Drake vs. Kendrick: The Wikipedia Chronicles
BRIEFING
From Rap Battle to Edit War
If you missed the recent rap feud between superstars Drake and Kendrick Lamar, you are probably not a hip-hop enthusiast or music industry insider. It was also watched closely by a surprisingly large group of Wikipedia editors, who created an astonishingly detailed article about it: Drake–Kendrick Lamar feud.
A quick backgrounder: the Kendrick–Drake feud is the latest in a long line of publicized beefs among rap artists, with one or more artists trading “diss tracks” criticizing, calling out, and seeking to embarrass the other side. This spring, the argument escalated from disagreement over their comparative status in modern rap to leveling serious criminal allegations against each other. In recent weeks, the feud has cooled, with most observers giving the "W" to Lamar.
Since the article was created April 24, it has expanded to 4,800 words and been edited more than 1,100 times by nearly 350 editors. At its peak on May 7, it attracted over 300,000 pageviews. It even survived a deletion attempt, which lasted for about an hour before the editor who suggested it changed their mind. As the hip-hop-focused Twitter account Kurrco noted, the infobox is even “formatted like it's a war between two countries”.
Wikipedia editors take their (volunteer) job seriously, even when the subject matter itself is of questionable seriousness.
IN THE NEWS
Ex-Wikimedia chief faces the heat
Earlier this year, WikiWise wrote about the selection of former Wikimedia chief Katherine Maher as NPR’s CEO. So how’s that going?
Less than a month into her new role, Maher faced a crisis after a veteran editor took to an outside opinion site to publish a scathing assessment of NPR’s reporting as too left-leaning, especially on matters of race. Next, right-wing provocateur Christopher Rufo surfaced Maher’s old tweets and video appearances, drawing attention to her support for Joe Biden, opposition to Donald Trump, and various “woke” political views. Would the polarized media tear itself apart? Would “cancel culture” claim another victim?
So far, not really. Maher defended her right to speak on public matters, citing her leadership of the business side, not the editorial team. The complaining editor resigned. No further bombshells dropped. News coverage subsided after a week, and even turned sympathetic. If cancel culture is fading, count this as one of the key examples.
RESEARCH REPORT
领英推荐
Closing the gender gap?
A data set based on a survey of more than 100,000 Wikipedia editors across eight languages was recently published on the French research site Nakala. While no report has been published yet, The Signpost, a monthly online newspaper for the Wikipedia community, dug into it and found some interesting results. In particular, it shows the most balanced gender ratios since surveys began: more than 30% identifying as a woman, non-binary or other, compared to recent surveys which had put the number closer to 15%.
TIPS & TRICKS
Did you know Wikipedia has its own short URL generator? On any Wikipedia page, visit the Tools menu near the top (look underneath the “languages” link) and you’ll find an option for “Get shortened URL”, which will generate a link that looks like w.wiki/_s$$M. Pretty cool!
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