Wikipedia has been quick to add updated info about Liz Truss's resignation (including this incredible image/caption). thread of what's been happening behind the scenes!!
at ~12:29 GMT, there were the first reports that Truss would be stepping down after just 45 days, making her the shortest-serving PM in UK history. You can see edit conflicts across all of wikipedia spike!!!
at 12:38 GMT, Wikipedia user Frzzl was first to update the article "Liz Truss," but it's hasty (minister is spelled wrong!) and there was no cited source. being first isn't always best!
luckily, plenty of people have been updating the "Liz Truss" article!! in the ~6.5 hours since the news, the Liz Truss article has had 169 edits. it's now semiprotected, meaning that it can only be edited by accounts that are 4+ days old with 10+ edits to Wikipedia
vandalism happens A LOT with current events topics, and it's pretty tough to reign it in without limiting who can edit. The article for Larry the cat was semiprotected after someone wrote that he was serving as PM
at 14:52 GMT, about two hours after the resignation, Wikipedian Juxlos created an article called "Daily Star lettuce." In its ~4 hours of existence, it has had 30 edits by 14 editors. nice
Yesterday, after a growing list of Conservative MPs called for Truss to step down, editors created an article called "October 2022 United Kingdom government crisis." In its first day of existence, it's been edited 194 times by 77 editors
but that created an issue: how to tell the 2022 UK gvt crises apart!! There are at least three different articles that could be called "2022 United Kingdom government crisis," so Wikipedia editors created some wordy hatnotes at the top and eventually a full on disambiguation page
Wikipedia rocks and it works because real people are putting tons of time and energy into maintaining it — for you, for free! These days, it needs good editors more than anything. Here are a few ways to get involved
