Find out who’s saying what on Wikipedia with WikiScanner
When I first heard about Wikiscanner in the news, my first reaction was to laugh out loud and say to myself “that’s one-nil to the underdog!”
That’s because I like and root for the underdog. I despise powerful people and companies who think that because of their position, they can flout the law, be unethical, and generally do what they like (so by that rationale, the entire Bush Administration is at the top of my shitlist along with Ann Coulter). So when I heard about how Wikiscanner had caught people falsifying their Wikipedia profiles, the ensuing fallouts instantly made my day.
At Wikiscanner, you can get a complete list of everyone who has made edits to a particular article and what edits have been made.
Here are some examples of who has been caught out by Wikiscanner so far :
# Microsoft tried to cover up the XBOX 360 failure rate.
# In the 9/11 Wikipedia article, the NRA added that “Iraq was involved in 9/11″
# Exxon Mobil edits spillages and eco-system destruction from oil spillages article.
# Scientology removes criticism and negatives article from Scientology page.
# Dog breeding association deletes whole paragraphs about fatal attacks by dogs on humans.
# Fox News removes all controversial topics against the network from the Fox News page.
# Walmart removes criticism of outsourcing work. The retailer also changes negative paragraphs of underpaid workforce.
# Someone at Reuters calls Bush “a mass murderer”.
# Coca Cola removes negative content about its effects.
# US University adds the “prestigious” adjective to its page.
Which just goes to show that what happens at Wikipedia does NOT stay in Wikipedia!
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