wiki
Table of Contents
Wiki
A wiki is a hypertext publication housing a digital knowledge base, which typically facilitates collaborative editing as it allows the public or specific members of an organization to create and modify pages for the audience, though pages can be restricted and users can be blocked.
List of notable wikis
For a list of personal wikis, refer to the personal wiki article.
The internet houses an endless number of wikis, as they are usually easy to make, so most wikis will simply choose to provide a short list of notable or relevant wikis. You can find attempts at a near-comprehensive lists, but WikiStats only covers MediaWiki forks, some of which have shut down, and the Wiki Wiki is perpetually limited to the amount of editors that it has attracted to achieve this Sisyphean task.
| Wiki name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| Emulation General Wiki | EN | A wiki about video game emulation, stemming from the “/emugen/” thread on 4chan's /vg/, that notably contains a list of ROM & ISO sites. |
| Gineipaedia | EN | A wiki about the Japanese science-fiction franchise, Legend of the Galactic Heroes, a long intricate series that gets really philosophical. |
| Japanese Mahjong Wiki | EN | A wiki about the Japanese version of Mahjong, also known as Riichi Mahjong. |
| ProleWiki | EN | A communist wiki, espousing Marxism–Leninism, that focuses on revolutionary theory. It stems from the Lemmygrad instance on the Fediverse. |
| The Cutting Room Floor | EN | A wiki about cut and unused content in video games. There's usually a bit of humor or snark in the lead. |
| EcuRed | ES | Spanish encyclopedic wiki, launched by the socialist Cuban government. They don't get a lot of edits, but it is interesting to see. |
| Niconico Encyclopedia | JA | Niconico's lenient encyclopedic wiki that can be informative *when* it's being serious. It also carries a 2channel-like anonymous comment section. |
| Pixiv Encyclopedia | JA | Pixiv's short and concise encyclopedic wiki, normally focused on providing the context for certain tags on the art-focused website. |
| Namu Wiki | KO | The largest Korean-language encyclopedic wiki. They actually weren't trying to be encyclopedic, being a fork of a wiki about otaku internet subculture. |
| Cyclopedia (Cyclowiki) | RU | A neutral alternative to Russian Wikipedia, not to be confused with Ruwiki, whose history spans back to 2010. |
| Neolurk | RU | It's a Lurkomorye alternative that positions itself as an editable successor, though be warned that it's run by terminally online conservatives. |
| Ruwiki | RU | Russian encyclopedic wiki, launched by the Russian government, but it's really just a government-supervised fork of Russian Wikipedia. |
| Ruxpert | RU | The pro-Russian wiki on Russia which debunks 'Russophobic' misinformation, which naturally invites a Russian nationalist and Russian Orthodox bias. |
| Urbanculture | RU | It's a small wiki about modern Russian culture and folklore, though some might view it as a lesser Lurkomorye alternative with a liberal slant. |
| Entsyklopediia Dramatyka | UK | A wiki about Ukrainian internet culture, inspired by Encyclopedia Dramatica, on Kropyvach. Of course, be warned of its Ukrainian nationalist bias. |
| Baidu Baike | ZH | The largest Chinese-language encyclopedic wiki, owned by Baidu. Personally, I love the articles where the show the evolution of a Hanzi. |
| Hmoegirl.cyou | ZH | A supplement to Moegirl Encyclopedia for sensitive subjects that can't be discussed on the Chinese internet. Hmoegirl.com notably includes politics, while Hmoegirl.cyou is a fork that solely focuses on pornography. |
| Hmoegirl.com | ||
| Moegirl Encyclopedia | ZH | Chinese-language wiki about fictional characters and gijinkas, though they also provide some insight on the Chinese internet. |
Criticisms
Trustworthiness
Regardless of its scale or scope, a wiki's merit and trustworthiness isn't always something that can be easily inferred from search results alone and you sometimes have to ask around to see the flaws. This can range from administrative interference (e.g. personal biases or headcanons), lack of quality editors, to the fact that people have better things to do than waste their free time attempting to fix a wiki.
Criticism of specific wikis
Encyclopedia Dramatica
Encyclopedia Dramatica (ED) was an internet drama wiki that ran from 20041) to 2011,2) initially shuttering after the founder's controversial “return to form” attempt.3)4) At the time, the wiki was regarded for its wealth of internet culture,5)6) but it has since regressed into a stale,7) unfunny shock wiki for edgy shitkids,8) which is not helped by the fact that Know Your Meme, and even the Soyjak Wiki, has filled their niche.
Ignoring its spam of unsavory images, the wiki masks cyberstalking as trolling and its content encourages self-hatred in social rejects to foster extremist ideologies, as evidenced by their former administrators being a neo-Nazi9) with mixed Jewish heritage,10) and a 2017 school shooter.11) It has also indirectly led to a 2018 misogynist van attack12) and a 2022 anti-LGBT mass shooting.13)14)
Fandom (Wikia)
Fandom, also known as Wikia,15) is wiki hosting service founded in 2004. The overall website is bloated with excessive advertisements, most notable on mobile devices,16) feeding the capitalist for-profit company recently acquired by TPG Capital in 2018.17) It later acquired Curse,18) GameFAQs, GameSpot, Metacritic, and TV Guide,19) while also assisting the U.S. Navy in digital media advertising.20)
Putting the corporation aside, many wikis have attempted to migrate away, but they generally disapprove of dissent, preferring to install puppet regimes,21) tacking on a spam filter,22) and weaponizing the SEO.23) Understandably, this has been a major source of frustration, justifying a need for independent wiki alliances, like the Anti-Wikia Alliance or NIWA, and extensions like Indie Wiki Buddy.
Know Your Meme
Know Your Meme (KYM) is a wiki for memes and viral phenomenon, founded in 2007 and had ended up becoming mainstream in 2011.24)25) The wiki has sullied the definition of a 'meme', which were essentially “secret online in-jokes” at the time, but it turns out that removing the 'secret' and 'in-joke' components have crafted this 'rapid humor' ecosystem that sources its bland humor from Reddit, TikTok, Twitter, etc.
In addition, the wiki relies on a restrictive 'editorship' system for every single page which severely limits the number of people allowed to edit certain articles, some galleries consist of stolen softcore pornography,26) political biases tend to shine in certain articles (e.g. GamerGate, Poljak), and some of their articles ironically omit or lack critical information that it was supposedly designed to combat.
Wikipedia
“I am grateful to be here today to testify about the potential for the Wikipedia model of collaboration and information sharing which may be helpful to government operations and homeland security.”
– Jimmy Wales27)
“Wikipedia is forced to tell a “winner's history”, which can only be based on whatever information actually made it to a reliable source. Reliable sources do not always reflect the truth.”
– Shii28)
Wikipedia is a popular wiki that was co-founded by libertarian entrepreneurs in 2001 and managed by the nonprofit Wikimedia Foundation since 2003. The wiki is rather infamous for their aggressive recurring donation drives, every Wednesday and December, when they arguably don't need them29)30)31) as they have enough money to last 20 years,32) especially when they have such a large number of benefactors.33)
Despite its neutrality policy, Wikipedia isn't actually neutral as they uncritically parrot false information from western sources, understands that it isn't a reliable source, and occasionally falls into the trap of argumentum ad populum. It should never be presented as an “infallible arbitrator of truth” and, in general, you should never get your politics here.34) Outside of politics, it's whatever.
Notes
- The term 'wiki' stems from WikiWikiWeb, the first user-editable wiki, borrowing the Hawaiian word 'wiki' (lit. “fast”, “quick”) after the founder recalled the Wiki Wiki Shuttle.
See also
- Personal wiki - A subset of wikis that are solely maintained by a single person.
External links
- Wiki on Wikipedia
- List of Wikis on Compendium of Personal Ignorance
1)
"Encyclopedia Dramatica:About". Encyclopedia Dramatica.
2)
"What Happened to Encyclopedia Dramatica?" (April 16, 2011). Gawker.
3)
"Encyclopedia Dramatica gone for good" (April 15, 2011). The Inquisitr.
4)
"Notorious NSFW website cleans up its act" (April 18, 2011). Today.
5)
"The Trolls Among Us" (August 3, 2008). The New York Times.
6)
"The Assclown Offensive: How to Enrage the Church of Scientology" (September 21, 2009). Wired.
7)
Much of the content on Encyclopedia Dramatica is perpetually stuck in 2011. Newer articles will usually be about an outdated 5+ year old meme or trend, the latest reactionary nonsense, or some unfunny article written by a shitkid that secretly wants a personal army because they got assblasted over irrelevant garbage that nobody will care about in 7 years.
8)
"Encyclopedia Dramatica’s drama-filled comeback" (July 26, 2011). The Daily Dot.
9)
"New evidence links white supremacist ‘Zoombomber’ to man wanted in Australia" (June 8, 2020). Jewish News Syndicate.
10)
"Neo-Nazi Who Calls for 'Slaughter' of Jewish Children Is of Jewish Descent, His Mom Says" (January 3, 2018). Newsweek.
11)
"New Mexico School Shooter Had Secret Life on Pro-Trump White-Supremacy Sites" (December 15, 2017). The Daily Beast.
12)
"Alek Minassian feels neither regret nor pleasure after Toronto van attack, court hears" (December 1, 2020). National Post.
13)
"LGBTQ club shooting suspect’s troubled past was obscured by a name change, records show" (November 21, 2022). The Washington Post.
14)
"Alleged Club Q Shooter Changed Their Name After Edgelord Harassment Campaign" (November 23, 2022). Vice.
15)
The website was previously known as “WikiCities” from 2004 to 2006 and “Wikia” from 2006 to 2019, but it should be noted that the “Fandom” brand started out as an entertainment news website in 2016.
16)
"Best Practices: Mobile Friendly Main Pages" (February 23, 2015). Wikia.
17)
"Wikia, Inc.'s FANDOM Announces Investment Led by Media Veteran Jon Miller" (February 20, 2018). PR Newswire.
18)
"Fandom and Curse Media are joining forces" (December 12, 2018). Fandom.
19)
"Fandom Acquires Leading Entertainment & Gaming Brands Including GameSpot, TV Guide and Metacritic" (October 3, 2022). Fandom.
20)
"Navy Returns to Twitch, But You Can't Ask About War Crimes in Chat" (March 3, 2021). Vice.
21)
"Retaliation". Anti-Wikia Alliance.
22)
If you attempt to link to a forked wiki on Fandom, you'll get a unique message stating that your edit was blocked for triggering a spam filter in violation of their forking policy. For instance, attempting to link to the Minecraft Wiki will trigger
Block ID #855602, regardless of the wiki that you're using.23)
"How will Wikia cope when the workers all quit the plantation?" (July 30, 2008). The Guardian.
24)
"A day in the office with Know Your Meme—the Web’s “Britannica”" (November 30, 2012). The Daily Dot.
25)
"The story of the internet, as told by Know Your Meme" (March 6, 2018). The Verge.
26)
You don't need to scroll far down the trending tab to see what I'm talking about. I get that there's been tons of horny fads and phenomenon, but some of these have nothing to do with humor.
28)
"Shii's Solution to the Problem of Wikipedia". Everything Shii Knows.
29)
"Wikipedia doesn't need your money - so why does it keep pestering you?" (December 20, 2012). The Register.
30)
"Wikipedia has a ton of money. So why is it begging you to donate yours?" (December 2, 2015). The Washington Post.
31)
"Wikipedia is asking for donations again — here’s how much cash it already has in the bank" (November 28, 2016). Business Insider.
32)
"The next time Wikipedia asks for a donation, ignore it" (October 12, 2022). Unherd.
33)
"Benefactors". Wikimedia Foundation.
34)
A number of political criticisms that I have about Wikipedia is better presented at the Prolewiki article.
wiki.txt · Last modified: 2024-11-19 10:29:24 by namelessrumia