "no one, and I assume even terrorists, talks like a walking Wikipedia."<ref name="sleeping cell">{{cite web | first = Wajahat | last = Ali | url = http://www.altmuslim.com/perm.php?id=1629_0_25_0_C | title = Sleeping Cell | publisher = altmuslim.com | date = 2006-01-16 }} </ref> |
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===Games that can be played on Wikipedia=== |
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Games can be played using the Wikipedia website, usually consisting of travelling from a "start article" to a "finish article" using [[internal link]]s. [[Something Awful]] coined the term WikiGroaning to satirize undue weight between Wikipedia articles as judged by the size of an article on a trivial pop culture subject such as a Pokemon character versus the size of an article on a serious academic subject such as an ancient king.<ref> {{cite web | url = http://www.somethingawful.com/d/news/wikigroaning.php | title = WikiGroaning }} </ref> |
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===Miscellaneous=== |
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Wikipedia is parodied at several websites, including [[Uncyclopedia]] and [[Wiqipedia]]. |
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In the July 2006 issue of ''[[Mad (magazine)|Mad]]'', in the Fundalini pages section there was a short joke with a mock picture of Wikipedia called "WonkyPedia." WonkyPedia featured its own logo, in which the letters on the puzzle globe were replaced with MAD characters and the letters M A D. The article shown was on Lincoln's assassination. The HTTP address followed the appropriate pattern: "<nowiki>http://en.wonkypedia.org/wonky/</nowiki>". The same parody returned in the next issue as "Wakipedia". The phrase it advertised was "The Free Encyclopedia (you get what you pay for!)". |
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Likewise, ''CRACKED.com'', the online publication affiliated with former ''Mad'' rival ''[[Cracked]]'', has satirized Wikipedia's [[:Category:Wikipedia maintenance templates|maintenance templates]].<ref>{{cite web| |
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url=http://www.cracked.com/?name=News&sid=1293|title=More Accurate Wikipedia Warnings|accessmonthday= [[November 16]] |accessyear=[[2006]]|author=Sack, Brian|year=2006|work=[http://www.cracked.com/ CRACKED.com]}}</ref> |
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In the American version of ''[[Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga]]'', Wikipedia is a selectable [[mantra]], equippable by the game's characters to learn skills.<ref>[http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/game/920605.html Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga FAQs]</ref><ref>[http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/file/920605/36886 "Digital Devil Saga Mantra Grid, Version 2.0 - 5/18/05" by Starion]</ref> |
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On the TV show ''[[The Loop (TV series)|The Loop]]'', Wikipedia was mentioned on one episode. |
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On the [[June 5]], [[2006]] episode of ''[[The Howard Stern Show]]'', [[The Wack Pack|wack pack]]er [[Eric the Midget]] called in and complained that his parents had read about a stunt that he did for the show, that involved him measuring his penis, on Wikipedia (which he called "Wackipedia"). Stern read the [[Eric the Midget#Lynch's inches|section of the article regarding penis measuring]] on the air. Also, [[Gary Dell'Abate]] commented on the air he and the ''Stern Show'' staff enjoy the picture of Lynch in this article. |
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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." |
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On the show ''[[X-Play]]'', [[Morgan Webb]] looked at the Wikipedia article of [[Point Blank DS]], and then looked at the article on their show. After reading it, the logo in the top left corner of the page spoke to Morgan in typical X-Play fashion. It also pointed out that since the show's inception, they have made 337 fart jokes. When asked why it could talk the logo stated that Wikipedia had become [[self aware]] in 2004 due to the massive amounts of information provided by the public. |
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On the [[E!]] network program ''[[The Soup]]'', during the "Reality Show Clip Time!" segment a clip of ''[[Flavor of Love 2]]'' was shown in which someone mentioned [[Google]] as a point of research on [[September 8]], [[2006]], to make fun of this, host [[Joel McHale]] said "Well at least it's better than saying 'Wikipedia Wikipedia Wikipedia'" |
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[[Something Awful]] once featured Wikipedia's article on [[Knuckles the Echidna]] as an ALOD (Awful Link of the Day), satirizing the amount of detail that sometimes goes into seemingly irrelevant topics. The link description adds that the article at the time was longer than each of the articles about [[Echidnas]], the [[Internet]], the [[internal combustion engine]], [[William Shakespeare]] and [[Western Culture]]. The topic was also satirized in the front page, which featured a fake Wikipedia style article about [[Al Calavicci|Albert “Al” Calavicci]] from the TV series [[Quantum Leap]] written by Something Awful contributor [[David Thorpe (writer)|David Thorpe]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.somethingawful.com/index.php?a=4103 |title=Quantum Geek |accessmonthday= [[October 15]] |accessyear=[[2006]] |year=2006 |author=[[David Thorpe (writer)|Thorpe, David]] |work=[http://www.somethingawful.com/ Something Awful]}}</ref> Thorpe elsewhere linked the existence of such articles to [[Aspergers Syndrome]], stating "Don't make fun of Aspergers. If it weren't for Aspergers, we wouldn't have 20-page Wikipedia articles about [[Knuckles the Echidna]]."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.somethingawful.com/index.php?a=4107&p=12 |title=Return to the Science Fair, page 12 |accessmonthday= [[October 15]] |accessyear=[[2006]] |author=Parsons, Zack |coauthors=[[David Thorpe (writer)|Thorpe, David]] |year=2006 |work=[http://www.somethingawful.com/fashion Fashion SWAT] |publisher=[http://www.somethingawful.com/ Something Awful]}}</ref> Wikipedia was also mocked in a December 4 update on Something Awful. The update detailed the life of a talk page on Wikipedia, and mocked the neutrality, copyright, naming, quality, and personal disputes that the pages are beholden to. The update also linked Wikipedia usage to Aspergers once more, with one fictional editor claiming to have a case of the syndrome twice as powerful as that of another fictional editor.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.somethingawful.com/index.php?a=4288 |title=The Dark Side of Wikipedia |accessmonthday= [[December 18]] |accessyear=[[2006]] |author=Parsons, Zack |year=December 4, 2006 |publisher=[http://www.somethingawful.com/ Something Awful]}}</ref> |
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The comic strip [[Sally Forth (syndicated strip)|Sally Forth]] has mentioned Wikipedia a few times. |
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Wikipedia was mentioned on [[Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld]]. |
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Comedian [[Zach Galifianakis]] claimed to look himself up on Wikipedia in an interview with [[The Badger Herald]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://badgerherald.com/artsetc/2007/03/22/comedian_galifianaki.php |title=The Badger Herald |accessmonthday= [[March 22]] |accessyear=[[2007]] |year=2007}}</ref> 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." |
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On the [[Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson]] a guest said that he just used Wikipedia to look up the ages of the girls in the [[Bratz]] movie. |
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In a recent [[Smosh]] video entitled Food Battle 2007 Ian and Anthony have a fight and see which is better as a squeegee Celery or Pink Frosted sprinkled dough nuts and Ian exclaims "I have you beat here Anthony cause if you spent more time on Wikipedia as I do you would know that before dough nuts were for eating they were squeegee's" then later you see him make a mess with his dough nut and he mumbles to himself "Wikipedia...bastards" showing how anyone can edit anything on wikipedia. |
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== Wikipedia in web comics == |
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[[Image:Penny Arcade comic-20051216h.jpg|right|thumb|400px|''Penny Arcade'' satirizes [[Wikipedia]] with the hypothetical scenario of [[Skeletor]] [[Wikipedia:Vandalism|vandalizing]] the [[He-Man]] article]] |
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On [[May 7]], [[2005]], the [[comic strip]] [[FoxTrot]] showed one character appending his older sister to unflattering Wikipedia articles. In a similar joke, the web comic ''[[Penny Arcade (comic)|Penny Arcade]]'' also satirized Wikipedia with a comic strip depicting [[Skeletor]] vandalizing the [[He-Man]] article.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2005/12/16 |title=I Have The Power |accessmonthday= [[October 15]] |accessyear=[[2006]] |year=2005 |author=[[Mike Krahulik|Krahulik, Mike]] |coauthors=[[Jerry Holkins|Holkins, Jerry]] |work=[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic Penny Arcade Comic]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.penny-arcade.com/2005/12/16 |title=I Have The Power |accessmonthday= [[October 15]] |accessyear=[[2006]] |year=2005 |author=[[Mike Krahulik|Krahulik, Mike]] |work=[http://www.penny-arcade.com/ Penny Arcade News]}}</ref> The web comic [[PvP]] featured a similar gag with the character Marcy adding embarrassing information about Francis, though she denies it's vandalism, claiming truth.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pvponline.com/article/2832/aug-12-2006 |title=Strip for [[August 12]] [[2006]] |accessmonthday= [[October 15]] |accessyear=[[2006]] |year=2006 |author=[[Scott Kurtz|Kurtz, Scott R.]] |work=[http://www.pvponline.com/ PVP Online]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pvponline.com/article/2833/aug-13-2006 |title=Strip for [[August 13]] [[2006]] |accessmonthday= [[October 15]] |accessyear=[[2006]] |year=2006 |author=[[Scott Kurtz|Kurtz, Scott R.]] |work=[http://www.pvponline.com/ PVP Online]}}</ref> |
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[[Image:Uf008620.gif|right|thumb|400px|Greg from ''[[UserFriendly]]'' is not amused with what he finds on Wikipedia]] |
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On [[December 12]], [[2005]] comic of [[UserFriendly]], Greg, who is first defending Wikipedia against criticism, is seen about to vandalize Wikipedia after finding out he is listed under "hairy dork". |
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{{-}} |
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[[image:Wikipedian protester.png|right|400px|SEMI-PROTECT THE CONSTITUTION]] |
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On [[4 July]] [[2007]], [[xkcd]] publishes this comic, showing a protester holding up a sign during a policital rally that says "[<span style="color: blue;">Citation needed</span>]", a tag often used on Wikipedia to challenge another editor's statements. The [[tooltip]] of the comic, often part of the joke, shows an additional comment ("SEMI-PROTECT THE CONSTITUTION"). |
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{{-}} |
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[[Bunny (webcomic)|Bunny]] strip which features [[Wikipedia]]. The [[tombstone]] reads: "[[Rest In Peace|RIP]] [[Jeph Jacques]]" with the bottom caption: "The Moral of the story is you cannot always trust what you read on Wikipedia." |
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Hannelore, a character in webcomic ''[[Questionable Content]]'', suffers from [[obsessive-compulsive disorder]]. She references Wikipedia's article on [[Head louse|head lice]] as the reason why she cut most of her hair off.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=663 |title=Number 663: At Least She Didn't Go All The Way |accessmonthday= [[October 15]] |accessyear=[[2006]] |year=2006 |author=Jacques, Jeph |work=[http://questionablecontent.net/ Questionable Content]}}</ref> Wikipedia was also mentioned in another comic where a character mentions that their edits to the [[De Beers]] entry keep getting reverted (as they are attempting to add a [[conspiracy theory]] to the article suggesting the company has subverted humanity's mating drive in order to sell more diamonds).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=774|title=Number 774: Also Certain Web Comics |accessmonthday= [[January 29]] |accessyear=[[2007]] |year=2007 |author=Jacques, Jeph |work=[http://questionablecontent.net/ Questionable Content]}}</ref> |
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The webcomic [[Applegeeks]] has jokingly referred to Wikipedia as a replacement for traditional education twice.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.applegeeks.com/comic_archive/viewcomic.php?issue=236 |title=Issue 236: Noodliness |accessmonthday= [[October 15]] |accessyear=[[2006]] |author=Haque, Mohammed F. |coauthors=Panagariya, Ananth |year=2004 |work=[http://www.applegeeks.com/ Applegeeks]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.applegeeks.com/lite/index.php?aglitecomic=2006-05-19 |title=Issue 010 |accessmonthday= [[October 15]] |accessyear=[[2004]] |author=Haque, Mohammed F. |coauthors=Panagariya, Ananth |year=2006 |work=[http://www.applegeeks.com/lite/ Applegeeks Lite]}}</ref> |
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An issue of ''[[xkcd]]'' points out the "problem with Wikipedia", that distracting wikilinks cause "three hours of fascinated clicking".<ref>{{cite web | last=Munroe | first=Randall | authorlink=Randall Munroe | title=The Problem with Wikipedia | work=[[xkcd]] | url=http://xkcd.com/c214.html | accessdate=2007-04-06}}</ref> Another issue which showed [[Randall Munroe]]'s [[Google]] search history following the [[AOL search data scandal]] revealed that Munroe searched the Wikipedia domain for "surviving a raptor attack". <ref>{{cite web | last=Munroe | first=Randall | authorlink=Randall Munroe | title=Search History | work=[[xkcd]] | url=http://xkcd.com/c155.html | accessdate=2007-04-06}}</ref> |
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The [[November 8]], [[2006]] installment of [[Dinosaur Comics]] features T-Rex [http://www.qwantz.com/index.pl?comic=879 presenting a solution] to Wikipedia's vandalism problems; the article about [[Chickens]] would be designated for vandalism, leaving all other articles intact. |
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[[Partially Clips|More than one]] [[Fanboys On Line|Webcomic]] criticised Wikipedia's current policy of deleting many articles on webcomics.<ref>{{cite web | last=Balder | first=Robert T. | authorlink=Robert T. Balder | title=King and Jester | work=[[Partially Clips]] | url=http://www.partiallyclips.com/pclipslite.php?id=1483 |accessdate=2007-04-12}} Caption above the comic reads, "End the Wikipedia pogrom against webcomics."</ref> .<ref>{{cite web | last=Balder | first=Robert T. | authorlink=Robert T. Balder | title=Wilkipediatrics | work=[[Fanboys On-Line]] | url=http://fanboys-online.com/index.php?cid=134 |accessdate=2007-04-12}} </ref> |
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[http://impy.aorange.com Impy and Aevy] has a set of comics using a parodied form of Wikipedia called [http://impy.aorange.com/index.php?date=2007-05-07 Wonkypedia]. |
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[[Roadkill Bill]] has a comic mocking Wikipedia. |
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Ethan in [[Shortpacked]] often describes edit wars he is involved in regarding the Transformers articles on Wikipedia. |
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George of [[Bob and George]] once used Wikipedia to research the The First Annual Robot Tournament (a plot element from [[Mega Man 6]]) after being told his brother, Bob, was killed during it, but found no information. <ref>{{cite web | title=The Bob and George Archives | last=Anez |first=Dave | work=Bob and George | url=http://www.bobandgeorge.com/Archive/index.php?date=060214 | accessdate=2007-06-19}}</ref> Later, however, [[Mega Man]] researches the subject and finds detailed information has been added. <ref>{{cite web|title=The Bob and George Archives| last=Anez|first=Dave|work=Bob and George|url=http://www.bobandgeorge.com/Archive/index.php?date=060425|accessdate=2007-06-19}}</ref> This article is then used as a [[plot device]] in following comics as the characters read about the events being depicted. |
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==Notes== |
==Notes== |
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# {{note|Wikiality}} Namely "[[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. |
# {{note|Wikiality}} Namely "[[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. |
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Revision as of 14:09, 22 August 2007
References to Wikipedia in culture have increased as more people learn about and use the online encyclopedia project. Many parody Wikipedia's openness, with characters vandalising or modifying articles. Still others feature characters using the references as a source, or positively comparing a character's intelligence to Wikipedia. Also, the encyclopedia many times isn't used as an encyclopedia at all, but instead serves more as a character trait or even as a game.
Incidents
Landmark
Fox News Channel recently reported, "If you think the middle name of British Prime Minister Tony Blair is 'whoopdeedoo,' you'd not only be wrong, but you probably got your information from Wikipedia." The report went on to talk about a tool which allows users to track IP addresses used to edit Wikipedia, and listed many surprising locations that have been discovered editing articles related to their locations. An example used in the report was an IP connected to Wal-Mart, which on one occasion had been used to change a statement about Wal-Mart's wages being lower than competing stores (instead stating its wage was almost double federal minimum wage). The report concluded that, although editing of an article by the entity associated with it may damage Wikipedia's credibility, in the long run, the organization might gain credibility because of how quickly such edits are reverted.
| Date | Nature | Country (of origin) | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Error in Template:Date table sorting: days must be an integer between 1 and 31 | article |  United States
|
"I Must Take Issue With The Wikipedia Entry For 'Weird Al' Yankovic",[1] the Onion. |
| Error in Template:Date table sorting: days must be an integer between 1 and 31 | comic strip | United States
|
FoxTrot |
| Error in Template:Date table sorting: days must be an integer between 1 and 31 | TV show (satirical) | United States
|
The Colbert Report, episode 58 |
| Error in Template:Date table sorting: days must be an integer between 1 and 31 | comic book | United States
|
The Simpsons Comics, issue 117, "Sandwiches are Forever" |
| Error in Template:Date table sorting: days must be an integer between 1 and 31 | TV show (satirical) | United States
|
The Colbert Report, episode 93 |
| Error in Template:Date table sorting: days must be an integer between 1 and 31 | TV show (satirical) | United States
|
The Colbert Report, episode 128 |
| Error in Template:Date table sorting: days must be an integer between 1 and 31[2] | music video | United States
|
"White & Nerdy" music video, by "Weird Al" Yankovic |
| date unknown | promotion |  Australia
|
Jericho ads |
| Error in Template:Date table sorting: days must be an integer between 1 and 31 | commercial | United States
|
Cisco Systems: Human Network Anthem |
| Error in Template:Date table sorting: days must be an integer between 1 and 31 | sitcom | United States
|
30 Rock: "The Head and the Hair" |
| Error in Template:Date table sorting: days must be an integer between 1 and 31 | TV show (satirical) |  United Kingdom
|
Bremner, Bird and Fortune |
| Error in Template:Date table sorting: days must be an integer between 1 and 31 | TV show (sport) | United States
|
SportsCenter |
| date unknown | novel | United Kingdom
|
The Righteous Men, Sam Bourne |
| Error in Template:Date table sorting: days must be an integer between 1 and 31 | Non-fiction | United States
|
It's Not News, It's FARK: How Mass Media Tries to Pass off Crap as News, Drew Curtis |
| Error in Template:Date table sorting: days must be an integer between 1 and 31 | commercial demo | United States
|
Apple iPhone, Apple Inc. |
| Error in Template:Date table sorting: days must be an integer between 1 and 31 | play | United States
|
The Wikipedia Plays |
| Error in Template:Date table sorting: days must be an integer between 1 and 31 | TV show (satrical) | United States
|
The Colbert Report, episode 302 |
| Title | Description | Relevance |
|---|---|---|
| I Must Take Issue With The Wikipedia Entry For 'Weird Al' Yankovic | In an article from The Onion, the character Larry Groznic writes an article about how he was banned from Wikipedia for starting an edit war on the "Weird Al" Yankovic page, and goes on to criticize the content on the said page. | Having taken place well before the John Seigenthaler Sr. Wikipedia biography controversy, it was one of the first major parodies. |
| FoxTrot | First appearance of Wikipedia in a syndicated comic strip. | |
| The Colbert Report, episode 58 | Arianna Huffington challenges host Stephen Colbert on his claim that he had coined the word "truthiness". She cited Wikipedia, claiming that he had merely "popularized" the term. Regarding her source, Colbert, in character, responded: "Fuck them."[3] | First nationally-broadcast television program to mention Wikipedia. |
| The Simpsons Comics, issue 117 | Hank Scorpio, a character from The Simpsons television series, mocks Lisa Simpson for citing her knowledge of him and his illegal activities (which he assumes she simply read from Wikipedia) during a prison break scene in the issue.[4]
This issue was written by Ty Templeton.[5] |
This is the first reference to Wikipedia in a comic book. |
| The Colbert Report, episode 93 | Colbert refers to Wikipedia as his source of information for research on Sigmund Freud. With his normal sarcastic and deadpan delivery, Colbert's segment "The Wørd" mocked Wikipedia's sometimes-questionable information with the screen posting "Even the accurate parts."[6] | Colbert's first scripted reference to Wikipedia, a lead into his "Wikiality" piece. |
| The Colbert Report, episode 128 | In a July 2006 episode of the satirical comedy The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert announced the neologism wikiality, a portmanteau of the words Wikipedia 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:
According to Colbert, together "we can all create a reality that we all can agree on; the reality that we just agreed on." During the segment, he joked "I love Wikipedia... any site that's got a longer entry on truthiness than on Lutherans has its priorities straight." Colbert also used the segment to satirize the more general issue of whether the repetition of statements in the media leads people to believe they are true. The piece was introduced with the tagline, "The Revolution Will Not Be Verified," referencing the lack of objective verification seen in some articles. Colbert suggested that viewers change the elephant page to state that the number of African elephants has tripled in the last six months. The suggestion resulted in numerous incorrect changes to Wikipedia articles related to elephants and Africa.[1] Wikipedia administrators subsequently restricted edits to the pages by anonymous and newly created users. Colbert went on to type on a laptop facing away from the camera, claiming to be making the edits to the pages himself. In addition, initial edits to Wikipedia corresponding to these claimed "facts" were made by a user named Stephencolbert. Thus, many believe Colbert himself vandalized several Wikipedia pages at the time he was encouraging other users to do the same. The account, whether it was Stephen Colbert himself or someone posing as him, has been blocked from Wikipedia indefinitely.[9] The account was blocked for violating Wikipedia's username policies, which state that using the names of celebrities as login names is inappropriate. The account will be reopened if and when Colbert or Comedy Central confirm its identity. [2] |
Global Language Monitor, which tracks trends in languages, named wikiality and truthiness the top T.V. buzzwords for 2006.[10][11]
Shortly after the episode aired, a fan-created Wikipedia parody site opened at Wikiality.com, inspired by the term. On October 19 2006, the term was mentioned again on the show, this time with Wikiality.com given as the url for Wikipedia. |
| White & Nerdy |  The character who is implied to be the nerd says that editing Wikipedia is one of his nerdy activities.[12] In the video, Al is shown editing the article Atlantic Records by typing in large letters YOU SUCK. Thus Al takes revenge on the record company for refusing to let him include "You're Pitiful," a parody of James Blunt's song "You're Beautiful", on his new album. This has prompted copycat vandalism of the Atlantic Records page, which resulted in the page's being semi-protected. Yankovic has said "I don't officially approve of [the vandalism], but on a certain level it does amuse me."[13] |
This may be the first time a music video showed the website, as well as the first time a song mentioned the website. The song was also Yankovic's first career Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. It reached #1 at the U.S. iTunes Store, and peaked at #1 on VH1's top 20 video countdown. |
| Jericho ads | Following Jericho episodes on Network 10 in Australia, a promotion would appear encouraging viewers to log onto Wikipedia and search for "Jericho (tv series)" for proof of the hype and theories surrounding the show. | This is the first station advertisement to encourage people to search Wikipedia for their product. |
| Cisco Systems | A TV advertisement for Cisco Systems shows a young child with a laptop, the Wikipedia logo clearly visible on the screen. Part of their "Human Network Anthem" ad campaign. | First television advertisement showing Wikipedia as part of the plot line. |
| 30 Rock | While Tracy Jordan, James "Toofer" Spurlock and Frank Rossitano are working to complete Jordan's autobiography within a single day, Rossitano finds Jordan's Wikipedia article while using the Internet on his laptop. The article says Jordan was discovered after doing stand-up comedy at the Apollo Theater in 1984, and Jordan, though stating he has no recollection of this, tells the two to add it to the book. | First sitcom series reference. |
| Bremner, Bird and Fortune | A sketch about the 10 most popular, yet unread books,[14] featuring a voice over talking about the plots of the books, which seem to constantly refer to aliens. At the end of the sketch it says that the information came from Wikipedia. | First mention in a British satirical comedy programme. |
| SportsCenter | After citing a stat about Houston Astros pitcher Roy Oswalt, anchor Kenny Mayne jokingly gave credit to Wikipedia for providing the number. | First recorded reference from a sports highlight show. |
| The Righteous Men | In the 2006 Da Vinci Code style novel The Righteous Men, Wikipedia features as an academic style encyclopedia. | First known reference in fictional literature. |
| It's Not News, It's FARK: How Mass Media Tries to Pass off Crap as News | This book, which examins media bias, mainly about stories which do not count as news, Curtis writes:
|
First known appearance in a book criticising the mass media, referencing Wikipedia. |
| Apple iPhone | In the demonstration for the iPhone's internet capabilities, the Wikipedia page for the iPod is shown, along with a link in the user's bookmarks. | First known reference in a multinational product demonstration by a Media Conglomerate. |
| The Wikipedia Plays | Seventeen short plays, inspired by Wikipedia entries.[16] | First play known to highlight Wikipedia. |
| The Colbert Report, episode 302 | On August 21, 2007, Colbert attacked WikiScanner, a website that tracks down people who make anonymous edits on Wikipedia, claiming that it is an invasion of privacy, particularly for corporations and it attacks, "Self-invention". He highlighted a case where Pepsi edited their entry by removing "Long-term health effects" from their article. This resulted in his "Wørd" being, "Self-Determination", claiming that everyone on the internet should be anonymous and should not be forced to give away their true identity. Colbert later discribed Wikipedia as, "Second Life for corporations," saying if a corporations wants to pretend to be someone else online, then that is their business.[17] | First nationally-broadcast television program to mention WikiScanner. |
Of lesser importance
In comics
| Date | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2006-08-16 | 52, Week 15 | Fictional "Ballostro" article. Clark Kent mentions to his assistant to "wiki out the word rumoured" upon seeing it attack Metropolis. |
| 2006-09-07 | FoxTrot | Thomas Edison article. |
| 2007-04-20 | Get Fuzzy | |
| 2007-04-29 | Non Sequitur | |
| July 2007 | The Order #1 (Marvel Comics) |
The lead character mentions the wikipedia as describing him as a "one-time actor". |
In television episodes
| Date | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2007-08-04 | Psych: "And Down The Stretch Comes Murder" | In the episode "And Down The Stretch Comes Murder", when Shawn is explaining his theory of the crime, Gus weighs in with a factoid about an obscure indigenous tribe. Shawn applauds Gus' knowledge of the subject with the line, "Gus shoots and scores! ...with an assist from Wikipedia." |
| 2007-08-04 | Grand Slam | Michelle Kitt is asked the question, "The Hawaiian word for 'quick' is prominently featured in the name of which online encyclopedia?" She answers, "Wiki...Wikipedia" and is judged incorrect. |
| 2007-01-23 | Veronica Mars: "Show Me the Monkey" | The television show references Wikipedia in the episode when Veronica looks up the origins of the color manila. |
| 2007-02-01 | The Office: "Ben Franklin" | Jim, having heard Michael mention prima nocta, says that he used Wikipedia to confirm his suspicions over the term's meaning. |
| 2007-02-18 | American Dad!: "Black Mystery Month" | After uncovering a plot involving peanut butter and the Civil War, Stan Smith says "If only there was a place where you could make outrageous claims, without any proof, and millions of people would accept it as fact...", and the episode cuts to his son Steve editing The Truth about Peanut Butter. |
| 2007-04-05 | The Office: "The Negotiation" | For salary negotiations with Darryl, Michael gets negotiations help from Wikipedia. He then states in an interview that "Wikipedia is the best thing ever. Anyone in the world can write anything they want about any subject, so you know you are getting the best possible information." As a result of the episode, Wikipedia had to lock-down editing of the Negotiation article.[18] |
| 2007-05-24 | The Colbert Report, episode 265 | Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales appears as a guest on the show hosted by Stephen Colbert on Comedy Central. They discuss Colbert's vandalism of Wikipedia and his telling of his viewers to vandalize various pages. Several articles, such as oxygen, librarian and Stephen Colbert are locked to prevent vandalism shortly after the episode airs. On the show, Wales jokes that he may have to lock down the entire Spanish-language Wikipedia for a few days because of Colbert's comment that perhaps it should learn English. |
| 2007-05-25 | Real Time with Bill Maher | Maher jokingly claims to have used Wikipedia in researching the misdeeds of past U.S. presidents to find examples that support Jimmy Carter's assertion that the George W. Bush administration is the worst in history. |
| 2007-08-05 | News Knight with Sir Trevor McDonald, episode 7 | McDonald says that "Wikipedia is one of the most trusted websites in the world" and that, according to its entry on itself, Wikipedia was founded by Ken Dodd in 1673. |
Radio
| Date | Title | Notes | Relevance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006-11-04 | Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! | Jimmy Wales played the "Not My Job" game (renamed for the occasion "It must be true... I read it on Wikipedia"). He is asked three questions about Wikipedia trivia on the Banana Splits discography and Bob Marley, Constance of Sicily and Esera Tuaolo. Wales recalls the Banana Splits with fondness and then proceeds to get all three questions wrong.[19] | First reference to Wikipedia in a radio series. |
| 2007-06-15 | The News Quiz - BBC | Alan Coren referred to mistakes made on Wikipedia. He later said that he once saw a mistake on his article that stated he was a year younger than he was, but he liked the error as it made him look younger. As a result, he says that whenever someone corrects the article, he sets the year wrong again to make him look younger again. As a result, the article was locked after the show was broadcast. | |
| 2007-07-24 | The Wikipedia Story - BBC | Clive Anderson asks whether Wikipedia is a valuable source of human knowledge or a symptom of the spread of mediocrity. This was also made into a podcast between 27 July and 3 August by the BBC. |
Contextual
Citations of Wikipedia in culture
During a debate on Québécois nationhood in the Canadian House of Commons on November 27, 2006, Conservative Member of Parliament Scott Reid mentioned Wikipedia.[20]
In the July 2007 issue of National Geographic Magazine, an article on swarm intelligence, both in nature and as a method used by humans, mentions Wikipedia as an example.[21]
Inaccuracies on Wikipedia in culture
Wikipedia was satirized in The Onion with a front-page article ("Wikipedia Celebrates 750 Years of American Independence", July 2006), alluding to perceptions that the publicly editable site is an unreliable source of information.[22]
Various people including Jeremy Clarkson,[23] Sir Ian McKellen[24], Patrick Stump, and Mitch Albom have criticized Wikipedia's articles about themselves.
In 2007 Lyttle Lytton Contest, where the object is to come up with an opening sentence for a novel, a phrase from the article on Fukutsuru ("Fukutsuru died in 2005 but his frozen sperm lived on for people's benefit") won the prize in Found category[25].
Wikipedia as a character trait
In 2006, commenting to The New York Times on the demands on Central Intelligence Agency analysts to produce instant information, John E. McLaughlin, former acting U.S. Director of Central Intelligence, stated, "intelligence analysts end up being the Wikipedia of Washington".[26]
An altmuslim.com review of a new television series, Sleeper Cell, about terrorists noted that the characters routinely gave detailed background of events in the history of Islam and stated, "no one, and I assume even terrorists, talks like a walking Wikipedia."[27]
Notes
- ^ Namely "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.
References and footnotes
- ^ http://www.theonion.com/content/node/37314
- ^ Note that the song was leaked on the Internet almost a month prior, on August 27, 2006.
- ^ The Colbert Report, "Faith", Comedy Central, March 1 2006.
- ^ An exact citation of the Wikipedia referencing passage of The Simpsons Comics #117:
- Lisa: Say, aren't you Hank Scorpio, the criminal mastermind?
- Hank: I prefer the term "Entrepreneurial mastermind", but yes, that's me.
- Lisa: You blackmailed the federal government into giving you control of the American east coast. Now everyone thinks you are dead.
- Hank: Aren't you adorable? We're all about to be shot as escaped prisoners, and you're reciting my entry in the Wikipedia. I hope you're proud of her, Homer. She's great!
- ^ http://www.noisetosignal.org/comics/2006/05/simpsons-comics-117.php
- ^ The Colbert Report, "Superegomaniac", Comedy Central, May 9 2006.
- ^ The Colbert Report / Comedy Central recording of The WØRD "Wikiality", Comedy Central, July 31 2006.
- ^ YouTube recording of The Colbert Report, "Wikiality", Comedy Central, July 31 2006.
- ^ "Colbert Causes Chaos on Wikipedia". Newsvine. August 1 2006. Retrieved 2006-09-28.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ ""Truthiness," "Wikiality" named TV words of year". Reuters. August 27 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-28.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "'Truthiness' and 'Wikiality' Named Top Television Buzzwords of 2006 Followed by 'Katrina', 'Katie,' and 'Dr. McDreamy'". Global Language Monitor. August 27 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-28.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ White & Nerdy lyrics:
- My ergonomic keyboard never leaves me bored
- Shopping online for deals on some writable media
- I edit Wikipedia
- I memorized Holy Grail really well
- I can recite it right now and have you ROTFLOL
- ^ Adams, Cameron. "Weird Al Yankovic." Herald Sun, October 5, 2006.
- ^ BBC News, Harry Potter book "often unread" Accessed on 1 April 2007.
- ^ Curtis, Drew (2007-05-31). "It's Not News It's Fark: How Mass Media Tries to Pass Off Crap as News: Chapter 1". Retrieved 2007-08-12.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ "The Wikipedia Plays Will Be Seen at the Ars Nova in August", Playbill.
- ^ ""The Wørd" - Self-Determination". Comedy Central. 2007-08-21. Retrieved 2007-08-22.
- ^ http://news.yahoo.com/s/eonline/20070412/en_tv_eo/fc0414659360_4cc5_bcca_b5017c71f98c
- ^ Not My Job: Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales November 11, 2006
- ^ Hansard, November 27, 2006.
- ^ "Swarm Theory" by Peter Miller, National Geographic Magazine, July 2007
- ^ "Wikipedia Celebrates 750 Years Of American Independence". The Onion. 2006.
{{cite web}}: External link in|work=|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ Clarkson, Jeremy (2006). "Lexus GS 450h SE-L Independence". Times Online.
{{cite web}}: External link in|work=|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ Empire Magazine, May 2006.
- ^ "The 2007 Lyttle Lytton Contest". Retrieved 2007-06-12.
- ^ Weiner, Tim (2006-05-14). "Langley, We Have a Problem". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
- ^ Ali, Wajahat (2006-01-16). "Sleeping Cell". altmuslim.com.