In August, an analysis of the intensity of editing in PIA between January 2022 and September 2024 found that the top contributor to PIA by number of edits, a user called Selfstudier, made over 15,000 edits in the space in that period. Iskandar323 contributed over 12,000 edits to PIA articles in the same period. Other members of the pro-Palestine group are equally prolific, with top contributors including CarmenEsparzaAmoux (8,353), Makeandtoss (8,074), Nableezy (6,414), Nishidani (5,879), Onceinawhile (4,760) and an admin called Zero0000 (2,561).
The 15,000 edits by Selfstudier and the 12,000 by Iskandar323 put those two users in the top 99.975% of editors by number of edits — solely for their PIA edits made in under three years. The other pro-Palestine group members’ PIA edits from this period place them among the top 99.9% of Wikipedia editors. All together, the top 20 editors of this group made over 850,000 edits to more than 10,500 articles, the majority of them in the Palestine-Israel topic area, or topically connected historical articles.
It’s not just the raw number of edits that matters. The same analysis shows that fully 90% of total edits by Selfstudier in that period were made to Palestine-Israel articles. Other members of the group clock in at 90% (sean.hoyland), 86% (CarmenEsparzaAmoux), 82% (Makeandross), 64% (Nishidani), and 43% (Onceinawhile). After October 7 the intensity increased, with Selfstudier peaking at 99% in October 2023, while others got to 97%, 98% and even 100% of their total monthly edits dedicated to PIA.
I think this should be a wake up call for some to understand the sheer scale of coordination to shift narratives in 2024, not even by state-funded actors but by groups of very motivated ideologues. The fact that they make up 99.9% of editors with 90% of their articles relating to Israel-Hamas shows this is no individual with their own perspective, nor can one apply a "both sides" point here, it's very much one large group crowding out smaller, disconnected individual editors.
It's the evolution of the troll, we can ignore or ban an individual, but we can't ignore entire swarms that might simply crowd out the opposition without going into issues of free-speech and echo-chambers. It's a gray area that is exploited to maximum effect by groups with an agenda. And it's not the laughable propaganda remniscient of the USSR or NK, it's Chomsky's "Manafacturing Consent" directly applied, through thousands of edits, many small and innocuous in isolation but when put together provide a far more troubling picture.
Whether you agree with the site's own right-wing ideological slant is another matter, but the figures here show a undeniable picture of what's happening. The conducts and assumptions that precipitated the rise of the free and open internet we've enjoyed over the last 30 years have changed, and if they don't evolve I don't think it's going to be sustainable for longer.
>> edits from this period place them among the top 99.9% of Wikipedia editors
Which is something different. In particular, if some group makes up 99.9% of editors, other groups can at most make up 0.1%. But someone in the top 99.9% by number of edits is dwarfed by everyone in the top 99.99% and so on.
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[ 148 ms ] story [ 747 ms ] threadThe 15,000 edits by Selfstudier and the 12,000 by Iskandar323 put those two users in the top 99.975% of editors by number of edits — solely for their PIA edits made in under three years. The other pro-Palestine group members’ PIA edits from this period place them among the top 99.9% of Wikipedia editors. All together, the top 20 editors of this group made over 850,000 edits to more than 10,500 articles, the majority of them in the Palestine-Israel topic area, or topically connected historical articles.
It’s not just the raw number of edits that matters. The same analysis shows that fully 90% of total edits by Selfstudier in that period were made to Palestine-Israel articles. Other members of the group clock in at 90% (sean.hoyland), 86% (CarmenEsparzaAmoux), 82% (Makeandross), 64% (Nishidani), and 43% (Onceinawhile). After October 7 the intensity increased, with Selfstudier peaking at 99% in October 2023, while others got to 97%, 98% and even 100% of their total monthly edits dedicated to PIA.
I think this should be a wake up call for some to understand the sheer scale of coordination to shift narratives in 2024, not even by state-funded actors but by groups of very motivated ideologues. The fact that they make up 99.9% of editors with 90% of their articles relating to Israel-Hamas shows this is no individual with their own perspective, nor can one apply a "both sides" point here, it's very much one large group crowding out smaller, disconnected individual editors.
It's the evolution of the troll, we can ignore or ban an individual, but we can't ignore entire swarms that might simply crowd out the opposition without going into issues of free-speech and echo-chambers. It's a gray area that is exploited to maximum effect by groups with an agenda. And it's not the laughable propaganda remniscient of the USSR or NK, it's Chomsky's "Manafacturing Consent" directly applied, through thousands of edits, many small and innocuous in isolation but when put together provide a far more troubling picture.
Whether you agree with the site's own right-wing ideological slant is another matter, but the figures here show a undeniable picture of what's happening. The conducts and assumptions that precipitated the rise of the free and open internet we've enjoyed over the last 30 years have changed, and if they don't evolve I don't think it's going to be sustainable for longer.
Your quote says
>> edits from this period place them among the top 99.9% of Wikipedia editors
Which is something different. In particular, if some group makes up 99.9% of editors, other groups can at most make up 0.1%. But someone in the top 99.9% by number of edits is dwarfed by everyone in the top 99.99% and so on.