Between December 2007 and March 2008, journalist Cade Metz penned a series of articles for The Register, the British technology focused online newspaper. These articles exposed the dark side of Wikipedia that we Reviewers see on a daily basis. Some of the pieces are vital exposés of Wikipedia’s cultish internal activities, others raise important questions concerning the disturbing contradictions that lie at the root of Wikipedia culture. Below are summaries of ten of the articles, with appropriate links to the stories themselves.

1. Secret mailing list rocks Wikipedia

4 Dec 2007

“Controversy has erupted among the encyclopedia’s core contributors, after a rogue editor revealed that the site’s top administrators are using a secret insider mailing list to crackdown on perceived threats to their power.”

Choice Quote: “If you take Wikipedia as seriously as it takes itself, this is a huge problem. The site is ostensibly devoted to democratic consensus and the free exchange of ideas. But whether or not you believe in the holy law of Web 2.0, Wikipedia is tearing at the seams.”

2. Wikipedia black helicopters circle Utah’s Traverse Mountain

6 Dec 2007

“In early September, the Wikipedia inner circle banned edits from 1,000 homes and one massive online retailer in an attempt to suppress the voice of one man.”

Choice Quote: “I thought this whole thing was vastly overblown and unfair,” he [Dan Tobias] adds, “especially on a site that’s devoted to the free exchange of information and neutral point of view and considering all view points. It just made no sense.”

3. Wikipedia COO was convicted felon

13 Dec 2007

“For more than six months, beginning in January of this year, Wikipedia’s million-dollar check book was balanced by a convicted felon.”

Choice Quote : “Her Virginia criminal record also includes convictions for passing bad checks, petty larceny, and unlawfully wounding her boyfriend of eight years. Doran pleaded guilty to the shooting incident in 1990, and this was reported in The Washington Post.”

4. Truth, anonymity and the Wikipedia Way

18 Dec 2007

“In Wikiland, if someone has a conflict of interest, they could be grounded. But the inhabitants of Wikiland also have the right to anonymity. This means that if you try and prove someone has a conflict of interest, you’re breaking the rules, and they won’t be grounded after all.”

Choice Quote: “But again, this all boils down to who’s with the in-crowd and who’s not. If you have the right friends, you have the power. If you don’t, your voice isn’t heard.”

5. Wikia unsheathes antidote to ‘unhealthy’ Google

7 Jan 2008

“Today, Jimbo’s for-profit Wikia operation takes the wraps off a beta version of Wikia Search, a search engine that allows everyone and their brother to control what turns up when you type in a keyword. ”

Choice Quote: “We have no doubt that Wikia will have a field day blocking, banning, and deleting all sorts of people, places, and things. The question is whether Jimbo’s blinkered followers will crack down on their friends in the same way they crack down on those who don’t know the secret handshake.”

6. Wikipedia ruled by ‘Lord of the Universe’

6 Feb 2008

“Think of it as Wikipedia’s police department hotline. The “encyclopedia anyone can edit” includes a page where you can instantly alert the site’s brain trust to foul play. It’s called the “Conflict of Interest Noticeboard.” If you suspect someone has rigged the system, using the encyclopedia to push their own agenda, this is where you turn.”

Choice Quote: “At Wikipedia, all sorts of people end up controlling all sorts of articles. Jimmy Wales says as much in his conversation with The AP. But this case shows just how far the problem goes. Jossi Fresco may bear the most extreme conflict of interest in the history of Wikipedia - and he edits the policy that governs conflict of interest.”

7. Jimbo Wales dumps lover on Wikipedia

3 Mar 2008

“On one level, it’s an encyclopedia. On another, it’s The Comedy of Errors. Over the weekend, in response to a story from Valleywag, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy “Jimbo” Wales used the world’s most popular online encyclopedia as a means of dumping his girlfriend - onetime Fox News pundit Rachel Marsden.”

Choice Quote: “In discussing his sex life on the “free encyclopedia anyone can edit,” Wales says that his sex life is not something anyone should be discussing.”

8. Ex-Wikipedia staffer harpoons Wales over expenses

5 Mar 2008

“A former employee of the Wikimedia Foundation has taken Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales to task over the way he handled his expenses. On Saturday morning, the very public breakup of Wales and former Fox News pundit Rachel Marsden sparked a blog post from onetime foundation exec Danny Wool.”

Choice Quote: “I find (it) tiring to see how you are constantly trying to rewrite the past,” she [Florence Devouard] wrote to Wales in the message. “Get a grip!”

9. Why you should care that Jimmy Wales ignores reality

6 Mar 2008

“Late last year, in the wake of our story on Wikipedia, Overstock.com, and naked short selling, we argued that so many of Wikipedia’s problems could be solved if Jimmy Wales would simply force editors to reveal their real names, doing away with the site’s longstanding commitment to anonymous editing. But we were wrong. Wikipedia’s problems extend well beyond the anonymity issue.”

Choice Quote: “In short, Wikipedia is a cult. Or at least, the inner circle is a cult. We aren’t the first to make this observation. On the inside, they reinforce each other’s beliefs. And if anyone on the outside questions those beliefs, they circle the wagons. They deny the facts. They attack the attacker.”

10. Why would someone toss $1.35m at Wikipedia?

18 Mar 2008

“There’s little doubt that anyone with the time and the inclination can overhaul at least a few Wikipedia entries to suit their personal ambitions. All they need is the right friends. Or a little pillow talk. The question is, could someone overhaul the entire encyclopedia?”

Choice Quote: “That night, the four of them joined Bono for drinks on the roof of their hotel, and at one point the pop icon suggested that Wales dump Wikipedia’s volunteer editors and hire professionals.”