Whatta surprise--Japanese Wikipedia has real problems

Because no one else is doing it--not even the media.
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ericbarbour
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Whatta surprise--Japanese Wikipedia has real problems

Post by ericbarbour » Sat Mar 20, 2021 7:44 pm

I knew this was happening but it took a Japanese writer who can read jp-WP to point it out. Furthermore, you can expect this will continue, and NO ONE will take any action. PS Wiki-Bilim is still controlling the Kazakh-language WP--TEN YEARS after the scandal hit.

https://slate.com/technology/2021/03/ja ... tions.html
These cultural differences are reflected in the way people use Wikipedia. The talk pages on Japanese Wikipedia show how a group of editors often silence those with opposing views. Users who challenge them risk being accused of “political activism” or violating rules and have their accounts blocked. It’s similar to ijime (bullying), a societal problem in Japan. The community is far from what the “public sphere” is supposed to be.

Japanese Wikipedia also has the lowest number of administrators per active user of all language editions. Administrators have the ability to block users, protect pages, edit protected pages, delete pages, rename pages without restriction, and so on. According to Wikidata, Japanese Wikipedia has 15,774 active users and only 41 administrators (0.26 percent of the user base), while the English Wikipedia has 144,828 active users and 1,109 administrators (0.77 percent). This means that a few dozen people within the Japanese Wikipedia have power over what goes on in the platform.

Administrators in the Japanese Wikipedia are known to protect articles (which means restricting who can edit the entry) that become the sites of “edit wars.” Currently, that includes the Unit 731 page.

When I wrote about the problems with Japanese Wikipedia recently in my Japanese blog, I received overwhelming responses. Many said that they’ve been concerned about historical revisionism in the Japanese Wikipedia. One person wrote, “I’ve tried to fix these pages many times, but my edits are almost immediately erased. Now I’ve given up trying.” Another wrote, “The notion that ‘the more people continue to edit, the better it gets’ is uniquely American. This doesn’t happen to the Japanese version because it’s isolated.”

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Re: Whatta surprise--Japanese Wikipedia has real problems

Post by Strelnikov » Tue Mar 23, 2021 4:17 pm

You are going to have to explain Wikibilim for the outsiders/new people.
Still "Globally Banned" on Wikipedia for the high crime of journalism.

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Re: Whatta surprise--Japanese Wikipedia has real problems

Post by ericbarbour » Thu Mar 25, 2021 9:19 am

If you wish, this is a not-bad summary of what happened. Scroll down to "Reputation Rehab For Dictators".

https://www.skepticalaboutskeptics.org/ ... tten-core/

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Re: Whatta surprise--Japanese Wikipedia has real problems

Post by ericbarbour » Sat Mar 27, 2021 9:18 pm

So far the ONLY mention of this on Wikipedia itself, is as a proposed article for the next issue of the Signpost. Which is controlled by Peter "Smallbones" Ekman at present, which is really NOT a good reflection on the Signpost's "reliability". I could go on and on about Ekman. (Or the Signpost itself--during Wikipedia's "golden years" it was usually a weekly newsletter. Now it's down to monthly.....after nearly dying in 2017.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia ... _the_media

Side notes: shortly after the near-death, that wonderful Wikipedian Pudkung took it over for a while. It appears that "Bri" was responsible for most of the editing anyway. Then it went to biweekly (usually), then in 2018 it became monthly (usually).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia ... he_editors
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia ... he_editors
The_ed17 quit in January 2019. Gamaliel was still in there mucking around as a "co-editor".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia ... e_archives

We missed the "Pesky pronouns" squawk of February 2019 when a Signpost joke article was removed because trans activists (and that deeply annoying little shit Headbomb) shrieked about "transphobia". Two editors quit and Smallbones seized the reins. Fucking cowards. Note Fae in the comments doing his usual idiotic dance routine. I'm adding this to the book wiki.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia ... -28/Humour
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia ... he_editors

And if you really want to laugh your ass off, read the self-serving "official histories" of the Signpost.
The first ten years by professional little shit Gamaliel, and 2015-2019 by big shit Smallbones, shortly after he "took over".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia ... nniversary
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia ... 1/In_focus

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