Wikipedia Review
Encyclopedia
The Wikipedia Review is an Internet forum
for the discussion of Wikimedia projects, in particular the content and conflicts of the English Wikipedia. In the InformationWeek
Grok on Google blog, Alice LaPlante described Wikipedia Review as a "watchdog
" website, "dedicated to scrutinizing Wikipedia and reporting on its flaws". It provides an independent forum to discuss Wikipedia editors and their influence on Wikipedia content. Participants range from current Wikipedia editors to people who have never edited, and a few users banned from Wikipedia. , the forum contained more than 230,000 posts.
. Since February 2006, the forum has been located at its own domain name
and uses Invision Power Board
software. The site requires registration using a valid e-mail address
to post. It blacklist
s email providers which allow anonymity, which it says is to discourage the operation of multiple accounts by a single user.
Wikipedia Review has been cited for its discussion and evaluation of concepts surrounding wiki
-editing, such as the Palo Alto Research Company's WikiDashboard, as well as used as an evaluation subject for the tool.
that Wikipedia Review has provided a focal point for investigation into Wikipedia-related matters such as the "Essjay controversy
". Cade Metz, writing for The Register
, credited Wikipedia Review with the discovery of a private mailing list
that led to the resignation of a Wikipedia administrator; he also suggested that mentioning Wikipedia Review was banned on Wikipedia. The Independent
noted that "allegations against certain administrators came to a head on a site called Wikipedia Review, where people debate the administrators' actions." Irish technology website Silicon Republic suggested visiting Wikipedia Review in order to "follow disputes, discussions, editors and general bureaucracy on Wikipedia". Philip Coppens used posts made on Wikipedia Review to help construct a report, published in Nexus Magazine
, on WikiScanner
and allegations that intelligence agencies had been using Wikipedia to spread disinformation
. Science fiction writer Kathryn Cramer
used the site to gain a better insight into Wikipedia editors, and described topics on Wikipedia Review as "fascinating reading".
Internet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...
for the discussion of Wikimedia projects, in particular the content and conflicts of the English Wikipedia. In the InformationWeek
InformationWeek
InformationWeek is a weekly print magazine, an online site with corresponding face-to-face and virtual events, and research. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California and was first published in 1979 by CMP Media, later called CMP Technology. On February 29, 2008, CMP Technology was...
Grok on Google blog, Alice LaPlante described Wikipedia Review as a "watchdog
Watchdog journalism
Watchdog journalism aims to hold accountable public personalities and institutions, whose functions impact social and political life. The term "lapdog journalism", for journalism biased in favour of personalities and institutions, is sometimes used as a conceptual opposite to watchdog...
" website, "dedicated to scrutinizing Wikipedia and reporting on its flaws". It provides an independent forum to discuss Wikipedia editors and their influence on Wikipedia content. Participants range from current Wikipedia editors to people who have never edited, and a few users banned from Wikipedia. , the forum contained more than 230,000 posts.
Background
The site was founded in November 2005 by "Igor Alexander", and hosted by ProBoardsProBoards
ProBoards is a free, remotely hosted message board service that facilitates online discussions by allowing people to create their own online communities.-Ownership and Service Statistics:...
. Since February 2006, the forum has been located at its own domain name
Second-level domain
In the Domain Name System hierarchy, a second-level domain is a domain that is directly below a top-level domain . For example, in example.com, example is the second-level domain of the .com TLD....
and uses Invision Power Board
Invision Power Board
Invision Power Board is an Internet forum software produced by Invision Power Services, Inc...
software. The site requires registration using a valid e-mail address
E-mail address
An email address identifies an email box to which email messages are delivered. An example format of an email address is lewis@example.net which is read as lewis at example dot net...
to post. It blacklist
Blacklist
A blacklist is a list or register of entities who, for one reason or another, are being denied a particular privilege, service, mobility, access or recognition. As a verb, to blacklist can mean to deny someone work in a particular field, or to ostracize a person from a certain social circle...
s email providers which allow anonymity, which it says is to discourage the operation of multiple accounts by a single user.
Wikipedia Review has been cited for its discussion and evaluation of concepts surrounding wiki
Wiki
A wiki is a website that allows the creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWYG text editor. Wikis are typically powered by wiki software and are often used collaboratively by multiple users. Examples include...
-editing, such as the Palo Alto Research Company's WikiDashboard, as well as used as an evaluation subject for the tool.
Commentary
Seth Finkelstein wrote in The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
that Wikipedia Review has provided a focal point for investigation into Wikipedia-related matters such as the "Essjay controversy
Essjay controversy
The Essjay controversy was an incident concerning a prominent Wikipedia participant and salaried Wikia employee, known by the username Essjay, who later identified himself as Ryan Jordan. Jordan held trusted volunteer positions within Wikipedia known as administrator, bureaucrat, arbitrator and...
". Cade Metz, writing for The Register
The Register
The Register is a British technology news and opinion website. It was founded by John Lettice, Mike Magee and Ross Alderson in 1994 as a newsletter called "Chip Connection", initially as an email service...
, credited Wikipedia Review with the discovery of a private mailing list
Mailing list
A mailing list is a collection of names and addresses used by an individual or an organization to send material to multiple recipients. The term is often extended to include the people subscribed to such a list, so the group of subscribers is referred to as "the mailing list", or simply "the...
that led to the resignation of a Wikipedia administrator; he also suggested that mentioning Wikipedia Review was banned on Wikipedia. The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
noted that "allegations against certain administrators came to a head on a site called Wikipedia Review, where people debate the administrators' actions." Irish technology website Silicon Republic suggested visiting Wikipedia Review in order to "follow disputes, discussions, editors and general bureaucracy on Wikipedia". Philip Coppens used posts made on Wikipedia Review to help construct a report, published in Nexus Magazine
Nexus magazine
Nexus is a bi-monthly alternative news magazine. It covers geopolitics and conspiracy theories; health issues, including alternative medicine; future science; the unexplained, including UFOs; Big Brother; and historical revisionism. The magazine also publishes articles about freedom of speech and...
, on WikiScanner
WikiScanner
WikiScanner was a tool which consisted of a publicly searchable database that linked millions of anonymous edits on the free online encyclopedia Wikipedia to the organizations where those edits apparently originated, by cross-referencing the edits with data on the owners of the associated block of...
and allegations that intelligence agencies had been using Wikipedia to spread disinformation
Disinformation
Disinformation is intentionally false or inaccurate information that is spread deliberately. For this reason, it is synonymous with and sometimes called black propaganda. It is an act of deception and false statements to convince someone of untruth...
. Science fiction writer Kathryn Cramer
Kathryn Cramer
Kathryn Elizabeth Cramer is an American science fiction author, editor, and literary critic.- Life :Cramer grew up in Seattle, and currently lives in Pleasantville, New York with her husband David G. Hartwell and their two children. She is the daughter of physicist John G. Cramer...
used the site to gain a better insight into Wikipedia editors, and described topics on Wikipedia Review as "fascinating reading".
Content and structure
Wikipedia Review's publicly-accessible forums are broken up into four general topic areas:- Forum information;
- Wikimedia-oriented discussion, which contains subforums focusing on editors, the Wikipedia bureaucracy, metaMetaMeta- , is a prefix used in English to indicate a concept which is an abstraction from another concept, used to complete or add to the latter....
discussion, articles and general Wikimedia-focused topics not fitting elsewhere; - Media forums containing a news feed and discussion about news and blogs featuring Wikipedia/Wikimedia; and
- Off topic, non-Wikimedia related discussions.