After the death of Queen Elizabeth II was announced, Wikipedia editors debated which historical photo to use for her page.
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After the death of Queen Elizabeth II was announced, Wikipedia editors debated which historical photo to use for her page.
Wikipedia
For much of the world, the death of Queen Elizabeth II last week signaled the end of an era. But for Wikipedia’s editors, her death meant it was time to get to work.
Shortly after her death was announced, editors attempted to update the queen’s Wikipedia article to change the time, indicate the date of her death, and reflect the length of her reign. The scramble to edit is just the latest high-profile example of diligent Wikipedia editors making quick changes in the wake of a celebrity’s death.
“Seconds after the news broke that Queen Elizabeth had died, the editorial conflicts on the article about her just went into overdrive,” said Annie Rauwerda, a Wikipedia editor and creator of the popular Depths of Wikipedia Twitter account. At the height of the editing chaos, more than 300 versions of the article were being saved simultaneously.
The first edit, which came shortly after the announcement by anonymous editor Sydwhunte, corrected the timing of the article to indicate that Elizabeth II “was” Queen of the United Kingdom.
Wikipedia editors congratulated Sydwhunte for being the first to bring the news to the site. “Very impressive speed,” wrote user Normal Name. “A success indeed, albeit a strange one,” wrote user WikiJackal.
After the initial dash to add the date of the Queen’s death, there was still more work to do. There was a separate page being edited just for death and state funerals. There was also debate over which photo to use on Elizabeth’s page. Typically, biographical articles include a current photo of the subject until they die, after which it is replaced with a historical photo. Now they had to decide which one to use.
The headline for the King Charles III-only article was also receiving a surge in edits. “It went from ‘Charles, Prince of Wales’ to ‘Charles III’ to ‘Charles, King of the United Kingdom,'” Rauwerda said. “However, people are talking about maybe changing it.”
Wikipedia’s “Deaditors” are fast
When Queen Elizabeth died, the response from Wikipedia editors was swift – but not unprecedented. Wikipedia editors are known for their speed.
“People on the Internet have been making fun of Wikipedia editors being too quick to change ‘is’ to ‘is’ for years,” Rauwerda said. “People have said that Wikipedia editors are ‘the fastest past time in the West’, or that ‘X is fast, but Wikipedia editors when someone dies are even faster’.”
Wikipedia editors are writing history in real time,” she added. “And unlike a lot of publications, they can jump right in, make a change … They can do it at lightning speed.”
Hay Kranen, a web developer and senior Wikipedia editor, coined the term “deaditor” to refer to editors who rush to update a dead person’s Wikipedia page. In a 2018 blog post, Kranen analyzed a sample of Wikipedia pages to find out who was making these edits.
“The one thing that surprised me the most was the fact that all those people were different,” he said. “I expected that maybe it was like very experienced editors who did it, but it turned out that there were a lot of people, for example, editing from a mobile phone.”
Richard Nevell, a project manager at Wikimedia UK, said editors’ speed to act after news releases is partly motivated by Wikipedia’s public service mission.
“Because Wikipedia is an open source platform, that means anyone can participate,” he said. “Dozens of different editors… they’ve seen this news update and want to help improve the Wikipedia article so that when readers come here, it’s up to date.”
Bruce Englehardt, a student and Wikipedia editor, agreed. Wikipedia is one of the most visited websites in the world, with search engines like Google displaying content directly from the site in many search results.
“We know millions of people are going to see these things and look for information in the midst of all the chaos,” he said. “That’s why, both for COVID and for the Ukrainian invasion and other world events like this, we also have a lot of people who are constantly looking to make sure that things are correct.”
A badge of honor is the first
As a testament to Wikipedia’s popularity as a source of information after major events, Rauwerda said, the site crashed after the deaths of Michael Jackson, Prince and Kobe Bryant.
Additionally, for some Wikipedia editors, being the first to update a person’s bio page after their death is a badge of honor.
“There’s a kind of prestige about being the person who maybe starts an article or adds a piece of information for the first time,” Nevell said.
Englehardt felt that way about being the first person to update Stephen Hawking’s Wikipedia page after he died in 2018. “I was just scrolling through Twitter at the time and I saw a little announcement from the UK Press Association, he said. “So I quickly added it to the page. I was surprised I was the first one there because right after that it was just chaos.”
Englehardt says that in the long run, being able to say he was the first to make the edit isn’t important, but it’s still a “nice little ribbon” for his Wikipedia Resume.
“I mean, it’s good,” he added. “[It] helps keep you going on the site because we’re all volunteers … we’re all writing for our own pleasure or fulfillment.”
“It’s nice to have something to be proud of on Wikipedia.”
