Wikipedia braces itself for April Fools' Day

Wikipedia braces itself for April Fools' Day
Jenny Kleeman
Wednesday March 28, 2007
The Guardian

Spare a thought for Wikipedia editors this Sunday. While most of us are leafing through the newspapers and enjoying a long lunch, they will be stationed in front of their computers, bracing themselves to defend the site against the annual onslaught of April Fools' hoaxes.
The online encyclopaedia anyone can edit has been the target of joke contributions since its launch in 2001, but April Fools' Day has proved an irresistible opportunity for internet pranksters, as well as normally trustworthy contributors inspired to let their hair down.
Wikipedia braces itself for April Fools' Day


Jenny Kleeman
Wednesday March 28, 2007
The Guardian


Spare a thought for Wikipedia editors this Sunday. While most of us are leafing through the newspapers and enjoying a long lunch, they will be stationed in front of their computers, bracing themselves to defend the site against the annual onslaught of April Fools' hoaxes.
The online encyclopaedia anyone can edit has been the target of joke contributions since its launch in 2001, but April Fools' Day has proved an irresistible opportunity for internet pranksters, as well as normally trustworthy contributors inspired to let their hair down.

On April 1 2004 someone reworked the page on the Conservative party, redefining it as "a political think-tank" that "has been particularly influential on the ruling New Labour party". In April 2005 a posting on the front page claimed that Wikipedia had been taken over by Encyclopaedia Britannica, and would henceforth be known as Wikipaedia Britannica. Last year the pranksters got technical and swapped the "protect" and "delete" buttons on every page, so that anyone trying to guard an article from future editing would inadvertently delete it.
Some Wikipedians aren't laughing. "This is getting out of hand," huffed disgruntled editor Shanes in 2005. "It seems as if every Wikiuser feels they should have their own April Fools' prank somewhere. I'm thinking maybe the best joke would be to let Wikipedia not be editable today."

But Wikipedia intends to fight back with a joke of its own this year. Dozens of contributors have been debating this Sunday's front page since early January, planning to showcase articles that are true but unusual enough to sound like a joke. At the time of writing, editors are choosing between Red Rain in Kerala, The K Foundation Burn a Million Quid and Exploding Toads as the day's featured article.

They hope that if the site acknowledges the occasion, then visitors will be less inclined to mess it up. But it's unlikely that their joke will be funny enough to stop pranksters.