Paid editors have been adding content to Wikipedia for a long time. Some of them might even be doing so in accordance with the rules and guidelines, but that is not what makes this case stand out. The PR agency did a total of three edits, and the third one managed to pass under the radar. They deliberately inserted text with minor grammatical errors to bait an editor into fixing it up while at the same time leaving it as an introductory sentence. The TV ad came out one week later. What disturbs me is that Wikipedia is being instrumentalized by these big corporations, and we do not need to debate whether the text is factually exact, if it is sourced, or if it is too peacocky. Most of us are volunteer editors, and we must make sure that we do not have to waste our time rooting out these malicious edits. The PR company wrote the text to make it look like it was put there by some ordinary "grammatically challenged" fanboy. A contributor reverts the edit the first time around, saying rightly that it was too promotional, then fixes up the grammatical errors the second time around. Other contributors would no longer touch the article seeing that a community member is already watching over it. We will have the check out the introductory sentences in hundreds of articles. When somebody asks Google Home "what is xyz..." in their own voice, Google will very obligingly spew out the Wikipedia article. IMHA, that is the real issue here. These paid editors are quite willing to turn Wikipedia into the worlds biggest high-tech distributor of junk mail.
Gabe On Sat, Apr 15, 2017 at 8:36 AM, Peter Southwood < peter.southw...@telkomsa.net> wrote: > So the Americas favorite burger should have been "America's Favorite > Burger(tm)". Agreed. > Cheers, > Peter > > -----Original Message----- > From: Wikimedia-l [mailto:wikimedia-l-boun...@lists.wikimedia.org] On > Behalf Of FRED BAUDER > Sent: Saturday, April 15, 2017 8:21 AM > To: Wikimedia Mailing List > Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] [arbcom-l] Where is WMF with pursuing companies > that offer paid editing services > > "The Whopper, also known as America’s favorite burger, " is a problem as > it implies that the Whopper is the favorite burger of the American public. > Perhaps it is, but that is a trademark, not the result of a survey. The > other stuff, "a flame-[[grilling|grilled]] patty made with 100% beef with > no preservatives, no fillers and is topped with daily sliced tomatoes and > onions, fresh lettuce, pickles, ketchup and mayo, served on a soft sesame > seed bun." happens to be factually true and cannot be said of the products > of, say, McDonalds where the "fixings" > arrive in delivery trucks. > > Fred Bauder > > On Sat, 15 Apr 2017 08:06:50 +0200 > "Peter Southwood" <peter.southw...@telkomsa.net> wrote: > > James, > > Which parts of those statements to you consider factually inaccurate, > >and which parts do you consider misleading in some other way? > > Cheers, > > Peter > > > > -----Original Message----- > >From: Wikimedia-l [mailto:wikimedia-l-boun...@lists.wikimedia.org] On > >Behalf Of James Heilman > > Sent: Friday, April 14, 2017 5:32 PM > > To: Wikimedia Mailing List > > Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] [arbcom-l] Where is WMF with pursuing > >companies that offer paid editing services > > > > Wikipedia is not for sale. We are not simply another advertising venue > >available to the corporations of the world. We have mechanisms for > >corporations to suggest changes to our content and it is called the > >talk page. > > > > Lets look at the changes likely made by Burger King staff in more > >detail: > > > > In this edit this sentence "The Whopper is a burger, consisting of a > >flame-grilled patty made with 100% beef with no preservatives, no > >fillers and is topped with daily sliced tomatoes and onions, fresh > >lettuce, pickles, ketchup and mayo, served on a soft sesame seed bun." > > > ><https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Whopper&type=revision&diff= > >773836335&oldid=773833110> > > was > > added not once but twice. And than was added again following its first > >removal. > > > > In this edit this sentence "The Whopper, also known as America’s > >favorite burger, has a flame-[[grilling|grilled]] patty made with 100% > >beef with no preservatives, no fillers and is topped with daily sliced > >tomatoes and onions, fresh lettuce, pickles, ketchup and mayo, served > >on a soft sesame seed bun. Whopper and America’s Favorite Burger are > >trademarks of Burger King Corporation. > > <https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Whopper&diff= > 773807497&oldid=773585358>" > > was added. > > > > One of the accounts did not disclosed their relationship to the > >company in question. And yes this is spam, so they did spam Wikipedia. > >See [[WP:PEACOCK]] > ><https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Words_to_watch > >#Puffery> > > and [[WP:NPOV]] > ><https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Five_pillars>, the latter of > >which is pillar number 2. > > > > > > This is not the first time the marketing department at a multi billion > >dollar company has tried to adjust our content for the company's / > >shareholder's gains. A few years back a couple of the heads of > >marketing at Medtronic > ><https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/08/wikipedia-editors > >-for-pay/393926/>, along with a number of physicians one of whom they > >had paid more than a quarter of a million dollars, tried to remove the > >best available evidence regarding vertebroplasty, a procedure which > >medicare spent at the time more than a billion dollars a year on. > >Half a dozen paid editors working together can easily get a majority in > >many of our decision making processes. > > > > Our readers deserve a Wikipedia which is written independently of the > >subject mater in question. Our readers have been harmed by undisclosed > >paid editing in the past. These are individuals typically less savvy > >and less wealthy than the executives at a large corporation. I am sorry > >but our readers are the ones that deserve our attention and our > >protection. We already have the Wifione case > ><http://www.newsweek.com/2015/04/03/manipulating-wikipedia-promote-bogu > >s-business-school-316133.html> were Wikipedia was used to promote an > >unethical Indian university and therefore we played a role in > >misleading the students who applied. We must do better. > > > > James > > > > On Fri, Apr 14, 2017 at 5:23 AM, Gnangarra <gnanga...@gmail.com> > >wrote: > > > >> but they didnt spam, nor did they introduce any false hoods, or > >>remove controversial content, they just put a description of the > >>Whopper for the opening sentence. As Andy said rather than biting > >>and creating arguments amongst ourselves would it not be better to > >>have used the opportunity to benefit the community in a positive way. > >> > >> On 14 April 2017 at 18:44, David Gerard <dger...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> > >> > On 14 April 2017 at 11:38, Andy Mabbett > >><a...@pigsonthewing.org.uk> > >> wrote: > >> > > >> > > A far better (and less WP:BITEy) outcome would be to get then to > >> > > >> > > >> > Pretty sure WP:BITE doesn't apply in the case of deliberate abuse > >> > for clear purposes of spamming. > >> > > >> > > >> > - d. > >> > > >> > _______________________________________________ > >> > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > >>https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > >> > wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > >> > wiki/Wikimedia-l New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > >> > Unsubscribe: > >> > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > >> > > >><mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > >> > > >> > >> > >> > >> -- > >> GN. > >> President Wikimedia Australia > >> WMAU: http://www.wikimedia.org.au/wiki/User:Gnangarra > >> Photo Gallery: http://gnangarra.redbubble.com > >>_______________________________________________ > >> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > >>wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > >>wiki/Wikimedia-l New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > >> Unsubscribe: > >>https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > >> <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > >> > > > > > > > > -- > > James Heilman > > MD, CCFP-EM, Wikipedian > > > > The Wikipedia Open Textbook of Medicine > >_______________________________________________ > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > >https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > >https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > > Unsubscribe: > >https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > ><mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > >https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > >https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > > Unsubscribe: > >https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > ><mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > wiki/Wikimedia-l > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > wiki/Wikimedia-l > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
