Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2018-02-20/Traffic report

Human beings are odd creatures. We are currently living through the safest and most secure era our species has ever experienced, and yet we seem addicted to pain. If we cannot have it ourselves, we seek to feel it vicariously. It's the only explanation I can conceive for this week's list, which is topped by a fake blood sport and riddled with death, depredation, and allegations. Multiple people on this list either died horribly and unexpectedly, were accused or accused others of having done unspeakable things, or some combination of the above. Even the Bollywood movie this week sparked riots and death threats. This is particularly striking when you consider that this was also the week of the Grammys, and yet, as per usual on Wikipedia, that show has left a small footprint.

For the week of January 28 to February 3, 2018, the most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the WP:5000 report were:

Unlike last year, a Falcon won during Super Bowl week. Of course, I'm talking about Falcon Heavy (#14), which had its maiden flight conducted by SpaceX on February 6. Elon Musk (#1) is of course the founder and CEO of SpaceX.

Now, let's address the obvious theme one will find throughout this list: Super Bowl LII (#10), the 52nd edition of the Super Bowl. Quarterback and Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles (#2) and head coach Doug Pederson led the Philadelphia Eagles (#10) to victory over Tom Brady's (#5) New England Patriots. The Super Bowl for the Eagles was the franchise's first, meaning they're now on the List of Super Bowl champions (#9). Also Super Bowl-related: the game's half time performer Justin Timberlake, and The Cloverfield Paradox (#4), a Netflix film which received praise for its Super Bowl commercial marketing.

Oh... hey, there's even more sports with the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics (#8) happening this week. This rendition notched 1.23 million page views, an increase from the 2014 event's 1.06 million page views during its opening ceremony week.

And then there was Travis Scott (#3) and Kylie Jenner (#7), who both found their way into the top 10 after announcing the birth of their child.

For the week of February 4 to February 10, 2018, the most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the WP:5000 report were:

This week's report can be summarily reduced to three events – the cinematic behemoth that is Black Panther, the ongoing Winter Olympics in South Korea, and the horrific school shooting in Florida. The report is dominated by articles related to these topics, diverse as they may be. Media may captivate, between incessant sports coverage and Hollywood productions, but the sad tragedy of pointless bloodshed casts a dark shadow over the report as a whole. Though less diverse than usual, there is stark contrast and interesting content in this week's iteration of the Report, between the weather-plagued Olympics and the searing and scorching heat of Wakanda. Ergo, I found the report riveting to compile, and hope that it is as engaging to peruse as it was to produce.

Without further ado, for the week of February 11 to February 17, 2018, the most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the WP:5000 report were:

• These lists excludes the Wikipedia main page, non-article pages (such as redlinks), and anomalous entries (such as DDoS attacks or likely automated views). Since mobile view data became available to the Report in October 2014, we exclude articles that have almost no mobile views (5–6% or less) or almost all mobile views (94–95% or more) because they are very likely to be automated views based on our experience and research of the issue. Please feel free to discuss any removal on the Top 25 Report talk page if you wish.