5 ms·

A valid concern is that everybody copies the same information. This invariably leads to cases where errors in Wikipedia are repeated in so many places that peop

by akolbe 4y ago

A valid concern is that everybody copies the same information. This invariably leads to cases where errors in Wikipedia are repeated in so many places that people everywhere think they are fact. One recent example was that everyone from Google to the BBC now believes that an "Alan MacMasters" invented the electric toaster. In fact, this was a hoax perpetrated on Wikipedia 10 years ago: https://wikipediocracy.com/2022/08/11/wikipedias-credibility-is-toast/ https://wikipediocracy.com/2022/08/11/wikipedias-credibility... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2022-08-31/In_the_media https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2... More examples here: https://www.theregister.com/2017/01/16/wikipedia_16_birthday_fails/ https://www.theregister.com/2017/01/16/wikipedia_16_birthday...

ZeroGravitas 4y ago
The archive of the article they point to seems much longer and detailed than the version linked to by the Wiipedians discussing removing it. Is there any way to see the full history of deleted articles? Maybe one of those completionist mirrors? There's lots of "comedy edits" that only really exist for long enough to take a screenshot (sometimes not even that long as the screenshot can be easily faked).
- akolbe 4y ago
  Usually, longstanding hoax articles are moved to a new location where they are clearly identfied as hoaxes. Example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_hoaxes_on_Wikipedia/Bicholim_conflict https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_hoaxes_on_Wi... This retains the editor history but hasn't happened in this case (yet; I'll ask for it to be done). Meanwhile, some older versions of the article can be seen here: https://web.archive.org/web/20151128131452/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_MacMasters https://web.archive.org/web/20151128131452/https://en.wikipe...
- akolbe 4y ago
  There you go: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_hoaxes_on_Wikipedia/Alan_MacMasters https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_hoaxes_on_Wi... This has the entire edit history, going back to 2013: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:List_of_hoaxes_on_Wikipedia/Alan_MacMasters&action=history https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:List_of...
  - ZeroGravitas 4y ago
    Thank you

by akolbe 4y ago

ZeroGravitas 4y ago

The archive of the article they point to seems much longer and detailed than the version linked to by the Wiipedians discussing removing it. Is there any way to see the full history of deleted articles? Maybe one of those completionist mirrors? There's lots of "comedy edits" that only really exist for long enough to take a screenshot (sometimes not even that long as the screenshot can be easily faked).

akolbe 4y ago
Usually, longstanding hoax articles are moved to a new location where they are clearly identfied as hoaxes. Example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_hoaxes_on_Wikipedia/Bicholim_conflict https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_hoaxes_on_Wi... This retains the editor history but hasn't happened in this case (yet; I'll ask for it to be done). Meanwhile, some older versions of the article can be seen here: https://web.archive.org/web/20151128131452/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_MacMasters https://web.archive.org/web/20151128131452/https://en.wikipe...
akolbe 4y ago
There you go: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_hoaxes_on_Wikipedia/Alan_MacMasters https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_hoaxes_on_Wi... This has the entire edit history, going back to 2013: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:List_of_hoaxes_on_Wikipedia/Alan_MacMasters&action=history https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:List_of...
- ZeroGravitas 4y ago
  Thank you