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Encyclopedia Dramatica

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Encyclopædia Dramatica
Official site logo
Screenshot
File:EncyclopediaDramatica.png
Encyclopædia Dramatica's front page on April 10, 2011.
Type of site
Satirical wiki
Available inEnglish
Created byGirlvinyl (Sherrod DeGrippo)[1]
RevenueAdvertising and donations
URLDefunct from April 16, 2011[2], was EncyclopediaDramatica.com
CommercialYes
RegistrationOptional (required to edit pages)

Encyclopædia Dramatica (often abbreviated to just "ED"[4]) was a satirical open wiki that used MediaWiki software.[5] Launched on December 10, 2004, it lampooned both encyclopedic topics and current events, especially those related or relevant to internet culture. It was frequently utilized by a socially fluid and dynamic internet subculture known as Anonymous.[6] The site celebrated a subversive "trolling culture",[7] and documented underground internet events such as mass organized pranks (trolling events they termed as "raids"), large scale failures of internet infrastructure and security, and criticism of conservative internet communities which were accused of self-censorship in order to garner prestige or positive coverage from traditional and established media outlets. Wired described the site as "where the vast parallel universe of Anonymous in-jokes, catchphrases, and obsessions is lovingly annotated, and you will discover an elaborate trolling culture: Flamingly racist and misogynist content lurks throughout, all of it calculated to offend".[7] Ninemsn described Encyclopædia Dramatica as: "Wikipedia's evil twin. It’s a site where almost every article is biased, offensive, unsourced, and without the faintest trace of political correctness. A search through its archives will reveal animated images of people committing suicide, articles glorifying extreme racism and sexism, and a seemingly endless supply of twisted, shocking views on just about every major human tragedy in history."[4]

The site shut down on April 16, 2011, and relaunched itself as Oh Internet, leading to criticism from parts of the ED community.[2] A number of mirrors of the original site have since started up.[8]

Content

Encyclopædia Dramatica was founded in 2004 by Sherrod DeGrippo, also known as "Girlvinyl".[1][9] It characterized itself as "[d]one in the spirit of Ambrose Bierce's The Devil's Dictionary".[1] The New York Times Magazine recognized the wiki as "an online compendium of troll humor and troll lore"[9] that it labeled a "troll archive".[9] C't, a European magazine for IT-professionals, noted the site's role in introducing newcomers to the culture of 4chan's /b/, a notorious Internet imageboard.[10] An author has said that it is a platform from which to initiate "exchange between the sensitive and the cruel" in order to achieve the "joy of disrupting another’s emotional equilibrium" because it "intentionally disrupts online communities" whose members have an "emotional investment" in them.[9] Encyclopædia Dramatica defined trolling in terms of doing things "for the lulz" (for laughs),[11] a phrase that it qualifies as "a catchall explanation for any trolling you do."[11]

The targets of this trolling came from "every pocket of the Web",[12] to include not only the non-corporeal aspects of Internet phenomena, (e.g. online catchphrases, fan pages, forums, and viral phenomena), but also real people (e.g. amateur celebrities, identifiable internet drama participants and even Encyclopædia Dramatica's own forum members).[12][13] These were derided in a manner described variously as "coarse", "offensive", "obscene",[14][15] "irreverent, obtuse, politically incorrect",[16] "crude but hilarious",[12] and "crude and abusive".[17] The material was presented to appear comprehensive, with extensive use of shock-value prose, drawings, photographs, and the like. The emotional responses were then added to the articles, often in similarly derogatory or inflammatory manner, with the purpose of provoking further emotional response. Adherents of the practice asserted that visitors to the website "shouldn't take anything said on Dramatica seriously."[16]

Articles at Encyclopædia Dramatica were notably critical of MySpace[14] as well as users on YouTube, LiveJournal, DeviantART, and Wikipedia. In The New York Times Magazine, journalist Jonathan Dee described it as a "snarky Wikipedia anti-fansite".[13] Shaun Davies of Australia's Nine Network called it "Wikipedia's bastard child, a compendium of internet trends and culture which lampoons every subject it touches."[16] The site "[was] run like Wikipedia, but its style is the opposite; most of its information is biased and opinionated, not to mention racist, homophobic, and spiteful, but on the upside its snide attitude makes it spot-on about most Internet memes it covers."[18] This coverage of Internet jargon and memes had been acknowledged in the New Statesman,[19] on Language Log,[20] in C't magazine,[10] and in Wired magazine[12] – where it was described once as the wiki "where the vast parallel universe of Anonymous in-jokes, catchphrases, and obsessions is lovingly annotated."[7]

In 2006 "a well-known band of trolls"[9] emailed the website's creator, DeGrippo, demanding edits to the protected article describing them. After she refused to do so, the trolls ordered taxis, pizzas, escort services and sent death threats and threats of rape to DeGrippo's apartment.[9]

In December 2008, the site claimed they needed donations as they were under attack and had lost its advertisers.[21]

Redirection of URL to Oh Internet

Oh Internet main page

On April 14, 2011, the URL encyclopediadramatica.com was redirected to Oh Internet, [2] a new site created by some former participants in ED among others as a safe-for-work venture.[2] Sherrod DeGrippo reasoned that "Shock for shock’s sake is old at this point [...] ." Visitors to Encyclopædia Dramatica were displeased by the change and attacked the website's official Facebook fan page[22] with "hate messages and pornography".[2] Speculation arose that the clean-up was done to make Oh Internet more attractive for potential acquisition, as competing website Know Your Meme had been acquired by the Cheezburger Network.[2] This speculation was rebuffed by DeGrippo, indicating that the move had been planned for months before the KYM purchase.[23]

The Web Ecology Project and the Internet Archive have made former Encyclopædia Dramatica content available for download.[24][25] Fan-made torrents and mirror sites are also available.[26]

Reception

In the media

The website received mainstream media attention after Jason Fortuny used Encyclopædia Dramatica to post photographs, e-mails and phone numbers from one hundred and seventy-six responses to a Craigslist advertisement he posted in 2006, in which he posed as a woman seeking sexual encounters with dominant men.[5][9] The incident was addressed in a blog hosted at wired.com where the blogger proposes that Encyclopædia Dramatica may be the "world's lamest wiki".[27]

Encyclopædia Dramatica was a "favourite target for critics, who accuse Anonymous of propagating hate."[16] for allowing alleged members of the group "Anonymous" to sometimes use the website as a platform. Through this association with members of Anonymous, Encyclopædia Dramatica received incidental coverage when actions by members of the group led to the arrest of an alleged pedophile,[28] when they demonstrated against Scientology in London;[29][30] when a member of Anonymous broke into the e-mail account of former vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin,[31] and when a member of Anonymous claimed credit for an attack on the virtual Second Life headquarters of former presidential candidate John Edwards.[32] The convergence of Encyclopædia Dramatica with the anti-Scientology campaign of Project Chanology was noted by technology journalist Julian Dibbell.[33]

In January 2010, the Encyclopædia Dramatica article Aboriginal was removed from the search engine results of Google Australia, following a complaint that its content was racist.[34][35][36] A search on terms related to the article produced a message that one of the results has been removed after a legal request relating to Australia's Racial Discrimination Act (RDA).[37][38] In March 2010, it was reported that the Australian Human Rights Commission had notified the site by e-mail that according to Australian law, the article Aboriginal could be in breach of Sections 18C and 18D of its RDA.[6]

Awards

On December 16, 2008, Encyclopædia Dramatica won the People's Choice Winners category for favorite wiki in Mashable's 2nd Annual Open Web Awards, with wikiHow as the runner-up and Wikipedia coming in 3rd.[39]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Encyclopedia Dramatica:About". Encyclopedia Dramatica. Archived from the original on January 10, 2010. Retrieved Arpil 19, 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  2. ^ a b c d e f Popkin, Helen A.S. "Notorious NSFW website cleans up its act". Digital Life on MSNBC.
  3. ^ "Encyclopediadramatica.com Site Info". Alexa. Alexa Internet, Inc. May 4, 2011. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  4. ^ a b Paget, Henri (13:30 AEST Tue Mar 9 2010). ""Interview: Encyclopedia Dramatica moderator"". ninemsn. Retrieved 2010-03-10. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ a b Chonin, Neva (September 17, 2006), "Sex and the City", San Francisco Chronicle, p. 20, retrieved August 11, 2009.
  6. ^ a b Paget, Henri, Dramatica owner could face charges, ninemsn, retrieved March 16, 2010.
  7. ^ a b c Dibbell, Julian (September 21, 2009), The Assclown Offensive: How to Enrage the Church of Scientology, Wired Magazine, retrieved November 27, 2009.
  8. ^ Jeff Hughes (19 April 2011), Digital Trends http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/encyclopedia-dramatica-evolving/ {{citation}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Schwartz, Mattathias (3 August 2008). "Malwebolence". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
  10. ^ a b Himmelein, Gerald (February 28, 2008), "Das Trollparadies", C't, p. 100 online copy.
  11. ^ a b Tsotsis, Alexia (February 04, 2009), "My Date With Anonymous: A Rare Interview With the Elusive Internet Troublemakers", LA Weekly, retrieved August 11, 2009 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help).
  12. ^ a b c d Dibbell, Julian (January 18, 2008), "Mutilated Furries, Flying Phalluses: Put the Blame on Griefers, the Sociopaths of the Virtual World", Wired, no. 16.02, retrieved August 11, 2009.
  13. ^ a b Dee, Jonathan (July 1, 2007), "All the News That's Fit to Print Out", The New York Times Magazine, p. 5, retrieved August 11, 2009.
  14. ^ a b Mitchell, John (May 20, 2006), "Megabits and Pieces: The Latest Teen Hangout", North Adams Transcript.
  15. ^ Staff Writer (December 16, 2005), "2 Do: Monday, December 26", Chicago Tribune RedEye Edition, p. 2.
  16. ^ a b c d Davies, Shaun (August 5, 2008), "Critics point finger at satirical website", 9-News, retrieved August 11, 2009.
  17. ^ Peckham, Charles H. (February 7, 2008), "Encyclopedia Dramatica", Chico News & Review.
  18. ^ Douglas, Nick (January 18, 2008), "What The Hell Are 4chan, ED, Something Awful, And 'b'?", ValleyWag, gawker.com, retrieved August 25, 2008.
  19. ^ Hogge, Betty (June 5, 2008), "A lesson in hai culture", The New Statesman.
  20. ^ Zimmer, Benjamin (May 18, 2007), "Lol-lexicography", Language Log, retrieved August 25, 2008.
  21. ^ Golson, Jordan (8 November 2008). "Briefly: Encyclopedia Dramatica threatens shutdown". The Industry Standard. Retrieved August 17, 2009.[dead link‍]
  22. ^ Robert Quigley (April 15, 2011). "Encyclopedia Dramatica Becomes OhInternet". Geekosystem. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
  23. ^ Read, Max. "What Happened to Encyclopedia Dramatica?". Gawker. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
  24. ^ Alex Leavitt (2011-04-15). "Archiving Internet Subculture: Encyclopedia Dramatica". Web Ecology Project. Retrieved 2011-05-12.
  25. ^ Jason Scott (2011-05-03). "Encyclopedia Dramatica January 2010 Mirror". Internet Archive. Retrieved 2011-05-12.
  26. ^ Max Read. "What happened to Encyclopedia Dramatica?".
  27. ^ "Craigslist". Wired.com. 2006-09-08.
  28. ^ Kim, Gus (July 12, 2007), "Anonymous operation leads to arrest of alleged pedophile", Global Television Network News.
  29. ^ Whipple, Tom (June 20, 2008), "Scientology: the Anonymous protestors", The Times, London, retrieved August 11, 2009.
  30. ^ Lee, Joe (February 11, 2008), "Anonymous Protests Outside Scientology Sites", Londonist, londonist.com, retrieved August 25, 2008.
  31. ^ Singel, Ryan (August 19, 2008), "Palin Hacker Group's All-Time Greatest Hits", Wired, blog.wired.com, retrieved August 25, 2008.
  32. ^ Cabron, Lou (August 3, 2007), "John Edwards' Virtual Attackers Unmasked", AlterNet, alternet.org, retrieved August 25, 2008.
  33. ^ Dibbell, Julian (2008), "Sympathy for the Griefer: MOOrape, Lulz Cubes, and Other Lessons From the First 2 Decades of Online Sociopathy", GLS Conference 4.0, Madison, Wisconsin: Games, Learning and Society Group, retrieved November 7, 2008.
  34. ^ Google agrees to take down racist site, Sydney Morning Herald, January 15, 2010, retrieved January 15, 2010.
  35. ^ Stephen Hodder-Watt –v- Google Australia Pty Limited, Indigenous Community News Network, retrieved January 15, 2010.
  36. ^ Cyber racism, Radio National, retrieved January 15, 2010.
  37. ^ Riley, Duncan, Aus Media Gets Encyclopedia Dramatica Story Wrong, Only Some Search Links Removed, The Inquisitr, retrieved January 15, 2010.
  38. ^ Australian Anti Discrimination Act Complaint, Chilling Effects, retrieved January 15, 2010.
  39. ^ Cashmore, Pete (December 16, 2008), "People's Choice Winners", Open Web Awards Winners, mashable.com, retrieved August 11, 2009.
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