User:Diikiw/Wikiid

User:Diikiw/Wiikid, formerly Wikiid, is an article that was created on the web site Wikipedia in 2008. It is notable in its attempt to become the first Wikipedia page to gain notoriety solely for the fact that it was a page on Wikipedia; this was intended to spark a debate as to whether or not Wikipedia could be considered a source notable enough to allow a page’s permanent entry on the site. It can be looked at both as metahumor and as a piece of postmodern art.

History

Wikiid was created on April 7, 2008. It included no external links to any web site beyond Wikipedia; its creator - who put up the page under a pseudonym - said that this was to prevent any suspicions of the page’s being a promotion or advertisement of any kind.^[1]

Wikiid was created partly as a lighthearted challenge to Wikipedia’s notability requirements. However, its creator also stated that he wished the page to stand on its own merits as a Wikipedia article, both well-written and notable in its own right. ^[2]

Notability

Upon creation, the article anticipated a debate over its relevance as an actual article, and offered several claims as to its relevance. First, it stated that as an article, it was entirely factual: because it was, in effect, an article about itself, any statements it made were verifiable by the page itself.

More importantly for Wikipedia's article requirements, Wikiid claimed that it was both a unique, and therefore notable, event in Wikipedia's history, as well as an important one: it marked the first time that an article on Wikipedia managed to create original content while at the same time following Wikipedia's requirements that every article must be factual and cite its sources.

Wikiid's creator also made a defense as to the article's artistic merit: it was the only piece of work ever created that managed to be perfectly compliant in every way to Wikipedia's requirements, while simultaneously being a commentary on the nature of Wikipedia (and, therefore, on the nature of user-generated content online). Its creator stated that its many joking citations to itself, rather than being sloppy editorial work, were attempts to make Wikiid as involved a piece of work as possible, using all of Wikipedia's various features to create an original piece of work.^[3]

The article's original claims as to its notability ended with the reminder that far from being a publicity stunt, the article went out of its way to avoid promoting its creator, and therefore was more believably an attempt at pure art.

Deletion

Upon its creation, Wikiid was nominated for speedy deletion. It was removed entirely shortly after. At the request of the author, it was reinstated

Content

The page was originally created in two drafts: one containing the bulk of the page, and a second draft adding a link to the page's first draft. The original intent was to upload an image of the article itself as a screenshot, but the newly-created site account was unable to upload images.

Structure

Wikiid in its original state was split largely into two subsections: the History subsection, which detailed both the history of the article itself and the intentions of the author in creating the page, and Content, which discussed the particular details put into the page. The entire article was written in the third person, to conform to Wikipedia’s standards, and with attempts made to keep a neutral point of view. For instance, the article at no point attempts to make a definitive claim that it is a notable subject: it merely provides a rationale as to why it might be considered one.

Metahumor

A great deal of Wikiid involves metahumor on the part of the article itself: this includes making references to other parts of the article as valid citations,^[4] linking several times to the article in various states, and commenting on its own existence, albeit in a neutral, factual manner.

Easter Eggs

Upon creation, Wikiid included several easter eggs meant to be preserved in the first draft of the page alone: these easter eggs were then erased upon the creation of the page’s second draft. In the first draft, the phrase “second draft” was replaced in all instances with a set of stars (****** *****) to keep the page from seeming infactual. Rather than having a link to the first draft at the bottom of the page, Wikiid contained the following message: “This link wiollen haven been permanently in existence within minutes.” This is a reference to a joke from The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe, a novel by Douglas Adams.

When it was reinstated as User:Diikiw/Wikiid, the article was posted in its second draft. The third draft, posted November 12, 2008, commented on these losses and noted that such loss is common in art (possibly tongue-in-cheek).

Citations

In another example of metahumor, the article made several claims that used itself as a citation point.^[5] This is both another poke at Wikipedia’s strict policy regarding citing sources and an attempt, as performance art, to create a sort of art that could not be easily mimicked in another medium.

Wikiid’s See Also subsection included, among other topics, a link to itself as an article. Similarly, the only link it provided was the link to its original display on the site.

See Also

• User:Diikiw/Wikiid
• Wikiid - currently defunct
• Metahumor
• Postmodernism

Links

• Wikiid, in its second (and oldest existing) iteration on April 7, 2008

References