Wikipedia is the eighth most-visited website on the planet, per (and apologies for our lack of research rigor) Wikipedia.
Unlike the sites that chart above it, all of which are owned by tech oligarchs representing varying yet considerable evil levels, Wikipedia is controlled by a nonprofit called the Wikimedia Foundation. And the online encyclopedia's content is produced by tens of thousands of volunteer editors known as Wikipedians. Minnesotan Wikipedians, aka the editorial volunteer force best positioned to curate articles related to our state, are reportedly underrepresented.
"A lot of the stuff I already know, just being a Minnesotan, those areas are really lacking," observes Mankato-based Wiki editor Andy Anderson. "I wanted to fix that."
Ditto for fellow Wiki editor Joe Hoover, whose day job involves IT outreach for the Minnesota Historical Society.
"When you start getting into flyover country, when you get into rural Minnesota, there's just an absence of information," Hoover says. "We just don't have the media outlets and colleges that exist in other major metropolitan areas. There's also a lack of people to add this information."
The formal coalition of Wikimedians from Minnesota dissolved around 2019. No, it wasn't the result of intense in-fighting over, say, the Jucy Lucy article in which this author is cited. The freshly formed IRL user group hadn't really established itself, and then a global pandemic hit.
"It didn't take a lot to knock it off the shelf," Hoover says. "[Editing] helped my mental health during the pandemic—I could sit there and doomscroll, or I could edit the article for the Minnesota Capitol!"
Recently, the 30-ish folks behind the Wikimedians of Minnesota User Group have resurrected their meetups. It's an effort to better curate entries related to the state and geek-out on the minutia of online information chronicling, but it's also a great excuse to snack on stuffed sausage dates while sipping beers at Lake Monster Brewing Co., as they'll do this coming Sunday. (Pop over to learn more; Anderson says the barrier for entry is low, and the group is always seeking new and underrepresented perspectives.)
"I've been a Wikipedia editor for far longer than I should have been allowed to be on the internet," says Anderson, who began editing video game and YouTuber articles around the age of 12. "When I like something, I like telling people about it, and that's kind of Wikipedia's entire thing. It kind of sucks you in—there's a whole community, a whole cooperative philosophy."
Hoover says a wide swath of people are attracted to editing, from librarians to museum workers to grammar junkies; there's "no trouble getting" military and train junkies to contribute. Usernames can be anonymous or not (Hoover's isn't), and "some debates can get heated," he says. Locally, Hoover and Anderson both immediately cite the Dakota War of 1862 entry as a source of editorial friction. Unrepentant "buttheads" and "bullies" who ignore the rules can be subject to banning.
"Wikipedia is a great good, I think, and we hope this user group can help people get into Wikipedia," says Anderson, who once organized a Hmong edit-a-thon project. "We want to go to the less covered communities, smaller towns, whatever, and encourage them to edit so there's better and more accurate coverage."
"We need people," Hoover says with a chuckle, adding that photographers are very welcome to join. "Many hands make light work, as the saying goes, and we're undercovered here in Minnesota."
Wikimedians of Minnesota User Group Meetup
When: 1-3 p.m. Sunday, April 6
Where: Lake Monster Brewing Co., 550 Vandalia St. #160, St. Paul
Details: Find more info here
