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Revision as of 19:04, 13 March 2007 editCasey Abell (talk | contribs)11,571 edits remove fact tag - references throughout the article, including the preceding paragraph, make it clear how widespread the reaction was← Previous edit Revision as of 19:59, 13 March 2007 edit undoDennyColt (talk | contribs)6,898 edits compromise version, both Wales & Sanger listed as "a founder"Next edit →
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Reaction to the disclosure was broad-based, encompassing commentary and articles in the electronic, print, and broadcast media, as well as within Misplaced Pages itself. Reaction to the disclosure was broad-based, encompassing commentary and articles in the electronic, print, and broadcast media, as well as within Misplaced Pages itself.


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| url = http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2007/03/01/8401010/index.htm?postversion=2007022710 | url = http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2007/03/01/8401010/index.htm?postversion=2007022710
| title = Misplaced Pages founder hunts for gold | title = Misplaced Pages founder hunts for gold
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===Misplaced Pages critics=== ===Misplaced Pages critics===
Editor-in-Chief of ] ] called Essjay's response as "a defiant non-apology"<ref name="Farewell, Misplaced Pages?">{{Cite web|url=http://www.webcitation.org/5NHN8wyHD|title=Farewell, Misplaced Pages?|accessdate=2007-03-12|publisher=The Register (U.K.)|year=2007-6-3|author=Andrew Orlowski}}</ref><ref name="Jimmy Wales’ latest response on the Essjay situation">{{Cite web|url=http://www.webcitation.org/5NHMyZ1JL|title=Jimmy Wales’ latest response on the Essjay situation|accessdate=2007-03-12|year=2007-3-3|author=Larry Sanger|work=Citizendium Blog}}</ref> and elsewhere characterized Essjay's actions as "identity fraud." Sanger and longtime Misplaced Pages critic ] harshly criticized Jimmy Wales for hiring Essjay at Wikia and appointing him to the Misplaced Pages ] after Essjay had apparently admitted his previously claimed academic and professional credentials were false.<ref name="Jimmy Wales’ latest response on the Essjay situation" /><ref name="Bogus Misplaced Pages Prof. was blessed then promoted" /> ''The Register'' said Essjay's actions betrayed a dangerous community mindset within Misplaced Pages, stating, "Wikipedians have plainly become a very insular group: they have their own mores and requirements, which are completely independent of the real world. Indeed, that's what this story is about, after all: real-world identities and credentials are rejected as unnecessary by Misplaced Pages."<ref name="Blog Insights: Misplaced Pages's great fraud">{{Cite web|url=http://www.webcitation.org/5NHLsGxze|title=Blog Insights: Misplaced Pages's great fraud|accessdate=2007-03-12|publisher=ITworld|year=2007-3-6|author=Dan Blacharski}}</ref><ref name="Bogus Misplaced Pages Prof. was blessed then promoted">{{Cite web|url=http://www.webcitation.org/5NHQHjez0|title=Bogus Misplaced Pages Prof. was blessed then promoted|accessdate=2007-03-02|publisher=The Register (U.K.)|year=2007-6-3|author=Andrew Orlowski}}</ref><ref name="http://blog.citizendium.org/2007/03/01/wikipedia-firmly-supports-your-right-to-identity-fraud/">{{Cite web|url=http://www.webcitation.org/5NHMqMXEC|title=Misplaced Pages firmly supports your right to identity fraud|accessdate=2007-03-12|year=2007-3-1|author=Larry Sanger|work=Citizendium Blog}}</ref> ], Editor-in-Chief of ] and a founder of Misplaced Pages, called Essjay's response as "a defiant non-apology"<ref name="Farewell, Misplaced Pages?">{{Cite web|url=http://www.webcitation.org/5NHN8wyHD|title=Farewell, Misplaced Pages?|accessdate=2007-03-12|publisher=The Register (U.K.)|year=2007-6-3|author=Andrew Orlowski}}</ref><ref name="Jimmy Wales’ latest response on the Essjay situation">{{Cite web|url=http://www.webcitation.org/5NHMyZ1JL|title=Jimmy Wales’ latest response on the Essjay situation|accessdate=2007-03-12|year=2007-3-3|author=Larry Sanger|work=Citizendium Blog}}</ref> and elsewhere characterized Essjay's actions as "identity fraud." Sanger and longtime Misplaced Pages critic ] harshly criticized Jimmy Wales for hiring Essjay at Wikia and appointing him to the Misplaced Pages ] after Essjay had apparently admitted his previously claimed academic and professional credentials were false.<ref name="Jimmy Wales’ latest response on the Essjay situation" /><ref name="Bogus Misplaced Pages Prof. was blessed then promoted" /> ''The Register'' said Essjay's actions betrayed a dangerous community mindset within Misplaced Pages, stating, "Wikipedians have plainly become a very insular group: they have their own mores and requirements, which are completely independent of the real world. Indeed, that's what this story is about, after all: real-world identities and credentials are rejected as unnecessary by Misplaced Pages."<ref name="Blog Insights: Misplaced Pages's great fraud">{{Cite web|url=http://www.webcitation.org/5NHLsGxze|title=Blog Insights: Misplaced Pages's great fraud|accessdate=2007-03-12|publisher=ITworld|year=2007-3-6|author=Dan Blacharski}}</ref><ref name="Bogus Misplaced Pages Prof. was blessed then promoted">{{Cite web|url=http://www.webcitation.org/5NHQHjez0|title=Bogus Misplaced Pages Prof. was blessed then promoted|accessdate=2007-03-02|publisher=The Register (U.K.)|year=2007-6-3|author=Andrew Orlowski}}</ref><ref name="http://blog.citizendium.org/2007/03/01/wikipedia-firmly-supports-your-right-to-identity-fraud/">{{Cite web|url=http://www.webcitation.org/5NHMqMXEC|title=Misplaced Pages firmly supports your right to identity fraud|accessdate=2007-03-12|year=2007-3-1|author=Larry Sanger|work=Citizendium Blog}}</ref>
Internet activist ] said that Misplaced Pages "fundamentally runs by an extremely deceptive sort of social promise," of which he claims Essjay is a product. Dan Blacharsk of ''ITworld'' wrote, "Legitimate writers, scholars and industry experts have very little motivation to contribute to Misplaced Pages – leaving the project with wannabes and posers like Essjay with too much time on their hands to churn out content."<ref name="Blog Insights: Misplaced Pages's great fraud">{{Cite web|url=http://www.webcitation.org/5NHLsGxze|title=Blog Insights: Misplaced Pages's great fraud|accessdate=2007-03-12|publisher=ITworld|year=2007-3-6|author=Dan Blacharski}}</ref><ref name="http://sethf.com/infothought/blog/archives/001157.html">{{Cite web|url=http://www.webcitation.org/5NHRJBtrx|title=What The New Yorker Article Fraud Tells Us About Misplaced Pages|accessdate=2007-03-12|publisher=Seth Finkelstein|year=2007-03-01|author=Seth Finkelstein}}</ref> Finkelstein also described attracting contributors to Misplaced Pages as selling a dream of getting academic prestige by working for free, letting Wikia investors reap the rewards and with "Essjay" as "that dream's poster child." Finkelstein saw Essjay as having been encouraged by Misplaced Pages to play out a detailed fantasy role along with "a cadre of acolytes willing to devote their lives (without payment) to the organisation's projects."<ref name="Guardian"/> Internet activist ] said that Misplaced Pages "fundamentally runs by an extremely deceptive sort of social promise," of which he claims Essjay is a product. Dan Blacharsk of ''ITworld'' wrote, "Legitimate writers, scholars and industry experts have very little motivation to contribute to Misplaced Pages – leaving the project with wannabes and posers like Essjay with too much time on their hands to churn out content."<ref name="Blog Insights: Misplaced Pages's great fraud">{{Cite web|url=http://www.webcitation.org/5NHLsGxze|title=Blog Insights: Misplaced Pages's great fraud|accessdate=2007-03-12|publisher=ITworld|year=2007-3-6|author=Dan Blacharski}}</ref><ref name="http://sethf.com/infothought/blog/archives/001157.html">{{Cite web|url=http://www.webcitation.org/5NHRJBtrx|title=What The New Yorker Article Fraud Tells Us About Misplaced Pages|accessdate=2007-03-12|publisher=Seth Finkelstein|year=2007-03-01|author=Seth Finkelstein}}</ref> Finkelstein also described attracting contributors to Misplaced Pages as selling a dream of getting academic prestige by working for free, letting Wikia investors reap the rewards and with "Essjay" as "that dream's poster child." Finkelstein saw Essjay as having been encouraged by Misplaced Pages to play out a detailed fantasy role along with "a cadre of acolytes willing to devote their lives (without payment) to the organisation's projects."<ref name="Guardian"/>


Revision as of 19:59, 13 March 2007

Timeline
  • July 31, 2006: The New Yorker publishes story about Misplaced Pages by Schiff.
  • January 2007: Essjay hired by Wikia.
  • January 7, 2007: Essjay posts autobiographical details on his user page at Wikia, giving his name, age, previous employment history from age 19, and positions within various Wikimedia Foundation projects. These details differ sharply from previous assertions on Essjay's Misplaced Pages user page about his academic and professional credentials.
  • February 23, 2007: Wales announces his appointment of Essjay to Misplaced Pages's Arbitration Committee.
  • February 28, 2007: Radar Online notes the fact correction appended to the The New Yorker article.
  • March 3, 2007:
    • Wales issues a statement on his user talk page at Misplaced Pages.
    • Essjay announces his retirement from Misplaced Pages on his user talk page at Misplaced Pages.
  • March 5, 2007: Story covered by the New York Times.
  • March 6, 2007: Story featured on World News with Charles Gibson.
  • March 7, 2007: Story covered in an Associated Press article picked up by over 100 media outlets listed in Google news cache.

The Essjay controversy arose in February 2007 after The New Yorker magazine reported that prominent English Misplaced Pages editor and administrator Essjay, who was also briefly employed at Wikia, had posted false information on his Misplaced Pages userpage about his age, background, and academic credentials. Although Essjay had claimed to hold doctoral degrees in theology and canon law as a tenured professor at a private university, he was in fact a community college dropout from the U.S. state of Kentucky and had relied on sources such as Catholicism for Dummies when editing articles. The discrepancy in credentials was brought to wide public attention when The New Yorker attached an editorial note to a July 2006 article about Misplaced Pages, for which Essjay had been interviewed.

Reaction to the disclosure was broad-based, encompassing commentary and articles in the electronic, print, and broadcast media, as well as within Misplaced Pages itself.

, a Misplaced Pages founder and president of Wikia ] initially showed support for Essjay's use of a pseudonym by stating, "I regard it as a pseudonym and I don’t really have a problem with it." However, upon realizing that Essjay cited his pseudonym's credentials in the context of discussing article content, Wales asked for Essjay's resignation from both his volunteer roles on Misplaced Pages and his paid job as Community Manager at Wikia. In March 2007, Essjay announced his retirement from Misplaced Pages.

New Yorker interview

Following a recommendation from the Wikimedia Foundation, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Stacy Schiff interviewed Essjay as a source for a New Yorker article about Misplaced Pages ("Know It All" July 31, 2006). According to the New Yorker, "he was willing to describe his work as a Misplaced Pages administrator but would not identify himself other than by confirming the biographical details that appeared on his user page." The New Yorker article described Essjay's academic credentials as including two doctorates.

At the end of February 2007, the New Yorker updated the article with a correction indicating that "Essjay" had subsequently identified himself as Ryan Jordan. The New Yorker further stated, "he was described in the piece as 'a tenured professor of religion at a private university' with 'a Ph.D. in theology and a degree in canon law.' Essjay now says that his real name is Ryan Jordan, that he is twenty-four and holds no advanced degrees, and that he has never taught." According to Essjay these credentials were part of an online persona he had created, in part, to avoid cyberstalking.

Jordan later bragged on his Misplaced Pages user page about having fooled Schiff by "doing a good job playing the part." Essjay also claimed to have used his persona's credentials to vouch for Misplaced Pages's accuracy in a letter he sent to a college professor. According to the Vancouver daily paper 24 Hours, activist and Misplaced Pages critic Daniel Brandt had discovered the Essjay/Ryan Jordan connection and reported this to The New Yorker.

The Courier-Journal of Louisville, Kentucky, reported that Jordan had attended but never graduated from Centre College and Bluegrass Community and Technical College (formerly known as Lexington Community College). The paper also stated that despite his claim to have had a three-month special position with a United States bankruptcy trustee, the office had no record that Jordan ever worked there.

Reaction

Misplaced Pages community

Speaking personally about Jordan, Wales said, “Mr. Ryan was a friend, and still is a friend. He is a young man, and he has offered me a heartfelt personal apology, which I have accepted. I hope the world will let him go in peace to build an honorable life and reputation.”

Essjay had promptly responded to the controversy with a statement on his Misplaced Pages user talk page, in part reading:

…I *am* sorry if anyone in the Misplaced Pages community has been hurt by my decision to use disinformation to protect myself. I'm not sorry that I protected myself; I believed, and continue to believe, that I was right to protect myself, in light of the problems encountered on the internet in these trying times. I have spoken to all of my close friends here about this, and have heard resoundingly that they understand my position, and they support me. Jimbo and many others in Misplaced Pages's hierarchy have made thier support known as well…

Reaction from within the Misplaced Pages community was sharp but mixed. While most editors denounced at least some aspects of his behavior, responses ranged from offering complete support to accusing Jordan of "plain and simple fraud."

As the controversy unfolded the Misplaced Pages community began a review of Essjay's previous edits and discovered evidence he had relied upon his fictional professorship to influence editorial consideration of edits he made. "People have gone through his edits and found places where he was basically cashing in on his fake credentials to bolster his arguments," said Michael Snow, a Misplaced Pages administrator and founder of the Misplaced Pages community newspaper, The Misplaced Pages Signpost. "Those will get looked at again."

Wales was "...reported to be considering vetting all persons who adjudicate on factual disputes." "I don't think this incident exposes any inherent weakness in Misplaced Pages, but it does expose a weakness that we will be working to address," Wales added. He reportedly insisted that Misplaced Pages editors still would be able to remain anonymous if they wished. "We always prefer to give a positive incentive rather than absolute prohibition, so that people can contribute without a lot of hassle", Wales commented. However, he also warned that “It's always inappropriate to try to win an argument by flashing your credentials, and even more so if those credentials are inaccurate.” Wales reportedly "...expects contributors to the site who claim certain credentials will soon have to prove they really have them." However Florence Devouard, chair of the Wikimedia Foundation (which is no longer headed by Wales), was not supportive of his credential proposal, saying, "I think what matters is the quality of the content, which we can improve by enforcing policies such as ‘cite your source,’ not the quality of credentials showed by an editor." Vigourous debate over how to improve Misplaced Pages continues.

Misplaced Pages critics

Larry Sanger, Editor-in-Chief of Citizendium and a founder of Misplaced Pages, called Essjay's response as "a defiant non-apology" and elsewhere characterized Essjay's actions as "identity fraud." Sanger and longtime Misplaced Pages critic Andrew Orlowski harshly criticized Jimmy Wales for hiring Essjay at Wikia and appointing him to the Misplaced Pages arbitration committee after Essjay had apparently admitted his previously claimed academic and professional credentials were false. The Register said Essjay's actions betrayed a dangerous community mindset within Misplaced Pages, stating, "Wikipedians have plainly become a very insular group: they have their own mores and requirements, which are completely independent of the real world. Indeed, that's what this story is about, after all: real-world identities and credentials are rejected as unnecessary by Misplaced Pages." Internet activist Seth Finkelstein said that Misplaced Pages "fundamentally runs by an extremely deceptive sort of social promise," of which he claims Essjay is a product. Dan Blacharsk of ITworld wrote, "Legitimate writers, scholars and industry experts have very little motivation to contribute to Misplaced Pages – leaving the project with wannabes and posers like Essjay with too much time on their hands to churn out content." Finkelstein also described attracting contributors to Misplaced Pages as selling a dream of getting academic prestige by working for free, letting Wikia investors reap the rewards and with "Essjay" as "that dream's poster child." Finkelstein saw Essjay as having been encouraged by Misplaced Pages to play out a detailed fantasy role along with "a cadre of acolytes willing to devote their lives (without payment) to the organisation's projects."

Academics

On March 2, 2007, a report in The Chronicle of Higher Education said "the incident is clearly damaging to Misplaced Pages's credibility – especially with professors who will now note that one of the site's most visible academics has turned out to be a fraud."

However, lecturer Nicola Pratt of the University of East Anglia stated, "The ethos of Misplaced Pages is that anyone can contribute, regardless of status . . . What's relevant is their knowledge as judged by other readers, not whether they are professors or not – and the fact the student was exposed shows it works."

See also

References

  1. ^ Wolfson, Andrew (March 6 2007). "Misplaced Pages editor who posed as professor is Ky. dropout". Local News. The Courier-Journal. Retrieved 2007-03-06. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ Goldman, Russell (March 6 2007). "Wikiscandal: A Prominent Editor at the Popular Online Encyclopedia Is a Fraud". ABC News. Retrieved 2007-03-06. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ Schiff, Stacy (July 24 2006). "Can Misplaced Pages conquer expertise?". Know It All. The New Yorker. Retrieved 2007-03-06. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. McNichol, Tom (February 27 2007). "Misplaced Pages founder hunts for gold". CNN. Retrieved 2007-03-13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. Ratcliffe, Mitch (March 5, 2007), Misplaced Pages: Why does Essjay need to “protect himself”?, Zdnet.com. Retrieved March 7, 2007
  6. Zaharov-Reutt, Alex (March 2 2007). "Misplaced Pages: did one of its admins lie?". iTWire. Retrieved 2007-03-06. Essjay's entire Misplaced Pages life was conducted with only a user name; anonymity is common for Misplaced Pages administrators and contributors, and he says that he feared personal retribution from those he had ruled against online. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ Finkelstein, Seth (March 8 2007). "Read me first". Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive. The Guardian. Retrieved 2007-03-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Text "Guardian Unlimited Technology" ignored (help); Text "Technology" ignored (help) Cite error: The named reference "Guardian" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  8. King, Ian (March 2 2007). "A Wiki web they've woven". King’s Corner. 24 Hours. Retrieved 2007-03-06. Veteran Wikipeida critic Daniel Brandt of wikipedia-watch.org first dug up details of Jordan's bamboozling of both Wikipedians and the New Yorker, leading to the magazine running a correction this week, admitting it had been had. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. Doran, James (March 8 2007). "Misplaced Pages Editor Out After False Credentials Revealed". Fox News > Technology. Fox News. Retrieved 2007-03-09. Mr. Ryan was a friend, and still is a friend. He is a young man, and he has offered me a heartfelt personal apology, which I have accepted. I hope the world will let him go in peace to build an honorable life and reputation. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. Keen, Andrew. "Laughter and forgetting on Misplaced Pages", ZDNet -- Where technology means business. Retrieved on 2007-03-09.
  11. ^ Cohen, Noam (March 5 2007). "A Contributor to Misplaced Pages Has His Fictional Side". Technology. The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-03-06. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. Staff (March 7 2007). "Misplaced Pages's 'bogus' editor ousted". Freelance UK. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. Doran, James (March 8 2007). "Misplaced Pages chief promises change after 'expert' exposed as fraud". Times Online UK. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. Bergstein, Brian (March 7 2007). "Misplaced Pages to seek proof of credentials". Associated Press. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. Williams, Martyn (2007-03-09). "Misplaced Pages Founder Addresses User Credentials". PC World. Retrieved 2007-03-09. See User:Jimbo Wales/Credential Verification and its talk page for additional information.
  16. Cohen, Noam (March 12 2007). "After False Claim, Misplaced Pages to Check Degrees". Technology. The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-03-12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. Andrew Orlowski (2007-6-3). "Farewell, Misplaced Pages?". The Register (U.K.). Retrieved 2007-03-12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  18. ^ Larry Sanger (2007-3-3). "Jimmy Wales' latest response on the Essjay situation". Citizendium Blog. Retrieved 2007-03-12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  19. ^ Andrew Orlowski (2007-6-3). "Bogus Misplaced Pages Prof. was blessed then promoted". The Register (U.K.). Retrieved 2007-03-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  20. ^ Dan Blacharski (2007-3-6). "Blog Insights: Misplaced Pages's great fraud". ITworld. Retrieved 2007-03-12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  21. Larry Sanger (2007-3-1). "Misplaced Pages firmly supports your right to identity fraud". Citizendium Blog. Retrieved 2007-03-12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  22. Seth Finkelstein (2007-03-01). "What The New Yorker Article Fraud Tells Us About Misplaced Pages". Seth Finkelstein. Retrieved 2007-03-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
  23. Read, Brock (March 2 2007). "Essjay, the Ersatz Academic". The Chronicle of Higher Education. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  24. MacLeod, Donald (March 7 2007). "Students marked on writing in Misplaced Pages". The Guardian. Retrieved 2007-03-13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Text "E-Learning" ignored (help); Text "EducationGuardian.co.uk" ignored (help)
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