Wikigroaning

alternative wikigroaning · alternative wiki-groaning

1. humorousneologismuncountableThe act of comparing two similar Wikipedia articles, one considered generally useful and the other primarily appealing to nerdy interests, and observing that (to one's disappointment) the latter is significantly longer and more professionally written.

   We go Wikigroaning on the SA forums from time to time and feel confident enough to share the fruits of our latest outing with the public. We're pretty proud of some of these. Enjoy!

   2007 June 5, Jon Hendren, “The Art of Wikigroaning”, in Something Awful, archived from the original on 14 Jan 2024

   3 more examples

   The superabundance of less-than-prized information on the site has led to a phenomenon called "wiki-groaning," which involves comparing the length of seemingly disparate articles to humorous effect. Lightsaber Combat beats out Modern Warfare, for example, and John Locke, the character from the TV show "Lost," edges out the other John Locke, whoever he was.

   2008 March 16, Noam Cohen, “Start Writing the Eulogies for Print Encyclopedias”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 Mar 2023

   And then there is the point made by wiki-groaning, the practice of comparing the length of Wikipedia articles to comic effect. For example "Lightsaber Combat" beats out "Modern Warfare."

   2010 September 5, Ced Kurtz, “TechMan: Falling encyclopedia book sales squeeze publishers”, in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, P.A.: Block Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 05 Apr 2024

   It is true, as commentators on Wikigroaning have often observed, that the often ludicrous disproportion of trivial Wikipedia articles does not undermine the authority of more substantive articles because there is no shortage of bytes in the Wikipedia universe.

   2014, Thomas Leitch, Wikipedia U: Knowledge, Authority, and Liberal Education in the Digital Age, Baltimore, M.D.: Johns Hopkins University Press, →ISBN, page 77