Interactive Map Shows Global Wikipedia Edits in Real-Time
May 15, 2013 | Julia Dawidowicz
With so many relying on Wikipedia as the definitive source of “truth” on EVERYTHING nowadays, we often have to remind ourselves that the site’s content is constantly being altered, erased, and reinvented by anyone who feels like it.
Now you can watch this reality manipulation in real-time with this interactive map created by California-based duo Stephen LaPorte and Mahmoud Hashemi. “The Wikipedia Recent Changes Map” actually only depicts about 15% of the article changes taking place around the world (unregistered user activity only), but it still offers an Orwellian glimpse into our global collective Wiki-consciousness. Click here and behold its flashing, hyper-connected glory.
To create these maps, data visualization specialist Olivier H. Beauchesne took to Wikipedia. Taking advantage of the site's optional geotagging feature, which allows you to associate a specific latitude and longitude to any article--the New Museum's entry could be linked to the Bowery, for example--Beauchesne first mapped every article on Wikipedia,…
Capital has traced a number of Wikipedia edits to entries surrounding police brutality -- including stop-and-frisk and the death of Eric Garner -- to computers on the network of One Police Plaza, the NYPD's headquarters. The crowdsourced encyclopedia is one of the most widely used sites on the web and…
When it was discovered that several members of the NYPD were editing entries around police brutality, including one about the death of Eric Garner, we assumed it would raise some alarms not just among the public, but within the NYPD as well. That doesn't seem to be the case, however.…
