A look at the top 10 most-edited articles on the English-language Wikipedia from May 26 through June 1, according to the handy Wikirage edit-monitoring online tool.
- Article: Britain’s Got Talent
Why:The British (which I assume means original) version of Sim Cowell’s other show wrapped up on May 31.
Detail: The show as won by angelic-faced 14-year-old “street dancer” George Sampson. To see his final performance, click here (actual dancing begins at about 1:50). And apparently vandalism has been bad enough that the article is locked until June 3. - Article: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Why: The new Indy flick may not be all that good, but that doesn’t seem to have diminished its popularity much.
Detail: Thousands of words have been spilled on the Talk page about the supposed original Lucas script and title, Indiana Jones and the Saucer Men from Mars. Visit that page quick, because it will probably be deleted within the week. Also of note, this was probably the top-most edited article last week but I’m pretty sure my clumsiness denied it that title, and it merely made the #2 slot. Either way, it’s the first time since this series started that any article has been in the same slot in consecutive weeks. - Article: Phoenix (spacecraft)
Why: The much-celebrated unmanned space probe landed on Mars to much fanfare on May 25.
Detail: NASA typically makes many photos and details available about its grander projects, which makes for highly informative, highly detailed Wikipedia articles. - Article: Eurovision Song Contest 2009
Why: Making its second appearance on the list, following its (possibly erroneous) #1 showing last week.
Detail: Not much seems to have changed since last week, except someone has added a really cool map. One thing I failed to note last week is that this page is about an event that won’t be held until next May; the 2008 version just wrapped up. That’s something, all right. Many of these pages document ongoing events, but I think this is the first time we’ve seen an article show up about an event so far in the future. - Article: D. B. Cooper
Why: The article about the mysterious hijacker was the Featured Article on May 30.
Detail: It’s more than thirty years later, but there are still enough claims about Cooper’s identity and whereabouts for Wikipedians to argue about the details almost indefinitely. - Article: The Strangers
Why: I’d never heard of it until now, but apparently it’s a horror film released just this weekend.
Detail: The same thing happened in the fifth edition of this series, with the film Prom Night. Like the mixed martial arts and professional wrestling events (to say nothing of the reality TV shows) that have made this list recently, the lowbrow are as drawn to Wikipedia as anyone. - Article: Deaths in 2008
Why:
Detail: Passing this week: Director and actor Sydney Pollack, Blazing Saddles actor Harvey Korman, Star Trek producer Robert Justman, and you remember that movie, Lorenzo’s Oil? The real Lorenzo Odone passed away at age 30 in Fairfax, Virginia — living 20 years longer than doctors would have thought. Oh, and Australia’s most infamous female child murderer. - Article: Nepal
Why: When the week began, the South Asian country was a monarchy, and now it’s a democracy. Then again, the Maoists won, so it’s debatable how much progress they made.
Detail: The change in form of government raised numerous questions among Wikipedia editors, among them whether a new article titled Kingdom of Nepal was needed, or whether the current page should be moved to Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal. So far, the answer is no to both. - Article: 2008 Sichuan earthquake
Why: The earthquake in China isn’t making front page headlines in the United States anymore, but it’s still making news.
Detail: This article fell off the list last week, after being the #2 entry in our eighth edition. - Article: Eurovision Song Contest 2008
Why: This is the contest just concluded, and the first time we’re seeing it here. Strange how the 2009 contest has ranked higher than the current one.
Detail:
Holdovers this week: Eurovision Song Contest 2009, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Deaths in 2008 (probable).
Falling off the list: Stanley Cup, Dima Bilan, Eurovision Song Contest, UFC 84, Union of South American Nations, Rob Knox, Lion and Manuel Marulanda.
Recurring themes: Reality TV shows by Simon Cowell or competitions similar to Simon Cowell’s reality TV shows, natural disasters, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
Honorable mention: Sydney Pollack, who came in at #11 and would have made the list if I had anything to say about it. I suppose I could have made a lot of tiny little changes to the page in hopes of propping it up, but by the time I knew it was too late. Oh, and I wouldn’t actually recommend doing so.
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