FiveThirtyEight put together a neato chart of the 100 most edited Wikipedia articles—the segments of human life that, for some reason or other, have inspired the most meticulous care, the most nitpicking, the most sabotage. It's really interesting to see what stuff you guys choose to obsessively argue about.
Here's Mona Chalabi:
Many of these subjects are controversial, such as No. 24, global warming, and we can imagine Wikipedia editors in a never-ending tug-of-war. Others pages simply cover sprawling subjects — when will the No. 6 entry, "list of total drama characters," be complete?
George W. Bush has been by far the most contested article among Wikipedia editors: Through November 2013, the page had been revised 45,273 times. That's three revisions for every word in the article.
Not surprisingly, Bush isn't the only political figure to attract factual controversy. The Wikipedia entry on Barack Obama has been revised 23,514 times — just slightly ahead of Adolf Hitler (23,499 revisions). Ronald Reagan, Abraham Lincoln and Bill Clinton all make it into the top 100 (Sarah Palin falls just short, in 104th place).
What I find most fascinating is that there's a lot of stuff on the list that never ever crosses my mind in the least. Like, what is a "RuneScape"? What is an "Omnitrix alien" and why must you list them? Why is "List of WWE personnel" the NUMBER TWO thing people spend their time caring about? And who thinks about John Cena that much?* I love finding out about massive global obsessions that exist entirely in my blind spot.
Anyway, peruse the list!
And maybe we can make a list of our own: The 100 Wikipedia Articles that Could Use MORE Editing. I'll start: Could someone make a Wheel of Time wiki where you can select for which books you've already read, so that when I look up "who the fuck is Ahblahblah Sedai" or the millionth rando Aiel it doesn't say "DECEASED" or "ALIVE" right at the top?** Like, I love bickering over the nuances of Led Zeppelin as much as the next gal (NO I DON'T), but what about MY NEEDS.
Anyway, discuss.
*It's not entirely accurate to say that John Cena "never ever crosses my mind" because one time I had a topless romance dream about him and I DIDN'T MIND.
**I cannot believe my editor just lets me type sentences like that and put them up on the site. [Ed note: Why not? No shame in the Robert Jordan game.]