When and why did Jess Wade abandon her one article per day pledge?
Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2023 7:43 pm
A plot of Jess Wade's number of article creations over time would make interesting reading. Even more if rendered in byte count.
These are just yearly snapshots.....
* September 2023 - 11 creations, average ~5,000 bytes per creation, largest 7,783 bytes
* September 2022 - 19 creations, average ~5,600 bytes per creation, largest 10,277 bytes
* September 2021 - 27 creations, average ~5,600 bytes per creation, largest 8,711 bytes
* September 2020 - 28 creations, average ~6,900 bytes per creation, largest 13,107 bytes
....but the pattern seems clear. Her productivity has been nose diving.
The fun part is asking why.
Harassment by evil people was hopefully a factor. A radical course of action surely embarked upon only when it became clear that Wikipedia had absolutely no intention of listening to and acting upon valid concerns with her editing. They falsely characterised this as harassment, and so I guess they invited her critics to become harassers. Remembering as they did that Jess Wade very early on responded to valid criticism with personal attacks, and faced no action.
Bizarrely, she was treated as if she were a victim. A sign of what would come next. Jess becoming the only Wikipedia editor in history who had a protective shield placed around her. No amount of evidence that she was a sub-standard editor who showed no ability or willingness to improve was sufficient to breach this bubble. Not even proof she showed a callous disregard for the BLP policy.
This wasn't as noble as it sounds. The Wikipedians had merely realised that for as long as an ignorant media didn't realise what was really going on, Wade's crusade would be excellent PR for Wikipedia. Proof it had changed, that it was inclusive now, and was fixing its gender gap. Obviously this wasn't universally welcomed by the rank and file, who preferred it if Wikipedia just stayed the same or genuinely fixed these thing the right way, but the sad reality of being a low ranking member of a cult, is that if the higher ups want something, you are powerless to stop it.
It is quite satisfying that it didn't really work out for these bastards. Wade didn't inspire people, and Wikipedia's brand is on a downward trajectory. Cheats never prosper.
The names of all those who protected her have been recorded. There will be consequences. Anyone making the argument that Wikipedia is just a private website so where's the harm, will suffer the indignity of having every single glowing press report of Wade's efforts, lauding her as a model editor and inspiration, printed out, rolled into a cylinder, and shoved right up their rectums. And believe me, it is long enough to make a kebab out of the corrupt fuckers.
The fascinating part is that I had always assumed it was her desperate desire to keep to her original ambitions goal of writing one article per day, that was behind her never ending litany of mistakes. She's a supposedly intelligent person, so the obvious explanation for her apparently not even catching typos and copy paste errors in her creations, was her not even having the time to proof read before hitting submit. It obviously also explains her many failures in sourcing and other issues that take a bit more time and effort to get right.
She was very clearly even ignoring basic tasks that are mandatory for ordinary unprotected editors. She does know how to add categories. She does know how to use wikilinks in her articles, and she does know how to wikilink her own creations from the wider encyclopedia. She just never does it. There are a group of sad bastards who silently trail in her wake fixing these things, not bothering Wade with a word of criticism. But it doesn't take long to find instances where they have failed to catch things. Not everyone has the time to log in to Wikipedia every single day for year after year.
That of course explains why they never bother to fix the hidden issues. The stuff that takes time to find and correct (but is always there), because it requires reading the article and its sources. For any other editor, that is considered their sole responsibility. Not Wade. She has never been corrected when she has often said that this is what collaboration on Wikipedia is all about. She poops, others clean it up. Nom nom nom.
So it is very bizarre indeed to see that even as she has been slowing down, and her creations are getting smaller, they still feature exactly the same mistakes.
So what is going on?
Clearly this isn't burnout. She did sustain her target rate of one article a day for an incredible length of time, years even. She really doesn't have a life it seems. Or at least didn't. How ironic would It be that it was the fame and opportunity that came with her exploitation of Wikipedia, that means she now has better things to be doing of an evening or weekend than hastily cobbling together Wikipedia pages?
It clearly Isn't a lack of women to write about. Even if it is getting harder to find missing women who are currently notable, which is doubtful, Wade's strategy of taking Wikipedia's academic notability standard literally and immediately creating a biography for any woman who is in receipt of a highly prestigious award or honor, or is made a fellow at an exclusive society, is appointed to a named chair or distinguished professorship, obtains a highest level Administrator post or becomes the Editor of a notable journal, is a hell of a lot of smart women becoming eligible for Wikipedia every year. And that covers just the easy wins. You can also add any woman who hits the news for having has a significant impact in research, teaching or just as an academic. The Royal Society alone elected 17 women fellows. Almost an entire month's work for Wade.
It isn't wholly explained by a theory I have where her employer eventually discovered that she was only capable of meeting this target of one article a day by spending significant amounts of her work time doing Wikipedia research, and told her to knock it off. She is on record as having said she would while away the time waiting for lab results this way. It kind of fits. Her production is down ~third, which is close to how much time I imagine she could have been devoting to it while at work.
It could be that she has a puppy. They take up a surprising amount of time, but are a heck of a lot more fun and far better for your mental health than Wikipedia. Even for Wade, in her protective bubble. That's pretty hilarious.
We will of course never know the reason if it is something that reflects poorly on Wade.
I'm definitely interested to know if she plans to level out, or indeed if there is something about the reason for her nose dive which means it is in fact, terminal.
Can she survive the landing? Will anyone even dare ask her why she stopped? I doubt it.
These are just yearly snapshots.....
* September 2023 - 11 creations, average ~5,000 bytes per creation, largest 7,783 bytes
* September 2022 - 19 creations, average ~5,600 bytes per creation, largest 10,277 bytes
* September 2021 - 27 creations, average ~5,600 bytes per creation, largest 8,711 bytes
* September 2020 - 28 creations, average ~6,900 bytes per creation, largest 13,107 bytes
....but the pattern seems clear. Her productivity has been nose diving.
The fun part is asking why.
Harassment by evil people was hopefully a factor. A radical course of action surely embarked upon only when it became clear that Wikipedia had absolutely no intention of listening to and acting upon valid concerns with her editing. They falsely characterised this as harassment, and so I guess they invited her critics to become harassers. Remembering as they did that Jess Wade very early on responded to valid criticism with personal attacks, and faced no action.
Bizarrely, she was treated as if she were a victim. A sign of what would come next. Jess becoming the only Wikipedia editor in history who had a protective shield placed around her. No amount of evidence that she was a sub-standard editor who showed no ability or willingness to improve was sufficient to breach this bubble. Not even proof she showed a callous disregard for the BLP policy.
This wasn't as noble as it sounds. The Wikipedians had merely realised that for as long as an ignorant media didn't realise what was really going on, Wade's crusade would be excellent PR for Wikipedia. Proof it had changed, that it was inclusive now, and was fixing its gender gap. Obviously this wasn't universally welcomed by the rank and file, who preferred it if Wikipedia just stayed the same or genuinely fixed these thing the right way, but the sad reality of being a low ranking member of a cult, is that if the higher ups want something, you are powerless to stop it.
It is quite satisfying that it didn't really work out for these bastards. Wade didn't inspire people, and Wikipedia's brand is on a downward trajectory. Cheats never prosper.
The names of all those who protected her have been recorded. There will be consequences. Anyone making the argument that Wikipedia is just a private website so where's the harm, will suffer the indignity of having every single glowing press report of Wade's efforts, lauding her as a model editor and inspiration, printed out, rolled into a cylinder, and shoved right up their rectums. And believe me, it is long enough to make a kebab out of the corrupt fuckers.
The fascinating part is that I had always assumed it was her desperate desire to keep to her original ambitions goal of writing one article per day, that was behind her never ending litany of mistakes. She's a supposedly intelligent person, so the obvious explanation for her apparently not even catching typos and copy paste errors in her creations, was her not even having the time to proof read before hitting submit. It obviously also explains her many failures in sourcing and other issues that take a bit more time and effort to get right.
She was very clearly even ignoring basic tasks that are mandatory for ordinary unprotected editors. She does know how to add categories. She does know how to use wikilinks in her articles, and she does know how to wikilink her own creations from the wider encyclopedia. She just never does it. There are a group of sad bastards who silently trail in her wake fixing these things, not bothering Wade with a word of criticism. But it doesn't take long to find instances where they have failed to catch things. Not everyone has the time to log in to Wikipedia every single day for year after year.
That of course explains why they never bother to fix the hidden issues. The stuff that takes time to find and correct (but is always there), because it requires reading the article and its sources. For any other editor, that is considered their sole responsibility. Not Wade. She has never been corrected when she has often said that this is what collaboration on Wikipedia is all about. She poops, others clean it up. Nom nom nom.
So it is very bizarre indeed to see that even as she has been slowing down, and her creations are getting smaller, they still feature exactly the same mistakes.
So what is going on?
Clearly this isn't burnout. She did sustain her target rate of one article a day for an incredible length of time, years even. She really doesn't have a life it seems. Or at least didn't. How ironic would It be that it was the fame and opportunity that came with her exploitation of Wikipedia, that means she now has better things to be doing of an evening or weekend than hastily cobbling together Wikipedia pages?
It clearly Isn't a lack of women to write about. Even if it is getting harder to find missing women who are currently notable, which is doubtful, Wade's strategy of taking Wikipedia's academic notability standard literally and immediately creating a biography for any woman who is in receipt of a highly prestigious award or honor, or is made a fellow at an exclusive society, is appointed to a named chair or distinguished professorship, obtains a highest level Administrator post or becomes the Editor of a notable journal, is a hell of a lot of smart women becoming eligible for Wikipedia every year. And that covers just the easy wins. You can also add any woman who hits the news for having has a significant impact in research, teaching or just as an academic. The Royal Society alone elected 17 women fellows. Almost an entire month's work for Wade.
It isn't wholly explained by a theory I have where her employer eventually discovered that she was only capable of meeting this target of one article a day by spending significant amounts of her work time doing Wikipedia research, and told her to knock it off. She is on record as having said she would while away the time waiting for lab results this way. It kind of fits. Her production is down ~third, which is close to how much time I imagine she could have been devoting to it while at work.
It could be that she has a puppy. They take up a surprising amount of time, but are a heck of a lot more fun and far better for your mental health than Wikipedia. Even for Wade, in her protective bubble. That's pretty hilarious.
We will of course never know the reason if it is something that reflects poorly on Wade.
I'm definitely interested to know if she plans to level out, or indeed if there is something about the reason for her nose dive which means it is in fact, terminal.
Can she survive the landing? Will anyone even dare ask her why she stopped? I doubt it.