Misplaced Pages

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Revision as of 15:18, 22 August 2007 editEdokter (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users55,830 edits Reverting 2 edits by Eyrian. That's a little too bold. Let's actually talk about it first.← Previous edit Revision as of 15:19, 22 August 2007 edit undoEyrian (talk | contribs)10,448 edits rv; I suggest you actually read the talkNext edit →
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===Of lesser importance===


====In comics====
{| class="prettytable sortable"
! width="16%" | Date
! width="22%" | Title
! width="62%" | Notes

|- valign="top"
| 2006-08-16
| ''''']'', Week 15'''
| Fictional "Ballostro" article. ] mentions to his assistant to "wiki out the word rumoured" upon seeing it attack ].

|- valign="top"
| 2006-09-07
| ''''']'''''
| ] article.

|- valign="top"
| 2007-04-20
| ''''']'''''
| ]
{{-}} Bucky Katt looks at a vanity article about himself and his fictitious album, and shows the "evidence" to Satchel Pooch.

|- valign="top"
| 2007-04-29
| '']''
| ] Danae introduces Lucy the horse to Misplaced Pages, by editing the site to note her fictious win for "Most Brilliant and Beautious Girl". Lucy complains, but is satisfied when Danae adds a prize for "Most Beautious Horse".
|- valign="top"
| July 2007
| '']'' #1<br><small>(])
| The lead character mentions the wikipedia as describing him as a "one-time actor".

|}

====In television episodes====
{| class="prettytable sortable"
! width="16%" | Date
! width="22%" | Title
! width="62%" | Notes

|- valign="top"
| 2007-08-04
| ''''']''''': "]"
| In the episode "]", when Shawn is explaining his theory of the crime, Gus weighs in with a factoid about an obscure indigenous tribe. Shawn applauds Gus' knowledge of the subject with the line, "Gus shoots and scores! ...with an assist from Misplaced Pages."

|- valign="top"
| 2007-08-04
| ''''']'''''
| Michelle Kitt is asked the question, "The Hawaiian word for 'quick' is prominently featured in the name of which online encyclopedia?" She answers, "Wiki...Misplaced Pages" and is judged incorrect.

|- valign="top"
| 2007-01-23
| ''''']''''': "]"
| The television show references Misplaced Pages in the episode when ] looks up the origins of the color ].

|- valign="top"
| 2007-02-01
| ''''']''''': "]"
| ], having heard ] mention '']'', says that he used Misplaced Pages to confirm his suspicions over the term's meaning.

|- valign="top"
| 2007-02-18
| ''''']''''': "]"
| After uncovering a plot involving peanut butter and the Civil War, ] says "If only there was a place where you could make outrageous claims, without any proof, and millions of people would accept it as fact...", and the episode cuts to his son ] editing ''The Truth about Peanut Butter''.

|-valign="top"
| 2007-04-05
| ''''']''''': "]"
| For salary negotiations with ], ] gets negotiations help from Misplaced Pages. He then states in an interview that "Misplaced Pages is the best thing ever. Anyone in the world can write anything they want about any subject, so you know you are getting the best possible information." As a result of the episode, Misplaced Pages had to lock-down editing of the ] article.<ref>http://news.yahoo.com/s/eonline/20070412/en_tv_eo/fc0414659360_4cc5_bcca_b5017c71f98c</ref>

|- valign="top"
| 2007-05-24
| ''''']''''', episode 265
| Misplaced Pages founder ] appears as a guest on the show hosted by ] on ]. They discuss Colbert's vandalism of Misplaced Pages and his telling of his viewers to vandalize various pages. Several articles, such as ], ] and ] are locked to prevent ] shortly after the episode airs. On the show, Wales jokes that he may have to lock down the entire Spanish-language Misplaced Pages for a few days because of Colbert's comment that perhaps it should learn English.

|- valign="top"
| 2007-05-25
| ''''']'''''
| Maher jokingly claims to have used Misplaced Pages in researching the misdeeds of past ] to find examples that support ]'s assertion that the ] is the ].

|- valign="top"
| 2007-08-05
| ''''']''''', episode 7
| McDonald says that "Misplaced Pages is one of the most trusted websites in the world" and that, according to ], Misplaced Pages was founded by ] in 1673.

|}

====Radio====

{| class="prettytable sortable"
! width="10%" | Date
! width="16%" | Title
! width="56%" | Notes
! width="18%" | Relevance

|- valign="top"
| 2006-11-04
| ''''']'''''
| ] played the "Not My Job" game (renamed for the occasion "It must be true... I read it on Misplaced Pages"). He is asked three questions about Misplaced Pages trivia on the ] and ], ] and ]. Wales recalls the Banana Splits with fondness and then proceeds to get all three questions wrong.<ref> November 11, 2006</ref>
|First reference to Misplaced Pages in a radio series.
|- valign="top"
| 2007-06-15
| ''''']''''' - BBC
| ] referred to mistakes made on Misplaced Pages. He later said that he once saw a mistake on his article that stated he was a year younger than he was, but he liked the error as it made him look younger. As a result, he says that whenever someone corrects the article, he sets the year wrong again to make him look younger again. As a result, the article was locked after the show was broadcast.
|
|- valign="top"
| 2007-07-24
| ''''']''''' - BBC
| ] asks whether Misplaced Pages is a valuable source of human knowledge or a symptom of the spread of mediocrity. This was also made into a ] between ] and ] by the BBC.
|
|}


==Contextual== ==Contextual==


===Citations of Misplaced Pages in culture=== ===Citations of Misplaced Pages in culture===

In the ] cartoon '']'', ] mentions that "'Kipedia said ] was the way to go" in reference to the type of nails used to ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hrwiki.org/index.php/No_Hands_On_Deck%21 |title=No Hands On Deck! |accessmonthday= ] |accessyear=] |year=2006 |work=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.homestarrunner.com/deck.html |title=No Hands On Deck! |accessmonthday= ] |accessyear=] |year=2006 |author=] |coauthors=] |work=}}</ref> At the time the cartoon was released, the Misplaced Pages article on decks made no reference to nails or vulcanization.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/search/?title=Deck_%28building%29&oldid=63676894 |title=Deck (building) |accessmonthday= ] |accessyear=] |year=2006 |work= |language=English}}</ref>

The cartoon '']'' features Peter being criticized by his teacher for copying a homework assignment directly from Misplaced Pages. Peter replies, "Who's to say I didn't write the Misplaced Pages entry myself?"


During a debate on Québécois nationhood in the ] on ], ], Conservative ] ] mentioned Misplaced Pages.<ref>, November 27, 2006.</ref> During a debate on Québécois nationhood in the ] on ], ], Conservative ] ] mentioned Misplaced Pages.<ref>, November 27, 2006.</ref>
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An altmuslim.com review of a new television series, '']'', about terrorists noted that the characters routinely gave detailed background of events in the history of Islam and stated, "no one, and I assume even terrorists, talks like a walking Misplaced Pages."<ref name="sleeping cell">{{cite web | first = Wajahat | last = Ali | url = http://www.altmuslim.com/perm.php?id=1629_0_25_0_C | title = Sleeping Cell | publisher = altmuslim.com | date = 2006-01-16 }} </ref> An altmuslim.com review of a new television series, '']'', about terrorists noted that the characters routinely gave detailed background of events in the history of Islam and stated, "no one, and I assume even terrorists, talks like a walking Misplaced Pages."<ref name="sleeping cell">{{cite web | first = Wajahat | last = Ali | url = http://www.altmuslim.com/perm.php?id=1629_0_25_0_C | title = Sleeping Cell | publisher = altmuslim.com | date = 2006-01-16 }} </ref>


===Games that can be played on Misplaced Pages===

Games can be played using the Misplaced Pages website, usually consisting of travelling from a "start article" to a "finish article" using ]s. ] coined the term WikiGroaning to satirize undue weight between Misplaced Pages articles as judged by the size of an article on a trivial pop culture subject such as a Pokemon character versus the size of an article on a serious academic subject such as an ancient king.<ref> {{cite web | url = http://www.somethingawful.com/d/news/wikigroaning.php | title = WikiGroaning }} </ref>

===Miscellaneous===

Misplaced Pages is parodied at several websites, including ] and ].

In the July 2006 issue of '']'', in the Fundalini pages section there was a short joke with a mock picture of Misplaced Pages called "WonkyPedia." WonkyPedia featured its own logo, in which the letters on the puzzle globe were replaced with MAD characters and the letters M A D. The article shown was on Lincoln's assassination. The HTTP address followed the appropriate pattern: "<nowiki>http://en.wonkypedia.org/wonky/</nowiki>". The same parody returned in the next issue as "Wakipedia". The phrase it advertised was "The 💕 (you get what you pay for!)".

Likewise, ''CRACKED.com'', the online publication affiliated with former ''Mad'' rival '']'', has satirized Misplaced Pages's ].<ref>{{cite web|
url=http://www.cracked.com/?name=News&sid=1293|title=More Accurate Misplaced Pages Warnings|accessmonthday= ] |accessyear=]|author=Sack, Brian|year=2006|work=}}</ref>

In the American version of '']'', Misplaced Pages is a selectable ], equippable by the game's characters to learn skills.<ref></ref><ref></ref>

On the TV show '']'', Misplaced Pages was mentioned on one episode.

On the ], ] episode of '']'', ]er ] called in and complained that his parents had read about a stunt that he did for the show, that involved him measuring his penis, on Misplaced Pages (which he called "Wackipedia"). Stern read the ] on the air. Also, ] commented on the air he and the ''Stern Show'' staff enjoy the picture of Lynch in this article.

In May 2006, British chat show host ] received an inquiry from a viewer regarding information given on his Misplaced Pages page, to which he responded, "Misplaced Pages? Sounds like a skin disease."

On the show '']'', ] looked at the Misplaced Pages article of ], and then looked at the article on their show. After reading it, the logo in the top left corner of the page spoke to Morgan in typical X-Play fashion. It also pointed out that since the show's inception, they have made 337 fart jokes. When asked why it could talk the logo stated that Misplaced Pages had become ] in 2004 due to the massive amounts of information provided by the public.

On the ] network program '']'', during the "Reality Show Clip Time!" segment a clip of '']'' was shown in which someone mentioned ] as a point of research on ], ], to make fun of this, host ] said "Well at least it's better than saying 'Misplaced Pages Misplaced Pages Misplaced Pages'"

] once featured Misplaced Pages's article on ] as an ALOD (Awful Link of the Day), satirizing the amount of detail that sometimes goes into seemingly irrelevant topics. The link description adds that the article at the time was longer than each of the articles about ], the ], the ], ] and ]. The topic was also satirized in the front page, which featured a fake Misplaced Pages style article about ] from the TV series ] written by Something Awful contributor ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.somethingawful.com/index.php?a=4103 |title=Quantum Geek |accessmonthday= ] |accessyear=] |year=2006 |author=] |work=}}</ref> Thorpe elsewhere linked the existence of such articles to ], stating "Don't make fun of Aspergers. If it weren't for Aspergers, we wouldn't have 20-page Misplaced Pages articles about ]."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.somethingawful.com/index.php?a=4107&p=12 |title=Return to the Science Fair, page 12 |accessmonthday= ] |accessyear=] |author=Parsons, Zack |coauthors=] |year=2006 |work= |publisher=}}</ref> Misplaced Pages was also mocked in a December 4 update on Something Awful. The update detailed the life of a talk page on Misplaced Pages, and mocked the neutrality, copyright, naming, quality, and personal disputes that the pages are beholden to. The update also linked Misplaced Pages usage to Aspergers once more, with one fictional editor claiming to have a case of the syndrome twice as powerful as that of another fictional editor.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.somethingawful.com/index.php?a=4288 |title=The Dark Side of Misplaced Pages |accessmonthday= ] |accessyear=] |author=Parsons, Zack |year=December 4, 2006 |publisher=}}</ref>

The comic strip ] has mentioned Misplaced Pages a few times.

Misplaced Pages was mentioned on ].

Comedian ] claimed to look himself up on Misplaced Pages in an interview with ],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://badgerherald.com/artsetc/2007/03/22/comedian_galifianaki.php |title=The Badger Herald |accessmonthday= ] |accessyear=] |year=2007}}</ref> stating about himself, "...I’m looking at Misplaced Pages right now. Half Greek, half redneck, around 6-foot-4. And that’s about it... The 6-foot-4 thing may be a little bit off. Actually, it’s 4-foot-6."

On the ] a guest said that he just used Misplaced Pages to look up the ages of the girls in the ] movie.

In a recent ] video entitled Food Battle 2007 Ian and Anthony have a fight and see which is better as a squeegee Celery or Pink Frosted sprinkled dough nuts and Ian exclaims "I have you beat here Anthony cause if you spent more time on Misplaced Pages as I do you would know that before dough nuts were for eating they were squeegee's" then later you see him make a mess with his dough nut and he mumbles to himself "Misplaced Pages...bastards" showing how anyone can edit anything on wikipedia.

== Misplaced Pages in web comics ==

] with the hypothetical scenario of ] ] the ] article]]
On ], ], the ] ] showed one character appending his older sister to unflattering Misplaced Pages articles. In a similar joke, the web comic '']'' also satirized Misplaced Pages with a comic strip depicting ] vandalizing the ] article.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2005/12/16 |title=I Have The Power |accessmonthday= ] |accessyear=] |year=2005 |author=] |coauthors=] |work=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.penny-arcade.com/2005/12/16 |title=I Have The Power |accessmonthday= ] |accessyear=] |year=2005 |author=] |work=}}</ref> The web comic ] featured a similar gag with the character Marcy adding embarrassing information about Francis, though she denies it's vandalism, claiming truth.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pvponline.com/article/2832/aug-12-2006 |title=Strip for ] ] |accessmonthday= ] |accessyear=] |year=2006 |author=] |work=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pvponline.com/article/2833/aug-13-2006 |title=Strip for ] ] |accessmonthday= ] |accessyear=] |year=2006 |author=] |work=}}</ref>

]'' is not amused with what he finds on Misplaced Pages]]
On ], ] comic of ], Greg, who is first defending Misplaced Pages against criticism, is seen about to vandalize Misplaced Pages after finding out he is listed under "hairy dork".
{{-}}

]
On ] ], ] publishes this comic, showing a protester holding up a sign during a policital rally that says "", a tag often used on Misplaced Pages to challenge another editor's statements. The ] of the comic, often part of the joke, shows an additional comment ("SEMI-PROTECT THE CONSTITUTION").
{{-}}

] strip which features ]. The ] reads: "] ]" with the bottom caption: "The Moral of the story is you cannot always trust what you read on Misplaced Pages."

Hannelore, a character in webcomic '']'', suffers from ]. She references Misplaced Pages's article on ] as the reason why she cut most of her hair off.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=663 |title=Number 663: At Least She Didn't Go All The Way |accessmonthday= ] |accessyear=] |year=2006 |author=Jacques, Jeph |work=}}</ref> Misplaced Pages was also mentioned in another comic where a character mentions that their edits to the ] entry keep getting reverted (as they are attempting to add a ] to the article suggesting the company has subverted humanity's mating drive in order to sell more diamonds).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=774|title=Number 774: Also Certain Web Comics |accessmonthday= ] |accessyear=] |year=2007 |author=Jacques, Jeph |work=}}</ref>

The webcomic ] has jokingly referred to Misplaced Pages as a replacement for traditional education twice.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.applegeeks.com/comic_archive/viewcomic.php?issue=236 |title=Issue 236: Noodliness |accessmonthday= ] |accessyear=] |author=Haque, Mohammed F. |coauthors=Panagariya, Ananth |year=2004 |work=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.applegeeks.com/lite/index.php?aglitecomic=2006-05-19 |title=Issue 010 |accessmonthday= ] |accessyear=] |author=Haque, Mohammed F. |coauthors=Panagariya, Ananth |year=2006 |work=}}</ref>

An issue of '']'' points out the "problem with Misplaced Pages", that distracting wikilinks cause "three hours of fascinated clicking".<ref>{{cite web | last=Munroe | first=Randall | authorlink=Randall Munroe | title=The Problem with Misplaced Pages | work=] | url=http://xkcd.com/c214.html | accessdate=2007-04-06}}</ref> Another issue which showed ]'s ] search history following the ] revealed that Munroe searched the Misplaced Pages domain for "surviving a raptor attack". <ref>{{cite web | last=Munroe | first=Randall | authorlink=Randall Munroe | title=Search History | work=] | url=http://xkcd.com/c155.html | accessdate=2007-04-06}}</ref>

The ], ] installment of ] features T-Rex to Misplaced Pages's vandalism problems; the article about ] would be designated for vandalism, leaving all other articles intact.

] ] criticised Misplaced Pages's current policy of deleting many articles on webcomics.<ref>{{cite web | last=Balder | first=Robert T. | authorlink=Robert T. Balder | title=King and Jester | work=] | url=http://www.partiallyclips.com/pclipslite.php?id=1483 |accessdate=2007-04-12}} Caption above the comic reads, "End the Misplaced Pages pogrom against webcomics."</ref> .<ref>{{cite web | last=Balder | first=Robert T. | authorlink=Robert T. Balder | title=Wilkipediatrics | work=] | url=http://fanboys-online.com/index.php?cid=134 |accessdate=2007-04-12}} </ref>

has a set of comics using a parodied form of Misplaced Pages called .

] has a comic mocking Misplaced Pages.

Ethan in ] often describes edit wars he is involved in regarding the Transformers articles on Misplaced Pages.

George of ] once used Misplaced Pages to research the The First Annual Robot Tournament (a plot element from ]) after being told his brother, Bob, was killed during it, but found no information. <ref>{{cite web | title=The Bob and George Archives | last=Anez |first=Dave | work=Bob and George | url=http://www.bobandgeorge.com/Archive/index.php?date=060214 | accessdate=2007-06-19}}</ref> Later, however, ] researches the subject and finds detailed information has been added. <ref>{{cite web|title=The Bob and George Archives| last=Anez|first=Dave|work=Bob and George|url=http://www.bobandgeorge.com/Archive/index.php?date=060425|accessdate=2007-06-19}}</ref> This article is then used as a ] in following comics as the characters read about the events being depicted.

==Notes== ==Notes==
# {{note|Wikiality}} Namely "]", "]", "]", "]", "]", "]", "]", "]", "]", "]", "]", "]" and "]" are/were temporarily protected. "]" (formerly at "]") has also been vandalized. # {{note|Wikiality}} Namely "]", "]", "]", "]", "]", "]", "]", "]", "]", "]", "]", "]" and "]" are/were temporarily protected. "]" (formerly at "]") has also been vandalized.

Revision as of 15:19, 22 August 2007

See also Misplaced Pages:Misplaced Pages in the media.

References to Misplaced Pages in culture have increased as more people learn about and use the online encyclopedia project. Many parody Misplaced Pages's openness, with characters vandalising or modifying articles. Still others feature characters using the references as a source, or positively comparing a character's intelligence to Misplaced Pages. Also, the encyclopedia many times isn't used as an encyclopedia at all, but instead serves more as a character trait or even as a game.

Incidents

Landmark

Fox News Channel recently reported, "If you think the middle name of British Prime Minister Tony Blair is 'whoopdeedoo,' you'd not only be wrong, but you probably got your information from Misplaced Pages." The report went on to talk about a tool which allows users to track IP addresses used to edit Misplaced Pages, and listed many surprising locations that have been discovered editing articles related to their locations. An example used in the report was an IP connected to Wal-Mart, which on one occasion had been used to change a statement about Wal-Mart's wages being lower than competing stores (instead stating its wage was almost double federal minimum wage). The report concluded that, although editing of an article by the entity associated with it may damage Misplaced Pages's credibility, in the long run, the organization might gain credibility because of how quickly such edits are reverted.


Date Nature Country (of origin) Title
Error in Template:Date table sorting: days must be an integer between 1 and 31 article  United States "I Must Take Issue With The Misplaced Pages Entry For 'Weird Al' Yankovic", the Onion.
Error in Template:Date table sorting: days must be an integer between 1 and 31 comic strip  United States FoxTrot
Error in Template:Date table sorting: days must be an integer between 1 and 31 TV show (satirical)  United States The Colbert Report, episode 58
Error in Template:Date table sorting: days must be an integer between 1 and 31 comic book  United States The Simpsons Comics, issue 117, "Sandwiches are Forever"
Error in Template:Date table sorting: days must be an integer between 1 and 31 TV show (satirical)  United States The Colbert Report, episode 93
Error in Template:Date table sorting: days must be an integer between 1 and 31 TV show (satirical)  United States The Colbert Report, episode 128
Error in Template:Date table sorting: days must be an integer between 1 and 31 music video  United States "White & Nerdy" music video, by "Weird Al" Yankovic
date unknown promotion  Australia Jericho ads
Error in Template:Date table sorting: days must be an integer between 1 and 31 commercial  United States Cisco Systems: Human Network Anthem
Error in Template:Date table sorting: days must be an integer between 1 and 31 sitcom  United States 30 Rock: "The Head and the Hair"
Error in Template:Date table sorting: days must be an integer between 1 and 31 TV show (satirical)  United Kingdom Bremner, Bird and Fortune
Error in Template:Date table sorting: days must be an integer between 1 and 31 TV show (sport)  United States SportsCenter
date unknown novel  United Kingdom The Righteous Men, Sam Bourne
Error in Template:Date table sorting: days must be an integer between 1 and 31 Non-fiction  United States It's Not News, It's FARK: How Mass Media Tries to Pass off Crap as News, Drew Curtis
Error in Template:Date table sorting: days must be an integer between 1 and 31 commercial demo  United States Apple iPhone, Apple Inc.
Error in Template:Date table sorting: days must be an integer between 1 and 31 play  United States The Misplaced Pages Plays
Error in Template:Date table sorting: days must be an integer between 1 and 31 TV show (satrical)  United States The Colbert Report, episode 302
Title Description Relevance
I Must Take Issue With The Misplaced Pages Entry For 'Weird Al' Yankovic In an article from The Onion, the character Larry Groznic writes an article about how he was banned from Misplaced Pages for starting an edit war on the "Weird Al" Yankovic page, and goes on to criticize the content on the said page. Having taken place well before the John Seigenthaler Sr. Misplaced Pages biography controversy, it was one of the first major parodies.
FoxTrot
File:Foxtrot wikipedia.jpg
FoxTrot comic strip about Misplaced Pages.
 First appearance of Misplaced Pages in a syndicated comic strip.
The Colbert Report, episode 58 Arianna Huffington challenges host Stephen Colbert on his claim that he had coined the word "truthiness". She cited Misplaced Pages, claiming that he had merely "popularized" the term. Regarding her source, Colbert, in character, responded: "Fuck them." First nationally-broadcast television program to mention Misplaced Pages.
The Simpsons Comics, issue 117 Hank Scorpio, a character from The Simpsons television series, mocks Lisa Simpson for citing her knowledge of him and his illegal activities (which he assumes she simply read from Misplaced Pages) during a prison break scene in the issue.

This issue was written by Ty Templeton.

This is the first reference to Misplaced Pages in a comic book.
The Colbert Report, episode 93 Colbert refers to Misplaced Pages as his source of information for research on Sigmund Freud. With his normal sarcastic and deadpan delivery, Colbert's segment "The Wørd" mocked Misplaced Pages's sometimes-questionable information with the screen posting "Even the accurate parts." Colbert's first scripted reference to Misplaced Pages, a lead into his "Wikiality" piece.
The Colbert Report, episode 128 See also: Consensus reality
File:Wikiality.jpg
Wikiality featured in "The Wørd" section of The Colbert Report on July 31, 2006.

In a July 2006 episode of the satirical comedy The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert announced the neologism wikiality, a portmanteau of the words Misplaced Pages and reality, for his segment "The Wørd." Colbert defined wikiality as "truth by consensus" (rather than fact), modeled after the approval-by-consensus format of Misplaced Pages. He ironically praised Misplaced Pages for following his philosophy of truthiness, in which intuition and consensus is a better reflection of reality than fact:

You see, any user can change any entry, and if enough other users agree with them, it becomes true. ... If only the entire body of human knowledge worked this way. And it can, thanks to tonight's word: Wikiality. Now, folks, I'm no fan of reality, and I'm no fan of encyclopedias. I've said it before. Who is Britannica to tell me that George Washington had slaves? If I want to say he didn't, that's my right. And now, thanks to Misplaced Pages, it's also a fact.

We should apply these principles to all information. All we need to do is convince a majority of people that some factoid is true. ... What we're doing is bringing democracy to knowledge.

According to Colbert, together "we can all create a reality that we all can agree on; the reality that we just agreed on." During the segment, he joked "I love Misplaced Pages... any site that's got a longer entry on truthiness than on Lutherans has its priorities straight." Colbert also used the segment to satirize the more general issue of whether the repetition of statements in the media leads people to believe they are true. The piece was introduced with the tagline, "The Revolution Will Not Be Verified," referencing the lack of objective verification seen in some articles.

Colbert suggested that viewers change the elephant page to state that the number of African elephants has tripled in the last six months. The suggestion resulted in numerous incorrect changes to Misplaced Pages articles related to elephants and Africa. Misplaced Pages administrators subsequently restricted edits to the pages by anonymous and newly created users.

Colbert went on to type on a laptop facing away from the camera, claiming to be making the edits to the pages himself. In addition, initial edits to Misplaced Pages corresponding to these claimed "facts" were made by a user named Stephencolbert. Thus, many believe Colbert himself vandalized several Misplaced Pages pages at the time he was encouraging other users to do the same. The account, whether it was Stephen Colbert himself or someone posing as him, has been blocked from Misplaced Pages indefinitely. The account was blocked for violating Misplaced Pages's username policies, which state that using the names of celebrities as login names is inappropriate. The account will be reopened if and when Colbert or Comedy Central confirm its identity.

Global Language Monitor, which tracks trends in languages, named wikiality and truthiness the top T.V. buzzwords for 2006.

Shortly after the episode aired, a fan-created Misplaced Pages parody site opened at Wikiality.com, inspired by the term. On October 19 2006, the term was mentioned again on the show, this time with Wikiality.com given as the url for Misplaced Pages.

White & Nerdy
Al takes revenge on Atlantic Records using Misplaced Pages

The character who is implied to be the nerd says that editing Misplaced Pages is one of his nerdy activities. In the video, Al is shown editing the article Atlantic Records by typing in large letters YOU SUCK. Thus Al takes revenge on the record company for refusing to let him include "You're Pitiful," a parody of James Blunt's song "You're Beautiful", on his new album. This has prompted copycat vandalism of the Atlantic Records page, which resulted in the page's being semi-protected. Yankovic has said "I don't officially approve of , but on a certain level it does amuse me."

This may be the first time a music video showed the website, as well as the first time a song mentioned the website. The song was also Yankovic's first career Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. It reached #1 at the U.S. iTunes Store, and peaked at #1 on VH1's top 20 video countdown.
Jericho ads Following Jericho episodes on Network 10 in Australia, a promotion would appear encouraging viewers to log onto Misplaced Pages and search for "Jericho (tv series)" for proof of the hype and theories surrounding the show. This is the first station advertisement to encourage people to search Misplaced Pages for their product.
Cisco Systems A TV advertisement for Cisco Systems shows a young child with a laptop, the Misplaced Pages logo clearly visible on the screen. Part of their "Human Network Anthem" ad campaign. First television advertisement showing Misplaced Pages as part of the plot line.
30 Rock While Tracy Jordan, James "Toofer" Spurlock and Frank Rossitano are working to complete Jordan's autobiography within a single day, Rossitano finds Jordan's Misplaced Pages article while using the Internet on his laptop. The article says Jordan was discovered after doing stand-up comedy at the Apollo Theater in 1984, and Jordan, though stating he has no recollection of this, tells the two to add it to the book. First sitcom series reference.
Bremner, Bird and Fortune A sketch about the 10 most popular, yet unread books, featuring a voice over talking about the plots of the books, which seem to constantly refer to aliens. At the end of the sketch it says that the information came from Misplaced Pages. First mention in a British satirical comedy programme.
SportsCenter After citing a stat about Houston Astros pitcher Roy Oswalt, anchor Kenny Mayne jokingly gave credit to Misplaced Pages for providing the number. First recorded reference from a sports highlight show.
The Righteous Men In the 2006 Da Vinci Code style novel The Righteous Men, Misplaced Pages features as an academic style encyclopedia. First known reference in fictional literature.
It's Not News, It's FARK: How Mass Media Tries to Pass off Crap as News This book, which examins media bias, mainly about stories which do not count as news, Curtis writes:

"Incidentally, one of the more surprising things I discovered while researching the articles for this book is that a number of them exactly mirrored a Misplaced Pages entry on the same subject. I didn't find any exact copies of Misplaced Pages in the articles in this book, but the structure often was the same and used the same citations in the same places. If I had to guess, I'd say that half of all the "original" articles covered in this book are Misplaced Pages entry rewrites. If not more. It certainly makes me wonder about the rest of the articles I didn't research. Misplaced Pages accuracy concerns aside, that's just not cool. Or perhaps that's how the Misplaced Pages articles were generated in the first place. Due to the obscurity of certain details in some of the articles, and the fact that none of those details showed up in a Google search on the same subject, I am more inclined to believe reporters borrow heavily from Misplaced Pages, and not the other way around."

 First known appearance in a book criticising the mass media, referencing Misplaced Pages.
Apple iPhone In the demonstration for the iPhone's internet capabilities, the Misplaced Pages page for the iPod is shown, along with a link in the user's bookmarks. First known reference in a multinational product demonstration by a Media Conglomerate.
The Misplaced Pages Plays Seventeen short plays, inspired by Misplaced Pages entries. First play known to highlight Misplaced Pages.
The Colbert Report, episode 302 On August 21, 2007, Colbert attacked WikiScanner, a website that tracks down people who make anonymous edits on Misplaced Pages, claiming that it is an invasion of privacy, particularly for corporations and it attacks, "Self-invention". He highlighted a case where Pepsi edited their entry by removing "Long-term health effects" from their article. This resulted in his "Wørd" being, "Self-Determination", claiming that everyone on the internet should be anonymous and should not be forced to give away their true identity. Colbert later discribed Misplaced Pages as, "Second Life for corporations," saying if a corporations wants to pretend to be someone else online, then that is their business. First nationally-broadcast television program to mention WikiScanner.


Contextual

Citations of Misplaced Pages in culture

During a debate on Québécois nationhood in the Canadian House of Commons on November 27, 2006, Conservative Member of Parliament Scott Reid mentioned Misplaced Pages.

In the July 2007 issue of National Geographic Magazine, an article on swarm intelligence, both in nature and as a method used by humans, mentions Misplaced Pages as an example.

Inaccuracies on Misplaced Pages in culture

Misplaced Pages was satirized in The Onion with a front-page article ("Misplaced Pages Celebrates 750 Years of American Independence", July 2006), alluding to perceptions that the publicly editable site is an unreliable source of information.

Various people including Jeremy Clarkson, Sir Ian McKellen, Patrick Stump, and Mitch Albom have criticized Misplaced Pages's articles about themselves.

In 2007 Lyttle Lytton Contest, where the object is to come up with an opening sentence for a novel, a phrase from the article on Fukutsuru ("Fukutsuru died in 2005 but his frozen sperm lived on for people's benefit") won the prize in Found category.

Misplaced Pages as a character trait

In 2006, commenting to The New York Times on the demands on Central Intelligence Agency analysts to produce instant information, John E. McLaughlin, former acting U.S. Director of Central Intelligence, stated, "intelligence analysts end up being the Misplaced Pages of Washington".

An altmuslim.com review of a new television series, Sleeper Cell, about terrorists noted that the characters routinely gave detailed background of events in the history of Islam and stated, "no one, and I assume even terrorists, talks like a walking Misplaced Pages."


Notes

  1. Namely "Loxodonta", "African Forest Elephant", "African Bush Elephant", "Pachydermata", "Babar the Elephant", "Elephant", "Oregon", "George Washington", "Latchkey kid", "Serial killer", "Hitler", "The Colbert Report" and "Stephen Colbert" are/were temporarily protected. "Mûmak" (formerly at "Oliphaunt") has also been vandalized.

References and footnotes

  1. http://www.theonion.com/content/node/37314
  2. Note that the song was leaked on the Internet almost a month prior, on August 27, 2006.
  3. The Colbert Report, "Faith", Comedy Central, March 1 2006.
  4. An exact citation of the Misplaced Pages referencing passage of The Simpsons Comics #117:
    Lisa: Say, aren't you Hank Scorpio, the criminal mastermind?
    Hank: I prefer the term "Entrepreneurial mastermind", but yes, that's me.
    Lisa: You blackmailed the federal government into giving you control of the American east coast. Now everyone thinks you are dead.
    Hank: Aren't you adorable? We're all about to be shot as escaped prisoners, and you're reciting my entry in the Misplaced Pages. I hope you're proud of her, Homer. She's great!
  5. http://www.noisetosignal.org/comics/2006/05/simpsons-comics-117.php
  6. The Colbert Report, "Superegomaniac", Comedy Central, May 9 2006.
  7. The Colbert Report / Comedy Central recording of The WØRD "Wikiality", Comedy Central, July 31 2006.
  8. YouTube recording of The Colbert Report, "Wikiality", Comedy Central, July 31 2006.
  9. "Colbert Causes Chaos on Misplaced Pages". Newsvine. August 1 2006. Retrieved 2006-09-28. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ""Truthiness," "Wikiality" named TV words of year". Reuters. August 27 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-28. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. "'Truthiness' and 'Wikiality' Named Top Television Buzzwords of 2006 Followed by 'Katrina', 'Katie,' and 'Dr. McDreamy'". Global Language Monitor. August 27 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-28. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. White & Nerdy lyrics:
    My ergonomic keyboard never leaves me bored
    Shopping online for deals on some writable media
    I edit Misplaced Pages
    I memorized Holy Grail really well
    I can recite it right now and have you ROTFLOL
  13. Adams, Cameron. "Weird Al Yankovic." Herald Sun, October 5, 2006.
  14. BBC News, Harry Potter book "often unread" Accessed on 1 April 2007.
  15. Curtis, Drew (2007-05-31). "It's Not News It's Fark: How Mass Media Tries to Pass Off Crap as News: Chapter 1". Retrieved 2007-08-12. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  16. "The Misplaced Pages Plays Will Be Seen at the Ars Nova in August", Playbill.
  17. ""The Wørd" - Self-Determination". Comedy Central. 2007-08-21. Retrieved 2007-08-22.
  18. Hansard, November 27, 2006.
  19. "Swarm Theory" by Peter Miller, National Geographic Magazine, July 2007
  20. "Misplaced Pages Celebrates 750 Years Of American Independence". The Onion. 2006. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help); Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  21. Clarkson, Jeremy (2006). "Lexus GS 450h SE-L Independence". Times Online. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help); Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  22. Empire Magazine, May 2006.
  23. "The 2007 Lyttle Lytton Contest". Retrieved 2007-06-12.
  24. Weiner, Tim (2006-05-14). "Langley, We Have a Problem". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
  25. Ali, Wajahat (2006-01-16). "Sleeping Cell". altmuslim.com.
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