Wiki rabbit hole

The wiki rabbit hole is the learning pathway which a reader travels by navigating from topic to topic while browsing Wikipedia and other wikis. Other names for the concept include wiki black hole[1] and wikihole.[2] The metaphor of a hole comes from Lewis Carroll's 1865 novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, in which Alice begins an adventure by following the White Rabbit into his burrow.

Illustration of a wiki rabbit hole for a t-shirt

When watching videos outside of Wikipedia, many people go to Wikipedia to get more information about what they watched and proceed into the wiki rabbit hole to topics progressively further removed from where they started.[3] Films based on historical people or events often initiate viewers to explore Wikipedia rabbit holes.[4]

Data visualizations showing the relationships between Wikipedia articles demonstrate pathways that readers can take to navigate from topic to topic.[5]

The Wikimedia Foundation publishes research on how readers enter rabbit holes.[6] Rabbit hole browsing behavior happens in various languages of Wikipedias.[7]

Wikipedia users have shared their rabbit hole experiences as part of Wikipedia celebrations as well as on social media.[8][9] Some people go to Wikipedia for the fun of seeking a rabbit hole.[10][11] Exploring the rabbit hole can be part of wikiracing.[12]

The satirical The Onion wrote in 2021 that Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales had been in a Wikipedia rabbit hole since 2001, but would now move on to other things, "as soon as he looked up one more thing."[13]

References
  1. Stockton, Chrissy (January 4, 2014). "The 10 Best Wikipedia Black Holes For Curious People (Who Have No Impulse Control)". Thought Catalog.
  2. Bate, Ellie (September 12, 2016). "19 Wikipedia Pages That'll Send You Into A Week-Long Wikihole". BuzzFeed.
  3. Yahr, Emily (January 4, 2018). "Do you fall down a Wikipedia rabbit hole after each episode of 'The Crown'? You're not alone". Washington Post.
  4. Beck, Lia (August 23, 2018). "13 Movies Based On True Stories With Wikipedia Rabbit Holes You'll Spend Hours On". Bustle.
  5. Li, Shirley (December 12, 2014). "WikiGalaxy: A Visualization of Wikipedia Rabbit Holes". The Atlantic.
  6. Allemandou, Joseph; Popov, Mikhail; Taraborelli, Dario (January 16, 2018). "New monthly dataset shows where people fall into Wikipedia rabbit holes – Wikimedia Blog". Diff, a Wikimedia community blog.
  7. Wang, Shan (March 16, 2018). "Why do people go to Wikipedia? A survey suggests it's their desire to go down that random rabbithole". Nieman Lab. Nieman Foundation for Journalism.
  8. "On Wikipedia's 15th birthday, Ars shares the entries that most fascinate us". Ars Technica. January 16, 2016.
  9. Howard, Dorothy (July 22, 2015). "Feed my Feed: Radical publishing in Facebook Groups". Rhizome. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
  10. Bosch, Torie (January 25, 2018). "Rabbit Holes: Exploring the Wikipedia Page of "People Who Disappeared Mysteriously."". Slate Magazine.
  11. "10 Outrageous Wikipedia Articles That Will Send You Down a Rabbit Hole". Thrillist. April 30, 2020.
  12. "Down the Wikipedia Rabbit Hole: The Game! - On The Media - WNYC Studios". WNYC Studios. February 5, 2015.
  13. "Jimmy Wales Glances Up To Realize He Got Sucked Into Wikipedia Rabbit Hole For 20 Years". The Onion. August 12, 2021. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.