# Who writes these random Wikipedia articles? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 10, 2006, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-writes-these-random-wikipedia-articles/363843 "2006-07-10T08:57:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-writes-these-random-wikipedia-articles/363843/1 "2006-07-10T08:57:41Z")
Often I’ll come across a wikipedia article on an obscure or mundane subject, and think “who the hell actually sat down, decided to write this, looked up info in books, etc?” I wish I’d have started saving topics, but I can’t remember any offhand. Anyway, I came across: > **[Postage stamp separation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postage_stamp_separation)** > > For postage stamps, separation is the means by which individual stamps are made easily detachable from each other. > Methods of separation include: > In the early years, from 1840 until 1850, all stamps were issued imperforate, and had to be cut from the sheet with scissors or knife. This was time-consuming and error-prone (as mangled stamps of the era attest). > Once reliable separation equipment became available, nations switched rapidly. Imperforate stamps have been issued occasionally since the... and I’ve been perplexed at the thought process that lead to the writing of that article. There are thousands of others like that. Feel free to share your favorite “Why the hell would anyone write that?” wiki articles. ---
**Author:** ![Dusty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@Dusty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dusty)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-writes-these-random-wikipedia-articles/363843/2 "2006-07-10T19:52:39Z")
The article is, unfortunately, no more, but my favorite odd-ball ones was “[Homosexual necrophilia in the mallard duck](http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Homosexual_necrophilia_in_the_mallard_duck&oldid=62526948)”. It even had a picture. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-writes-these-random-wikipedia-articles/363843/3 "2006-07-10T20:03:08Z")
Postage stamp separation? Seems a fairly useful article to stamp collectors. I’m not being facetious - many apparently-useless articles will be a small element of a larger field with more obvious purpose. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-writes-these-random-wikipedia-articles/363843/4 "2006-07-10T20:12:34Z")
Well going to the History tab for the article, I can see that a few Postage stamp enthusiast wrote and edited the article. Clicking on [Stan Shebs](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Stan_Shebs), I can get to a page he wrote about himself. He likes stamp collecting, no surprise. He also happens to be one of the English Wikipedia Admins. A lot of your questions can be answered in a few easy clicks. Jim ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-writes-these-random-wikipedia-articles/363843/5 "2006-07-10T21:42:36Z")
**SenorBeef,** you can participate in SDMB and still wonder who writes those articles? Come on, we’ve got folks here who are \*still \* arguing about what happens when you turn on your headlights as you approach the speed of light! ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-writes-these-random-wikipedia-articles/363843/6 "2006-07-11T02:48:41Z")
I liked that preforations article. I love obscure crap like that. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-writes-these-random-wikipedia-articles/363843/7 "2006-07-11T03:03:37Z")
For your obscure and weird edification: _Wikipedia:Unusual articles_, from Wikipedia of course: > **[Wikipedia:Unusual articles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:UA)** > > Of the over six million articles in the English Wikipedia there are some articles that Wikipedians have identified as being somewhat unusual. These articles are verifiable, valuable contributions to the encyclopedia, but are a bit odd, whimsical, or something one would not expect to find in Encyclopædia Britannica. We should take special care to meet the highest standards of an encyclopedia with these articles lest they make Wikipedia appear idiosyncratic. If you wish to add an article to this ... ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-writes-these-random-wikipedia-articles/363843/8 "2006-07-11T03:41:38Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > For your obscure and weird edification: > > _Wikipedia:Unusual articles_, from Wikipedia of course: > > [Wikipedia:Unusual articles - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:UA) . . . I think the Wikipedia is now only a few iterations short of developing self-awareness! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-writes-these-random-wikipedia-articles/363843/9 "2006-07-11T19:43:47Z")
What ticks me off are the endless fanboy articles about Dragonball, Yu-gi-oh, anime, etc. Talk about a waste of server space. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-writes-these-random-wikipedia-articles/363843/10 "2006-07-11T19:59:14Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > What ticks me off are the endless fanboy articles about Dragonball, Yu-gi-oh, anime, etc. Talk about a waste of server space. I do not like these either, but they are part and parcel of Wikipedia. I cannot complain as there is a huge number of articles on Middle Earth. It is the second best on-line reference I know of for Middle Earth. There are many that would consider these articles worthless, but in the past I helped to maintain them. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-writes-these-random-wikipedia-articles/363843/11 "2006-07-11T20:08:59Z")
I don’t mind fanboy articles _when there’s actually something there!_ When they make an article and it’s one sentence that’s a waste. I also hate it when some anti-fanboy wants to delete a good article because they don’t think it’s signficant. There’s some person\* trying to delete most of the webcomic articles. I won’t start into a rant about that, because it was covered, and better, by many, many webcomic fans. - noun replaced with generic to remain PG. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-writes-these-random-wikipedia-articles/363843/12 "2006-07-11T20:14:23Z")
> [@What Exit?](#): > > …I cannot complain as there is a huge number of articles on Middle Earth. It is the **second** best on-line reference I know of for Middle Earth. > There are many that would consider these articles worthless, but in the past I helped to maintain them… Me, too! And would the first be the Encyclopedia of Arda? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-writes-these-random-wikipedia-articles/363843/13 "2006-07-11T20:29:19Z")
> [@Elendil's Heir](#): > > Me, too! And would the first be the Encyclopedia of Arda? Of course. I love that site. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Lama\_Pacos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Lama\_Pacos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lama_Pacos)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-writes-these-random-wikipedia-articles/363843/14 "2006-07-11T23:03:02Z")
Heh, following **GIGObuster** ’s link, I found this tidbit of information in an article about [Bill Gates’ house](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gates%27s_house): > [@](#): > > If you wish, your music will follow you throughout the house - even at the bottom of the pool. Don’t fuckin’ mess with the Silicon Mafia. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-writes-these-random-wikipedia-articles/363843/15 "2006-07-12T00:31:46Z")
> [@Lama Pacos](#): > > If you wish, your music will follow you throughout the house - even at the bottom of the pool. In Soviet Russia, music listens to _you_. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-writes-these-random-wikipedia-articles/363843/16 "2006-07-12T04:34:42Z")
As one who contributed extensively to early drafts of the [exploding sheep](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploding_sheep) article, I resemble that remark. ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-writes-these-random-wikipedia-articles/363843/17 "2006-07-12T08:27:35Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > . . . I think the Wikipedia is now only a few iterations short of developing self-awareness! :eek: Too late! [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-writes-these-random-wikipedia-articles/363843/18 "2006-07-12T16:11:08Z")
> [@Harvey The Heavy](#): > > Too late! [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia) You notice, however, that it doesn’t refer to itself in the first person. =Whew!= Humanity is still safe… for now.