The Most Controversial Topics in Wikipedia: A Multilingual and Geographical Analysis

Global Wikipedia: International and Cross-Cultural Issues in Online Collaboration, Fichman P., Hara N., eds., Scarecrow Press, 2014

31 Pages Posted: 24 May 2013 Last revised: 4 Jul 2014

See all articles by Taha Yasseri

Taha Yasseri

University College Dublin (UCD) - Department of Sociology; University of Oxford

Anselm Spoerri

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey - School of Communication and Information (SC&I)

Mark Graham

University of Oxford - Oxford Internet Institute

Janos Kertesz

Budapest University of Technology and Economics - Department of Theoretical Physics; Central European University (CEU) - Center for Network Science

Date Written: May 23, 2013

Abstract

We present, visualize and analyse the similarities and differences between the controversial topics related to “edit wars” identified in 10 different language versions of Wikipedia. After a brief review of the related work we describe the methods developed to locate, measure, and categorize the controversial topics in the different languages. Visualizations of the degree of overlap between the top 100 list of most controversial articles in different languages and the content related geographical locations will be presented. We discuss what the presented analysis and visualizations can tell us about the multicultural aspects of Wikipedia, and, in general, about cultures of peer-production with focus on universal and specifically, local features. We demonstrate that Wikipedia is more than just an encyclopaedia; it is also a window into divergent social-spatial priorities, interests and preferences.

Suggested Citation

Yasseri, Taha and Spoerri, Anselm and Graham, Mark and Kertesz, Janos, The Most Controversial Topics in Wikipedia: A Multilingual and Geographical Analysis (May 23, 2013). Global Wikipedia: International and Cross-Cultural Issues in Online Collaboration, Fichman P., Hara N., eds., Scarecrow Press, 2014, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2269392 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2269392

Taha Yasseri (Contact Author)

University College Dublin (UCD) - Department of Sociology ( email )

Belfield
Dublin 4
Ireland

University of Oxford ( email )

1 St Giles'
University of Oxford
Oxford, Oxfordshire OX1 3JS
United Kingdom

Anselm Spoerri

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey - School of Communication and Information (SC&I) ( email )

4 Huntington St
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
United States

Mark Graham

University of Oxford - Oxford Internet Institute ( email )

1 St. Giles
University of Oxford
Oxford, Oxfordshire OX1 3JS
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://www.geospace.co.uk

Janos Kertesz

Budapest University of Technology and Economics - Department of Theoretical Physics ( email )

Budafoki ut 8.
Budapest, 1111
Hungary

Central European University (CEU) - Center for Network Science ( email )

Budapest
Hungary

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