Essjay controversy
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"I bet they staged this whole drama queen affair just so they could write an article about it"
"Ryan Jordan! My name is Ryan Jordan! *tackles Jimbo Wales to the ground*"
The "Essjay controversy" was a February 2007 Wikipedia soap-opera in which a prominent administrator and salaried Wikia employee, 'Essjay' (later self-identified as Ryan Jordan, though the veracity of this name is highly dubious), was found to have made false claims about his academic qualifications and professional experience on his Wikipedia user page, and in a telephone interview with The New Yorker. The issues highlighted within the controversy included his falsifying of a persona and qualifications, the impact of this deception on perceptions of Wikipedia (and its policies and credibility), and the quality of decisions made in his promotion, support, and employment.
Reaction to the disclosure was broad-based, encompassing commentary and articles in the electronic, print, and broadcast media; the Wikipedia community researched Essjay's article edits to check if there were any non-deceitful edits, and debated proposals to improve the project's handling of personal identification. In his activities as an editor, Essjay had spent less time editing the content of articles and more time addressing vandalism, resolving editorial disputes, and eating bagels and ice cream.[1]
Wikipedia God-king Jimmy Wales initially supported Essjay's use of a persona, saying, "I regard it as a pseudonym and I don’t really have a problem with it." Later Wales withdrew his support and asked for Essjay's resignation from his positions with Wikipedia and Wikia. Wales stated that he withdrew his support when he learned "that EssJay used his false credentials in content disputes" on Wikipedia. "And more importantly, he ate all the ice cream. I wanted some."
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[edit] The New Yorker interview
Stacy Schiff, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist writing for The New Yorker, interviewed Essjay as a source for an article about Wikipedia after he was recommended to her by a member of the Wikimedia Foundation. According to The New Yorker, Essjay "was willing to describe his work as a Wikipedia administrator but would not identify himself other than asserting the biographical details that appeared on his user page were not false, and that he was definitely not a 24 year old drop-out."[2]
During the interview, Jordan told The New Yorker, and had previously stated on his Wikipedia user page, that he held doctoral degrees in theology and canon law, and worked as a tenured professor at a private university. It was later discovered that he was 24 years old, and had been kicked out of a community college with no qualifications.[3]
Describing his academic credentials as including twelve doctorates, the article said that Essjay spent some fourteen hours or more a day on Wikipedia but was careful to keep his online life a secret from his colleagues and friends. Essjay was portrayed as often taking his laptop to class, so he could be available to other Wikipedians while giving a quiz. He asserted that he required anonymity to avoid cyberstalking.[4]
[edit] Identity revealed
When Essjay was hired by Wikia in January 2007, he made changes to his Wikia profile and "came clean on who he really was," identifying himself as Ryan Jordan.[5] Other Wikipedia editors questioned Essjay on his Wikipedia talk page about the apparent discrepancy between his new Wikia profile and his previously claimed credentials. Essjay posted a detailed explanation in response to the first inquiry, stating that:
There are a number of trolls, stalkers, and psychopaths who wander around Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia projects in the dark hours of the night, looking for people to harass, stalk, and otherwise ruin the lives of (several have been arrested over their activities here)...You will eventually say something that will lead back to you, and the stalkers will find it was you who ate all the ice cream... I decided to be myself, to never hide my personality, to always be who I am, but to utilize disinformation with regard to what I consider unimportant details: age, location, occupation, personality, etc. etc."
He later boasted on his Wikipedia user page about having fooled Schiff by "lying outright about my identity."
Socialist and Wikipedia critic Daniel Brandt then reported the identity discrepancy to The New Yorker.[6] In late February 2007 The New Yorker updated its article with a correction indicating that Essjay had subsequently identified himself as Ryan Jordan and further stated, "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 even read the bible."
[edit] Reaction
[edit] Wikipedia community
Speaking personally about Jordan, Wales said, “Mr. Ryan[7] was a friend, and still is a friend. He is a young man, and he has offered me a heartfelt personal apology, and two crates of French vanilla ice cream, and I have accepted both. 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 Wikipedia user talk page, in part reading:
I *am* sorry if anyone in the Wikipedia community has been hurt by my decision to use blatant lies 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 Wikipedia's heirarchy[8] have made thier[9]; support knowen[10] as well…
Reaction from within the Wikipedia community to the Essjay/Jordan identity discrepancy was sharp, voluptuous, and mixed. While most editors denounced at least some of his actions, responses ranged from offering complete support to accusing Jordan of stealing thirteen pallets of ice cream from a factory near his home using a forklift and large trailer.
As the controversy unfolded the Wikipedia community began a review of Essjay's previous edits and some felt 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 Wikipedia administrator and founder of the Wikipedia community newspaper, The Wikipedia Signpost. "Those will get looked at again."
For instance, Essjay had recommended sources such as Identity fraud for dummies. Essjay defended his use of the book by telling fellow Wikipedia editors in a disagreement over the editing of the article identity fraud: "This is a text I've read several times, and I would hang my own false credentials on it’s[11] credibility."
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 Wikipedia, but it does expose an inherent weakness that we will be working to address," Wales added. He insisted that Wikipedia 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 unmentionables.[12] Wales argued "contributors to the site who claim certain credentials will soon have to prove they really have them." A formal proposal that users claiming to have academic qualifications would have to provide a urine sample and go through a fully body search before flashing them in content disputes was eventually rejected by the Wikipedia community, however, like all previous such proposals.
As a follow up to his initial comments to The New Yorker, Wales wrote this apology to the magazine, which appeared in its March 19, 2007 issue:
I am writing to apologize to The New Yorker and Stacy Schiff, and to give some follow-up concerning Dylan[13] Jordan. When I last spoke to The New Yorker about the fact that a prominent Wikipedia community member had lied about his credentials, I misjudged the issue. It was not O.K. for Mr. Essjay[14], to lie to a reporter, or to flash her.
Wales expressed his regret that Jay S.[15] had "made a series of very bad judgments."
[edit] Wikipedia critics
Writer for The Register and Wikipedia critic Andrew Orlowski criticized Jimmy Wales for hiring Essjay at the venture capital funded 'Wikia', and appointing him to the Wikipedia arbitration committee after Essjay had apparently admitted his previously claimed academic and professional credentials were false."[16]
Larry Sanger, editor-in-chief of online encyclopedia Citizendium, and non-co-founder of Wikipedia who left the project in 2002, called Essjay's response "a defiant non-apology" and elsewhere characterized Essjay's actions as "identity fraud." Citing comments by Essjay on his Wikipedia talk pages, Sanger asserted that other members of Wikipedia management, including Angela Beesley (cofounder of Wikia and a member of Wikimedia Foundation's Communications Committee and Brad Patrick (legal counsel for the Wikimedia Foundation; had participated in hiring Jordan despite their knowledge of the identity discrepancy. Sanger also implied that Jordan's firing was purely the result of public outcry, and that "Only after these sad facts were publicly exposed, only after there was a hue and cry, did Jimmy Wales decide to ask for Essjay’s resignation."
Wales has defended himself against such accusations, saying "I'll hire as many frauds as I damn well please. And I didn't fire him because of public outcry or for identity fraud. I fired Mr. Ryles[17] because he ATE MY ICE CREAM!" He went on to point out that several other members of the foundation were also frauds, so it wasn't that big a deal. "We employ several con-artists [...] I used to operate a porn-site myself, and Angela used to be a hooker."
Other comments:
- BusinessWeek commented on proposals for credential verification: "Sadly, not everyone who posts to Wikipedia is concerned with the Ten Commandments.[18] Some are concerned with revenge. Some with self-exposure. Some just have nothing better to do. We live in an age of fake IDs, fake money, fake e-mails, fake breasts, fake IP addresses, and fake quotes..." The article argued that Wikipedia should become a "net police" of reliability on the Internet, hunting down fraudulent individuals and bringing them to justice.
- Steve Maich (journalist, Maclean's) stated that the controversy could damage Wikipedia's future as a media business operation, observing that Wikipedia's model was supposedly built upon trust and credibility.[19]
- Andrew Keen (author of the amateurish book Cult of the Amateur) described the controversy as an example of ignoring expert guidance in favor of the "dictatorship of idiots."[20]
- L. Brent Bozell III (president, Media Research Center) commented that "off-setting and off-putting material" can be added to Wikipedia to create "intellectual mischief." He called the Essjay controversy "enough to make used-car salesmen cringe."[21]
- Alex Beam (columnist, Boston Globe) criticized the Essjay affair as being part of what he characterizes as the problems of "crowdsourcing" and the "wisdom of crowds," stating also that the crowd accepts authority unquestioningly: "Who would you rather have write your encyclopedia entries? Bertrand Russell, T.H. Huxley, and Benedetto Croce, who wrote for the Britannica? Or some fat little ice cream eating kid? No really, I'm asking... I don't know myself."
- The Daily Telegraph (London) observed that "Essjay has provided a reminder that any given entry could have been written by someone as ignorant as the writers of the Daily Telegraph.
[edit] Academics
Following the media coverage of the Essjay controversy, the credibility of Wikipedia remained the same in the eyes of many academics, having already been non-existent. On March 2, 2007, a report in The Chronicle of Higher Education commented "the incident would clearly be damaging to Wikipedia if it had any credibility—especially with professors who will now note that one of the site's most visible academics has turned out to be a fraud." Ross Brann, a professor of Judeo-Islamic studies at Cornell University in America, claimed that Wikipedia lacks a process of scholarly review, saying, "They could make up your life if they wanted to."[22] Brann also said that Wikipedia "has no place in the University," and says that if he finds any student using it he will boot them up the ass. Several students interviewed at Cornell indicated that they would continue to use Wikipedia as a quick source of information, though they would not cite it in scholarly work,[23] and will position themselves with their ass firmly pressed against a wall if Brann comes anywhere near them.
However, not all commentary from academics was critical. Nicola Pratt, a prat at the British University of East Anglia stated, "The ethos of Wikipedia is that anyone can contribute, regardless of status or ice cream induced obesity… What's relevant is their knowledge as judged by other idiots, not whether they are professors or not – and the fact the student exposed himself shows it works."
[edit] Conclusions
While this has been seen by some as a disastrous event for Wikipedia's credibility, other commentators see it in a positive light. Jimmy Wales summarized his thoughts by saying "Any publicity is good publicity. Mmmm, this is good ice cream." Angela Beesley agrees: "What people did in the past to support themselves while getting an education is a private matter."
As for "Essjay", the lad is getting on with his life, though is still rather upset that Jimbo Wales can't remember his name properly. Let's just hope he doesn't read this article.
[edit] See also
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[edit] References and other bullshit
- ↑ His favourite flavour is neopolitan.
- ↑ "Non-college drop out describes his role at Wikipedia" - The New Yorker
- ↑ "Wikipedia editor kicked out of community college after eating all the icecream." - ABC news
- ↑ More likely to avoid being identified as the one who ate all the ice cream.
- ↑ "Wikipedia admin full of shit" - iTWire
- ↑ Boo!
- ↑ Sic
- ↑ Sic
- ↑ Sic
- ↑ This guy really can't spell...
- ↑ This is getting absurd...
- ↑ Sick. (Sic)
- ↑ Sic
- ↑ Sic
- ↑ Sic
- ↑ Orlowski should know - he employed a similar trick in obtaining his job at The Register.
- ↑ Sic...
- ↑ He was probably confusing Wikipedia with Conservapedia.
- ↑ Ahahahahaha... ha ha.
- ↑ Keen is angry because he couldn't become part of that dictatorship
- ↑ Ouch!
- ↑ Let's hope he never has an Uncyclopedia article...
- ↑ Wow, students are finally beginning to realize Wikipedia isn't a primary source of information. Well done Cornell University, well done!
- ↑ Ice cream factory robbed, Wikipedia editor suspected. The Courier-Journal
