Fandom: Difference between revisions

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===Auto-playing videos (September 2017)===

Throughout 2017, Fandom introduced auto-playing to several popular video game wikis, such as RuneScape and Fallout. These videos were inserted without prior consultation with editors, and many of them contained misinformation about the games covered by the wikis. The editorial team had to post notices informing users that they had no control over the videos, which were created solely by Fandom.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-09-05 |title=(PSA) Featured Videos on the RuneScape Wiki |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/runescape/comments/6yc8xt/psa_featured_videos_on_the_runescape_wiki/ |access-date=2025-08-18 |website=r/runescape via Reddit}}</ref> Some of the videos contained mispronunciations of in-game items, as well as featured stolen material from game footage. Notably, the videos produced about "Zamik Wizard"<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2017-08-05 |title=(PSA) Featured Videos on the Old School RuneScape Wiki |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/2007scape/comments/6ybxly/psa_featured_videos_on_the_old_school_runescape/ |access-date=2025-08-18 |website=r/2007scape via Reddit |quote=As you can probably guess, me and my colleagues are pissed about this change. And the worst thing is that we have ZERO SAY about this; it is out of our control. We have even created a template that we have added right underneath these videos to emphasize that these videos were made by the company, and not us, the admins who provide you with actual quality articles.}}</ref> are commonly referred to as a joke by the community due to the poor quality of the video.

At the end of 2018, YouTuber Mekkah, who documents the Fire Emblem game series, explained his issues with Fandom after bashing the Fire Emblem wiki hosted on the platform, citing that one of the reasons he dislikes the website's editing model, considering it “parasitic,” was the insertion of videos at the top of pages, some of which contain factual errors and were created by Fandom staff rather than the actual editors, as well as the insertion of clickbait content to increase views.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mekkrah |date=2018 |title=Fire Emblem Wikia is Scum |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7W5CQdITi7A |access-date=2025-09-25 |website=YouTube}}</ref>

===Fandom Shop (September 2020)===

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===Online grooming and sexual harassment (November 2023)===

<blockquote>''"When you're just trying to speak out and get a pedophile off the site, or they say that everything happened on Discord we can't do anything, [...], saying that pedophilia is okay if it's offsite this is just disgusting"''</blockquote>- Quote from @bruhwrecksnoobs on the video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXqWuIcugrY FANDOM Is Disgusting]

[[File:Fandom Wiki - Slimebeast Tweets.png|thumb|Following the release of his videos explaining Fandom's failure to moderate content in order to protect minors, Howard posted a series of tweets reporting that several Fandom wiki administrators had engaged in inappropriate behavior and that the company had failed to properly address the fact that a minor who had previously contributed to Fandom was being harassed.]]

In 2023, writer and video game developer Christopher Howard Wolf, under the alias "Slimebeast", posted several videos discussing how Fandom had allowed minors to be exposed to inappropriate content and citing concerns that child moderators had to maintain contact with groomers. Additionally, Howard Wolf criticized the fact that Fandom was using under-age volunteers to moderate its platform instead of proper employees to moderate the situation.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2023-11-19 |title=Wikitubia has a Minor Issue - Plus CreepsMcPasta Caught in 4k |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bKb6-xr4Qg |access-date=2025-08-18 |website=Slimebeast via YouTube |quote=That mod he referred to WAS THE UNDERAGED MOD THAT DID WHAT HE REQUESTED, proving that Wikitubia having on minors as mods puts them in direct contact with groomers. Imagine EDP DMing a kid mod who has a "duty" to talk to him.}}</ref>

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 ===Auto-playing videos (September 2017)===
 Throughout 2017, Fandom introduced auto-playing to several popular video game wikis, such as RuneScape and Fallout. These videos were inserted without prior consultation with editors, and many of them contained misinformation about the games covered by the wikis. The editorial team had to post notices informing users that they had no control over the videos, which were created solely by Fandom.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-09-05 |title=(PSA) Featured Videos on the RuneScape Wiki |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/runescape/comments/6yc8xt/psa_featured_videos_on_the_runescape_wiki/ |access-date=2025-08-18 |website=r/runescape via Reddit}}</ref> Some of the videos contained mispronunciations of in-game items, as well as featured stolen material from game footage. Notably, the videos produced about "Zamik Wizard"<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2017-08-05 |title=(PSA) Featured Videos on the Old School RuneScape Wiki |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/2007scape/comments/6ybxly/psa_featured_videos_on_the_old_school_runescape/ |access-date=2025-08-18 |website=r/2007scape via Reddit |quote=As you can probably guess, me and my colleagues are pissed about this change. And the worst thing is that we have ZERO SAY about this; it is out of our control. We have even created a template that we have added right underneath these videos to emphasize that these videos were made by the company, and not us, the admins who provide you with actual quality articles.}}</ref> are commonly referred to as a joke by the community due to the poor quality of the video.
+At the end of 2018, YouTuber Mekkah, who documents the Fire Emblem game series, explained his issues with Fandom after bashing the Fire Emblem wiki hosted on the platform, citing that one of the reasons he dislikes the website's editing model, considering it “parasitic,” was the insertion of videos at the top of pages, some of which contain factual errors and were created by Fandom staff rather than the actual editors, as well as the insertion of clickbait content to increase views.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mekkrah |date=2018 |title=Fire Emblem Wikia is Scum |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7W5CQdITi7A |access-date=2025-09-25 |website=YouTube}}</ref>
 ===Fandom Shop (September 2020)===
@@ Line 70: / Line 72: @@
 ===Online grooming and sexual harassment (November 2023)===
 <blockquote>''"When you're just trying to speak out and get a pedophile off the site, or they say that everything happened on Discord we can't do anything, [...], saying that pedophilia is okay if it's offsite this is just disgusting"''</blockquote>- Quote from @bruhwrecksnoobs on the video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXqWuIcugrY FANDOM Is Disgusting]
+[[File:Fandom Wiki - Slimebeast Tweets.png|thumb|Following the release of his videos explaining Fandom's failure to moderate content in order to protect minors, Howard posted a series of tweets reporting that several Fandom wiki administrators had engaged in inappropriate behavior and that the company had failed to properly address the fact that a minor who had previously contributed to Fandom was being harassed.]]
 In 2023, writer and video game developer Christopher Howard Wolf, under the alias "Slimebeast", posted several videos discussing how Fandom had allowed minors to be exposed to inappropriate content and citing concerns that child moderators had to maintain contact with groomers. Additionally, Howard Wolf criticized the fact that Fandom was using under-age volunteers to moderate its platform instead of proper employees to moderate the situation.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2023-11-19 |title=Wikitubia has a Minor Issue - Plus CreepsMcPasta Caught in 4k |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bKb6-xr4Qg |access-date=2025-08-18 |website=Slimebeast via YouTube |quote=That mod he referred to WAS THE UNDERAGED MOD THAT DID WHAT HE REQUESTED, proving that Wikitubia having on minors as mods puts them in direct contact with groomers. Imagine EDP DMing a kid mod who has a "duty" to talk to him.}}</ref>