Encyclopædia Dramatica
From WikiFur, the furry encyclopedia.
Encyclopedia Dramatica (also known as ED) is a reference-style parody and satire wiki and acts as a central catalog for drama, memes, and other (mostly Internet-based) happenings that its members find interesting.
- Addresses:
- Founder: Girlvinyl
- Administrators: external list
- Ran from/to: December 2004 - present
Contents |
[edit] History
Encyclopedia Dramatica was founded as a compendium of internet personalities, events and memes by Girlvinyl in response to the deletion of the Mediacrat vanity page on Wikipedia,[1] created by LiveJournal e-celebrity Jameth (who used to be an honorary administrator on the site.)[2]
[edit] Types of content
Most ED articles avoid a "neutral point of view" and encourage sarcasm, hyperbole, and other kinds of humor mocking the article's subject; they are not required to be referenced or have any basis in fact. It has been compared to an internet version of a tabloid and the Devil's Dictionary. The only effective editorial requirements are that the content is legal and funny.[3]
Article themes include:
- Criticism of Wikipedia, its editors, administrators, and policies.
- The people, events, and culture of LiveJournal
- Social and political commentary.
- Shock images.
- Blog, forum, and MMO* drama.
- Internet celebrities
- "Internet Law", with a crash course on libel, slander and copyright.
- Internet memes, including those from SomethingAwful and the various Chan imageboards.
- Mocking subcultures like emo, goths, furries, and anyone the members consider to have an unwarranted case of self-importance.
- Presenting an article as encyclopedic, while delivering satirical commentary or criticism.
- Purposeful misinformation.
[edit] Images
Encyclopedia Dramatica has a large amount of pornography and shock images, but does not allow photos of people under the age of 18. Browse at your own risk.
[edit] Encyclopedia Dramatica and furry
The site's material on furries is generally about the worst of the fandom, and like most articles on the site, it is intentionally offensive, and many users do display strong anti-furry sentiment. However, not all of its users are anti-furry, and ED claims it only makes broad generalizations of the furry fandom and portraits all furries as sexual deviants because it is, according to ED, far more humorous and interesting to read about something scandalous and shocking.
Furries are welcome to edit there as long as they follow the site's policies and refrain from vandalizing.[4] Besides criticizing the fandom in general, some furries use it to criticize specific individuals, particularly ones who they feel make furries look bad or to make private drama very public and persistent. The wiki is often used as staging ground for trolling or spamming crusades against a certain furry deemed particularly perverted or offensive, and ED 'raids' has forced several furries to abandon accounts on Youtube and Deviantart due to repeated waves of spam[citation needed].
[edit] Controversy and criticism
[edit] Drama
The most common criticism of Encyclopedia Dramatica is that its purpose of documenting drama often results in the promotion of drama, be it through invasions, pranks, reposting of sensitive information, or the very existence of an article on the site.
[edit] Copyright
Another common criticism is a seeming disrespect for intellectual property and copyright law. The sensitive information that appears in ED articles is typically gathered from long-forgotten, obscure corners of the internet, and is usually upsetting to the subject, to the point of legal threats and action. Encyclopedia Dramatica relies on the satire and criticism fair use exception clauses of United States copyright law as a defense. Their Arbchat procedure is the sole method of information removal and revision that does not involve the legal system.
The website states that all content contributed is irrevocably "licensed for infinite use to Encyclopedia Dramatica, in electronic and all other media."[5]
[edit] Privacy
The site has an unwritten policy against revealing private information of those it satirizes. This is generally not applicable to public figures, and those whose information is well-known or easily obtainable -- especially if the resulting drama from inclusion is deemed funny. Despite the unwritten rule, private information on ordinary people is often revealed such as phone numbers and addresses if found.
