When surfing Wikipedia, there are moments when you come across things that seem a bit…odd. Sometimes, these things are funny, sometimes they’re just weird. And sometimes you have to wonder “who the heck wrote this?”
Wikpedia is no stranger to Internet trolls. These are people that want to take the good ol’ Internet and mess with it, as well as the people who are using it. Because Wikipedia is basically an open encyclopedia edited by users across the globe, it can sometimes fall victim to people that just want to make fun of things that are posted.
These captures and pictures that were found on Wikipedia seem to be one big joke. And they’re awesome.
This an obvious remark that didn’t need to be said, and one that anyone could have inferred. Verdict: troll.
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This is a difficult one. The language isn’t explicitly sarcastic or disingenuous. I think the word “potentially” as a qualifier isn’t normally used by trolls. Verdict: not a troll.
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This photo comes from a Wikipedia page on adolescence. This seems less like a troll and more like someone trying to sound clinical without knowing how. Verdict: not a troll.
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Whoever wrote this particular caption is using formal language to describe what is a rather simple picture. Like the caption for the concert goers, this caption describes what is obvious in the picture in a serious and formal way. Verdict: troll.
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This doesn’t strike me so much as troll-like, but more like someone making something up. Some trolls, however, have been know to falsify information. Verdict: 50/50 – troll/not a troll
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This caption is obvious, which would initially make me think it is by a troll. But the issue is that it’s really not all that funny. Verdict: lazy troll.
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This caption takes a perfectly innocent picture and makes it creepy and weird. Verdict: most definitely a troll.
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As obvious as this one is, it seems informative in a more earnest way. If this was sarcastic, it would be too subtle a sarcasm for an internet troll. Verdict: not a troll.
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In this article on cow-tipping, it appears that the caption was written by either a troll or someone very concerned with clarifying the freedom of movement possessed by the horizontal cow in the picture. Too close to call. Verdict: 50/50 – troll/not a troll.
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This is from the Wikipedia page on what’s called the “duck test,” as in “if it walks like a duck,” etc., “it’s a duck.” It seems someone has used this as an opportunity to show how the test can be used to identify a duck as a duck. Not only has this person made an obvious claim, but it is a claim in reference to a test that references the thing about which he/she is making the obvious claim. This is such brilliant trolling it’s making my head hurt. Verdict: troll, level 10.
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(via:oddee.com)
Let this be a warning: when surfing Wikipedia, watch out for trolls. You never know where or when they might strike!
