[imagesource: Instagram / depthsofwikipedia]

We all love Wikipedia for saving us when we need a quick fact to settle an argument.

But Annie Rauwerda, a 22-year-old Michigan-based Internet expert of sorts, has a wholly different relationship with the online encyclopaedia.

What started out with an innocent interest in the bottomless well of facts and information that the crowd-sourcing platform provides, quickly escalated into sessions of Wikiracing, and then, a viral Instagram account.

Really, really viral:

 

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A post shared by Wikipedia is weird! (@depthsofwikipedia)

 

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A post shared by Wikipedia is weird! (@depthsofwikipedia)

According to Rauwerda, ‘Wikiracing’ “is when you basically compete with others to see how many hyperlinks on Wikipedia you can click in a specific time frame”.

Everyone who has opened at least one page on Wikipedia knows how much of a rabbit hole that side of the internet can be, where tabs upon tabs lie open and eyes become spinning wheels before you can even really blink.

Rauwerda is perhaps the only person (at least, that I know of) who can make sense of the Wiki wonderland, turning the “weirdest, wildest and most unexpected Wiki facts into bite-sized content for the social media generation,” per VICE:

Though there are older pages that post about the freakiest shit found on Wikipedia – such as the 48,000 member-strong Facebook group Cool Freaks’ Wikipedia Club – Rauwerda’s account is a Gen Z interpretation that combines meme culture with knowledge.

Her posts often incorporate Gen Z humour defined by post-irony, a state where earnest and ironic sentiments are muddled, and meta-irony by presenting facts as is and allowing her audience to interpret it in their own way.

Here are the Wiki facts to help the headline make sense:

 

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A post shared by Wikipedia is weird! (@depthsofwikipedia)

 

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A post shared by Wikipedia is weird! (@depthsofwikipedia)

There is so much to get through, but no matter what, you will certainly be left “shocked, awed or in splits”:

Some of the Gen Z creator’s favourite posts include a topic on Timothy Dexter, a man who made his money off sarcastic dares and nonsensical businesses; a list of Donald Trump’s nicknames from Boot-edge-edge to Lyin’ Ted to Disaster from Alaska; the bald-hairy pattern of Russian leaders; and guerrilla gardening, where people sneak onto abandoned properties to plant gardens.

With 530 000 followers on Instagram (including the likes of Emma Roberts, John Mayer, Olivia Wilde, and Troye Sivan), Rauwerda is basically everyone’s favourite Wiki pro:

Rauwerda stressed that though her page was dedicated to finding the dumbest or funniest facts on Wikipedia, it was also a way to raise awareness for a meme-obsessed audience.

While she doesn’t follow any specific process to find her content, she admitted that it involves spending at least an hour a day on Wikipedia, time she also dedicates to editing entries on the online resource.

The neuroscience student can also boast of being a part of the worldwide volunteer community of Wikipedia editors, regularly hosting edit-a-thons where she teaches prospective Wiki editors how to accurately describe topics on the online platform.

Although, she really wants to move into a career in teaching, freelance writing or hosting comedy shows (Wiki-style, of course).

Watch this space.

[source:vice]