Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2018-10-28/Traffic report

Traffic report

Unsurprisingly, sport leads the field – or the ring

By Pythoncoder, Stormy clouds, and Igordebraga

Rogue Killers (October 14 to 20)

Another week, another series of deaths. The report is topped by two deceased men: a slaughtered opponent of the Saudi regime and a technological tycoon. Following on from this sombre note, however, we have a list dominated to an intense degree by visual media, from new Netflix releases to a virtual tour of all big releases currently airing in your local multiplex. Not the most diverse report of all time, dominated as it is by just a handful of issues, but interesting to compile all the same. Enjoy.

For the week of October 14 to 20, 2018, the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the WP:5000 report were:

UFC, Politics, and More Superheroes (October 7 to 13)

This week, readers continued to be interested in the event that turned violent... err... more violent (#1, #3, #5, #15, #19). Further down the list is a different kind of fight—this one over the US Supreme Court (#7, #23, #25). Wikipedia readers also went to the movies a lot this week, with entries related to new releases Venom, A Star Is Born, Bohemian Rhapsody, and 22 July from Netflix (#2, #4, #12, #13, #14, #20, #22). Rounding out the list is the latest Trump administration departure (#6), a royal wedding (#8), another Banksy prank (#9), American athletes (#11, #17), Hurricane Michael (#16), and #MeToo (#21). This leaves 3 spots this week related to deaths (#10, #24, and #18, unless you're the Saudi government).

For the week of October 6 to 13, 2018, the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the WP:5000 report were:

October and articles are stripped bare (September 30 to October 6, 2018)

October starts with the most prevalent subject being the United States Supreme Court dispute (#2, #8, #13, #19, #20, #21) that dominated late September—a current Justice (#17) thankfully owes her entry for matters outside that. And if you though that wasn't aggressive enough, there was a MMA event (#25) that ended with the fighters (#5, #11) attacking/being attacked by people outside the ring, something you'd expect more from wrestling (#7). While on bad boys, the Report is topped by the solo movie of comics antihero Eddie Brock a.k.a. Venom—and yet, the new release that brought in bonus entries was A Star Is Born (#3), with both stars (#10, #12), one of whom also directs, entering the list. India looked for Gandhi in his holiday (#6), a doctor when Google homaged him (#14) and an actor when his widow died (#22). Otherwise, Charles Aznavour (#16) joined the year's deaths (#4), Patrick Mahomes (#9) keeps winning, Banksy (#24) trolled an auction, Elon Musk (#18) continues to see negative repercussions of the joint he smoked, and readers sought more about a Netflix movie on wolf hunters (#23) and Forest Whitaker's brother (#15).

For the week of September 30 to October 6, 2018, the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the WP:5000 report were:

Supreme Allegations (September 23 to 29)

More so than any report in recent memory, this iteration of the Top 25 Report is dominated by one major story: the ongoing confirmation hearings of Brett Kavanaugh for the vacant seat on the US Supreme Court, and the allegations of sexual misconduct levied against him. The story accounts directly for some eight of the items listed below, the majority of which reside in the top half. With view counts of just over 300,000 sufficient for a place in the report, there is no denying that it was a quiet week for Wikipedians. However, the perusers of the encyclopedia ensured that the report has some diversity, with entries originating from the silver screen, the back pages of the newspapers, and even Reddit. Thus, an undeniably unusual report, dogged by sexual assault and the cryptic complexity of American politics; yet nonetheless, a curious list, and one that we hope you enjoy.

Without further ado, for the week of September 23 to 29, 2018 the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the WP:5000 report were:

Exclusions

These lists exclude 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.

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In this issue

28 October 2018 (all comments)

Traffic report

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I wonder, isUgh. Don't remind me that this guy is on the Supreme Court. What a sad, sad day for America. Please, never mention this name to me ever again, unless it's part of an impeachment effort. an accepted way to comment on a sensitive political issue? Jo-Jo Eumerus (talk, contributions) 19:54, 28 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Does anyone know if traffic reports are conventionally supposed to be NPOV like articles are? --Joshualouie711^talk 21:26, 28 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Under the recent generations of leadership of The Signpost it seems there is less emphasis on NPOV here than before. I think we should be careful about it. Bias is bias, and even if its only a traffic report, I think its best to keep such statements to the op-eds. It also contributes to the narrative that Wikipedia is a collection of left-leaning perspectives. And a comment such as the one made about Kavanaugh betrays an American-oriented bias, which I think is most disappointing for our users. I doubt the editors have ever made such comments about politics outside the West, and that in its own right shows a different from of bias, regardless of where the relevant comment falls on the left-right political spectrum. -Indy beetle (talk) 22:58, 28 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Indy beetle some people still fail to understand that The Signpost is not a collection of Wikipedia articles: The "Traffic report" section reports on the most popular articles on Wikipedia during the latest publication period, serving as a guided commentary on what was hot and what was not with the readership. As with the "Featured content" section the "Traffic report", serving as a curated list, generally has a lighter tone compared to the rest of the publication. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 08:31, 29 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Bias is bias and it is ubiquitous; there is no escape from bias by virtue of its nature. Omitting and segregating objectionable content does not free it from bias, nor are the objections from a place beyond bias, so relying on such omission and segregation to avoid bias is only successful insofar as the readers deem it no longer objectionable according to their biases. This is a problem not of insufficient objectivity or neutrality, but in the legitimation of objectivity and neutrality as coherent concepts and achievable goals, since only a belief in the latter can sustain the former. Unfortunately, Wikipedia clings to its fictions because they are useful and fundamental to its self-concept, so much so that their rejection is such an existential threat that only the faithless would do so. Beyond that, it is a problem of insufficient participation, since only through participation can one represent one's own perspective.
The views of any post are those of its author, and the views of The Signpost are those of its team, since any creative work is a reflection of its creator. The same is so with biases. It is therefore unreasonable to expect any body to embody that which is beyond its constitution. If someone wishes to change those views and biases, then they are free to effect that change, in this case by participating in the creative process of producing the next issue (whether here or at the Top 25 Report, from where the "Traffic report" is sourced). Just as the response of the Wikipedia community to the gender gap and other systemic biases has been through content interventions such as WikiProject Women in Red, the response of anyone who objects to the content and biases of The Signpost can intervene by writing and editing it before publication. This cannot free it from bias anymore than anyone can be, but it will help ensure the content is not deemed objectionable by the readers according to their biases, since their participation will ensure their biases are better represented in the publication. —Nøkkenbuer (talk • contribs) 19:28, 29 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]
We sign the articles for a reason, it's not only a list of the popular articles, but in a way incorporates the opinion of the writer about them. And mostly, with a comedic tone to make reading more fun - to the point that when someone complained about bias, Wikipedia Humor was added atop the Top 25 Report. igordebraga ≠ 18:43, 3 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
You may have noticed that this is not an article. If you need a box to put it in, it is an essay, with a byline, in Wikipedia space. If you don't like it, you may claim a full refund from your vendor. Or write your own.
Thank you to all the Signpost writers for your efforts to keep us informed and amused. 213.205.240.199 (talk) 23:35, 28 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Just a note of appreciation for all the work you put into this page. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 21:22, 28 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]
How many pantomime performers break bones during Their performances? Sad to see such a crude bias here. MPJ-DK (talk) 12:40, 29 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

As in other professional wrestling promotions, WWE shows are not legitimate contests, but purely entertainment-based, featuring storyline-driven, scripted, and choreographed matches, though matches often included moves that can put performers at risk of injury if not performed correctly. This was first publicly acknowledged by WWE's owner Vince McMahon in 1989 to avoid taxes from athletic commissions. Since the 1980s, WWE publicly has branded their product as sports entertainment, acknowledging the product's roots in competitive sport and dramatic theater. - that is a direct quote from the lede of our article on WWE. I didn't pen the piece to which you refer, but to describe it as a crude bias is highly unfair. Stormy clouds (talk) 19:36, 30 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Did anyone else feel like Lindsey Graham was describing Wikipedia:Requests for adminship with stunning accuracy during his volcanic speech? Here's the transcript. Graham wasn't the first Republican to say that the hearing wasn't a job interview, but he hit RfA right on the head with "you're looking for a fair process? You came to the wrong town at the wrong time, my friend." and "This is going to destroy the ability of good people to come forward because of this crap." When he shouted "your high school yearbook!", he chillingly pointed out all the years-old incidents always brought up at RfA. There is also room for philosophical debate: Graham said "To my Republican colleagues, if you vote no, you're legitimizing the most despicable thing I have seen in my time in politics.", and there's often a lot of controversy about those who support RfA candidates purely because the oppose votes seem unsubstantiated. I hope I'm not turning anyone off RfA by saying all this . wumbolo ^^^ 19:00, 29 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

No. DS (talk) 02:24, 1 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Clarification, please

What does "this sell" mean in the phrase, "story which captivated the world this sell", in the item about Khashoggi? – Athaenara ✉ 04:08, 12 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]

There were some funky typos in the original incarnation of that week's Top25 report. I'm sure someone will have a look and fix this one. My best guess: "this cycle" was intended. ☆ Bri (talk) 04:49, 12 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]

It first appeared here in an edit by Stormy clouds. – Athaenara ✉ 05:32, 12 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]

@Athaenara:, @Bri: - whoops. Meant to say week. My phone goes for some very curious autocorrects. Sincerest apologies, rectified now, thanks for highlighting it. Stormy clouds (talk) 07:11, 12 November 2018 (UTC).[reply]

Thanks, Stormy clouds, you've wrapped this up. – Athaenara ✉ 08:16, 12 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]

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