Cross posted from my blog at:
http://ozziesport.com/2012/07/michelle-jennekes-wikipedia-article/
In the continuing brief look at English Wikipedia's coverage of female
Australian Olympians, a brief look at a non-Olympian: Michelle Jenneke, a
hurdler who did not make the 2012 Olympics.
An article about her <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Jenneke> was
created on 20 July 2012. Pretty quickly, it was nominated for
deletion<http://topsy.com/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_d…
Jenneke was not viewed as notable, or only notable because of her
"jiggle" video. Since July 20, her article has had 132,997 views. (First
Saudi Arabian female Olympian in contrast? 6,787
views<http://stats.grok.se/en/latest/Sarah_Attar>.)
The deletion nomination had 1,347
views<http://stats.grok.se/en/latest/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Michelle_Jenneke>.
Lots and lots of page views. Some sexism going on. What is the care
factor about this? On Twitter, Jenneke's article had zero
links<http://topsy.com/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Jenneke>ke>,
while the deletion nomination had three links on
Twitter<http://topsy.com/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_de…ke>.
(Another fun contrast? Lauren Jackson's Wikipedia article only had one
Twitter mention
<http://topsy.com/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauren_Jackson>since the flag
bearing news was announced. Page
views for Jackson <http://stats.grok.se/en/latest90/Lauren_Jackson> were
less today than what her article had on the day it appeared on Wikipedia's
front page.)
My take away from this? Sexism still generates lots of traffic and a fair
amount of conversation. It doesn't necessarily translate that success,
moving women forward and great personal accomplishments translate into
interest and traffic.
Sincerely,
Laura Hale
--
twitter: purplepopple
blog:
ozziesport.com