A group of volunteers, ranging from seasoned editors to first-time contributors, gathered for a collaborative Wikipedia editing event called a "wikithon" to expand coverage of the arms industry. The initiative aims to address gaps in the encyclopedia’s representation of topics like military technology companies and defense projects, which have historically received less attention. With laptops and shared meals, participants—including longtime editors and newcomers—worked together to add or refine entries on subjects such as surveillance technology and chemical manufacturing firms. The effort reflects broader efforts to diversify Wikipedia’s content beyond frequently covered areas, ensuring a wider range of industries and perspectives are documented.
Volunteers and new recruits come together for ‘wikithon’ to put more detail about industry into public domain“Anyone can edit Wikipedia,” the adage goes. But, it turns out, a relatively small number actually do.What is worthy of a digital page in the world’s largest and most-read encyclopedia is decided by roughly 270,000 active volunteers, enthusiasts who populate the online resource with information on anything from 19th-century medicine to TikTok trends. Inevitably, some subjects are sidelined – the global south, notable women – but a new batch of Wikipedian recruits are waging war on one neglected topic: the arms industry. Last week, in a classroom in central London, two dozen volunteers huddled around laptops and free servings of vegan Ethiopian food for what is known as a “wikithon”, an event of collective and in-person Wikipedia editing. Some were veteran editors in their 70s, others young students who had never registered an account before. But their targets include subjects such as Palantir, Project Maven and Nitro-Chem. Continue reading...
