‘Depths Of Wikipedia’: This Page Is Dedicated To The Weird Side Of Wikipedia And Here Are 30 Of The Best Examples
Interview With AuthorBorn on 15 January 2001, Wikipedia has forever changed the ways we consume knowledge as nothing was out of reach anymore. It made it possible to solve trivia if you had access to wifi, it made us consume thousands of random facts, names, dates and places we won’t ever need, it helped us to make a fierce impression on a first date, and served as a holy grail of all of our high school Powerpoint presentations.
Still today, it’s our go-to source for learning stuff we don’t even bother to double-check, and it’s the place you stumble across a whole Wikipedia page dedicated to the life of your random-ass neighbor.
But something as big and influential as our beloved digital encyclopedia has to have something so much more going on we don’t see. Luckily, thanks to the ‘Depths of Wikipedia’ Instagram page, we now are able to dive deep beneath that iceberg and see all the weird and wonderful things published on there. “Wikipedia is Weird!” states the page’s slogan, but trust me, it gets way weirder than that. Get your snorkels ready, we’re about to dive deep!
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This Is A Good One
In Protest, A Guy Made A 10 Hour Film Of Paint Drying Just To Force The Film Classification Committee To Watch It
I partially work with quality control of films. Not for censorship but still, I have to focus on every frame of a film for its length, this.....meditative......film I'd be the one to watch all ten hours.
Revenge Bedtime Procrastination
To find out more about the creator of this weird and wonderful corner of the internet, Bored Panda reached out to Annie Rauwerda, a 21-year-old neuroscience student at the University of Michigan. Annie told us that there was no lightbulb-over-the-head epiphany when deciding to create “Depths Of Wikipedia.”
“It was early quarantine (the stage when everyone was attempting new projects) and I was working on a page of my friend's quaranzine. I wanted to piece together Wikipedia excerpts into some virtual art.”
And They Were Roommates
We're All Guilty Of That
Oh god yes. Books 🙈 . I even have bought books that read to me piling up .
Kafka
The author said she ended up having a ton of fun collecting Wikipedia screenshots and she was shocked that there was no Instagram dedicated to it. “I spent many quarantine evenings hunting for weird Wikipedia articles. Now, I get a lot of great submissions!”
Annie believes her fascination with all things internet is because she “didn't have many screen time limits during my teenage years and as a result became very entrenched in the internet,” she said and added: “I love collaborative sites like Reddit and Wikipedia—they have so many hidden gems!”
Planned Procrastination— When The Only Time You Can Find Motivation For A Task Is When You’re Under A Tight Deadline. student Syndrome Has Similarities To Parkinson’s Law, The Old Adage That The Work Expands To Fill The Time Allotted (Save It Til The Last Minute And The Job Will Only Take A Minute)
Rigged, I Knew Josh Would Win
Relates To The Concept Of Automaticity: The Ability To Do Things Without Occupying The Mind With Low-Level Details
It freaks me out when I do this. I'm sure I was probably driving properly, but I don't know! I'm just at my destination
When asked what was the weirdest thing she has come across on Wikipedia, Annie said that there are so many good ones. “Some that come to mind are Tourist guy, List of films that most frequently use the word 'f**k,' Roadkill cuisine, and Timeline of the far future.”
And when it comes to using Wikipedia in her daily life, the creator assured us she definitely uses it. “Protecting open-access information is so vital. You should definitely start editing if you don't already,” Annie said and added that “it's such a rewarding and impactful hobby, and we need more people with diverse perspectives in editing.”
April Fools Lore
Obsessed With The Complexity Of The Chart On The Third Slide
This Is The Deepest Stuff I’ve Heard In A While
Aside from “Depths of Wikipedia,” Annie runs two more cool projects, “Depths Of Amazon” and “Depths Of Craigslist.” “My best friend Hajin and I teamed up to foray into more 'depths.' Wikipedia will always be closest to my heart, but it's been fun to look at other weird corners of the internet.” Hajin and Annie also recently started the Depths of Wikipedia podcast, which you can listen to right here.
Filling My Exam Answers With Swag
Just Gals Being Pals
Financial independence is extremely important for any person. It is difficult to live as a human without that.
Just Like Crabs In A Bucket Block The Escape Attempts Of Other Crabs, People In A Group May Attempt To Sabotage The The Most Talented Group Member Out Of Envy And Spite
Referenced in Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett. It's also covered by the attitude "they think they're better than they are" - note, this doesn't mean "they think they're better than ME", but rather "we come from the same background, how DARE they think they're better than me". Stops people improving their lot in life by sheer peer pressure. And a lot of it (as mentioned in the novel) is *inside our own heads*
Dilbert Principle
When Incompetent People Can’t Understand Their Relative Incompetence
This Could Be Us
When A Thing/Concept/Word You Just Learned About Suddenly Seems To Crop Up Everywhere
In 2003, A High Schooler Named Mike Rowe Had His Website Cease-And-Desisted By Microsoft. Eventually, After Media Attention, The Tech Giant Gave Him A Settlement Including A Trip To Microsoft Tech Fest And An Xbox
Well damn I would have given up my site too they really rewarded him
Your Life Is A TV Show
Going Out With A Bit
The Popemobile
The centuries of child abuse and exploitation of vulnerable people is totally cool though apparently.
Young And Rebellious
You specially get this after reading a lot web novels, light novels, manga and watching anime. Then you start believing that your right eye is special and there's a dragon sealed in your right arm. Most of this is just a way of entertaining yourself, a form of play-fantasy.
Very Important Chart!!!in The Streets, In The Sheets, Etc.
I’ve been staring at this for twelve minutes and still have no idea how “in the streets, in the sheets” fits in.
Explained By Multiple Theories— Alcohol, Increased Familiarity (Mere Exposure Effect), And Having Fewer And Fewer Options (Commodity Effect)
Do Not Knit Your So A Sweater Without Making Them Sign A “Pre-Knitual Agreement!”
Are You In Your Prime? Single? This Is For You!!!
RIP Pluto 1930-2006
Dudes Rock
Back When I Was A Kid We Killed Waaaay More Bugs With Our Cars
I never thought about it but yes, I don't see squished bugs on my windscreen like I used to on my parents windscreen when I was a kid :(
The Dude Abides
Thinking About The Oldest Cat Ever Recorded Who Had The Absolute Best, Booziest Life
Museum Fatigue
The German Man Who Got An Absurd Amount Of Hospitality And Media Attention When He Got Off Of A Flight In A Small Town In Maine And Thought He Was In San Francisco!!! There’s A Lot To Scroll Through (10 Slides) But It’s Such A Good Story!
Instantly Cuter
Wholesome
I Would Rather Cry In A BMW
so it is something like happy with poor guy or unhappy with rich guy?
The Week-Long Traffic Jam In China Which LED To Locals Charging Stranded Drivers Astronomical Prices For Water And Food
No information about toilet facilities? I wonder about people stuck in elevators and Pierce Bros man's character, Harry, at the end of Dante's Peak, too.
Flipping The Bird
Models Of The Body Which Show Body Parts Proportional To Size Of Their Region In The Brain. Larger Body Parts Mean There’s More More Cortical Space Devoted To That Body Part’s Movement (For The Motor Map) Or Sensation (For The Sensory Map). They Look Like Nightmarish Little Gnomes!!!
The Safer The More Daring
This is well-known in automotive safety; people in a rickety car with failing brakes tend to drive more timidly than those with all safety features, and people drive faster on straight roads. See e.g. city roads getting obstacles put back after they were removed to make it safer (but accident rates went up). Same with planes (specifically, Cirrus planes that have a parachute for the whole plane), having better features seems to lead pilots to take unsafe decisions (like take off with dodgy weather coming up).
Language Is Weird
Lenin Was Bald, Stalin Was Hairy; Krushchev Was Bald, Brezhnev Was Hairy; Gorbachev Was Bald, Yeltsin Was Hairy - And Putin Is Practically Bald, So Medvedev Had To Win
Andropov? Gorbachev didn't succeed Brezhnev; he was the last choice after an incredible succession of selected leaders all went and dropt ov.
Infinite Monkey Theorem
Sounds Fishy
Where Is “Any” Key?!!!
Your Honor, It Wasn’t Me!!!
And now he's saying just that in a Cheetos ad with Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher.
Potato Paradox
Kuai Kuai Culture
Mans Done Nothing, Free My Boys
Pink, Purple, And Blue Lighting
Could you imagine if this happened in real life? A Bi person walks into the room and the lights change colour! That would be fecking awesome! I wonder if other sexualities have their own lighting...
Just Thinking About It
Understand this is based on a syllogism example that said: All men are mortal, a crab is not a man thus, it is immortal"
Fools
Icon!! This Is One Of The World’s Many Unsolved Mysteries!! I Like To Imagine The Mad Pooper To Be A Fit, Middle Aged Mom Who’s Crying Laughing While Pulling Down Her Lululemons To Take A Dump In This Random Family’s Lawn For The Fourth Time That Month, Willing To Do Truly Anything To Escape The Monotony Of Her Suburban Life
Former National Geographic Photographer Charles O'rear Took The Photo On Film While On His Way To Visit His Girlfriend, Later Selling It As A Stock Photo Titled "Bucholic Green Hills" In 1996
It's Cute
So Cool
A Neural Disorder Which Causes People To Believe That Everyone They Know And See Is The Same Person Wearing Disguises
The Escalator Effect
Tfw The Boys Are Back In Town
Boops Boops
The Smell Of Rain Has A Name, And It’s Caused By A Substance In The Dirt Named Geosmin Which Is Released When Raindrops Hit The Ground
Old Person Smell
A Lot Of Richards Living There
Send This To Someone With Nice 5318008
My mom said this was the main form of entertainment back when she was in high school (mid to late 1980’s)
Cloudy With A Chance Of Meat!
My dog would have barked really loud "It's raining meat! Hallelujah! It's raining meat!" while dancing under the meat shower, trying to grab it before it touch the ground. (yes i can see it in my head doc)
The Science Behind This Is Shoddy At Best, But It Is Pretty Notable That A Number Of Correctional Facilities (Not To Mention Kendall Jenner’s Living Room Wall) Have Been Painted This Color
Ghost Mall
Following A Win In 1985, Japanese Baseball Fans Took Part In A Tradition: Player Lookalikes Jumping Into A Canal. But No One In The Crowd Looked Like A White Player, So Fans Threw A Colonel Sanders Statue Into The Canal. This Caused The Fabled Curse Of The Colonel Which Is Said To Have Brought About An 18 Year Losing Streak!!
Hm
Good Fun Fact To Tell People On Car Rides
Oceanic Feeling
Oh i experience often another kind of Oceanic feeling, when it drizzle all day and the wind slap my face with cold water spines while walking. Not as great as the other one.
In America We Actually Call ≡ The ‘Freedomburger Menu’
Very Important Image
Stay Noided
English Triple Contractions
Still Got It
Love The Guy Who Said “Some Men Play Golf, I Dig Tunnels”
Can’t Stop Thinking About The Pet Food CEO Rumored To Have Eaten Cans Of Dog Food At Shareholders’ Meetings
I Am Once Again Thinking About The Penguin Who Fell In Love With A Cardboard Cutout Of An Anime Character And Became So Obsessed That He Needed To Be Separated From The Character In Order To Eat
It Has A Name!
Technically Just As Correct As North-Up. At Least One Study Suggests That The Prevailing North-Up Convention Has Influenced People To Think Of North As “Good” And South As “Bad.”
Never really though about the saying 'Things are going south' before this moment!
Lo-Fi Girl
Important Images
It Does Look Ridiculous
Pass By Catastrophe
Love The Part About Local Legend Mike Who Won A Competition Nine Years In A Row Due To His Ability To Produce Collosal Amounts Of Saliva (He Reports That He Requires Two Suction Cups At The Dentist)
They are obviously easier to eat than Jacobs Cream Crackers, can't even get 3 of those down in a minute!