Human beings are odd creatures. We are currently living through the safest and most secure era our species has ever experienced, and yet we seem addicted to pain. If we cannot have it ourselves, we seek to feel it vicariously. It's the only explanation I can conceive for this week's list, which is topped by a fake blood sport and riddled with death, depredation, and allegations. Multiple people on this list either died horribly and unexpectedly, were accused or accused others of having done unspeakable things, or some combination of the above. Even theBollywood movie this week sparked riots and death threats. This is particularly striking when you consider that this was also the week of theGrammys, and yet, as per usual on Wikipedia, that show has left a small footprint.
For the week of January 28 to February 3, 2018, the most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from theWP:5000 report were:
| Rank | Article | Class | Views | Image | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal Rumble (2018) |  | 2,135,143 |  | A 50% jump in numbers from last week's no 1,Virginia Woolf. I suppose you could call this a victory for women's progress, since this was the first ever Royal Rumble to feature women on the bill (including winnerAsuka(pictured)). Cool. Now all we need to tackle is that 7% representation on US corporate boards. And the 19% representation in the US Congress. And the 31% among college professors, despite earning 60% of all master's degrees. But you know, baby stomps. |
| 2 | Joe Kennedy III |  | 1,286,359 |  | In a politics in which style and name recognition, well, trump actual experience, it seems only fitting that the Democrats would drag out the latest member of their razzle dazzle dynasty to counter the President's State of the Union. Who cares if he's only been in politics since 2012, and only out of school since 2010? He just has to flash those Jack pearlies and all's right with the world. Maybe. |
| 3 | Padmaavat |  | 1,119,564 |  | India, ya know I love ya but baby you crazy. This historic epic based on the poemPadmavat and starringDeepika Padukone(pictured) was released last week and is already making some bigcrore in spite of controversy –Padmaavat has been accused of being right wing, anti Muslim, even of endorsingmass immolation – that led to the movie being banned from a few Indian states, riots, firebombing, death threats to the director and cast, and even threats of mass suicide. Despite these handicaps it has managed to earn over ₹2 billion ($31.2 million) in 11 days. |
| 4 | Roger Federer |  | 1,111,867 | _(28136155830).jpg) | Spillover from last week's win at theAustralian Open. |
| 5 | Alauddin Khalji |  | 1,071,016 |  | The male focus of the love story behind the filmPadmaavat (#3). Betcha didn't know thatAladdin was an actual name. |
| 6 | Mark Salling | | 1,052,219 |  | The actor best known for playingPuck onGlee committed suicide this week awaiting sentencing for possession ofchild pornography. |
| 7 | Bruno Mars | | 1,052,219 |  | The funkster won sixGrammys from six nominations at the60th Annual Grammy Awards this week, on top of the four he won two years ago. Maybe time to spread the love around? |
| 8 | Deaths in 2018 |  | 756,173 |  | Numbers remain stable for the lodestone of this list. |
| 9 | Rani Padmini | | 755,032 | .JPG) | The legendary 13th– and 14th-century Indian queen (Rani) who is the main character ofPadmaavat (#3). |
| 10 | Larry Nassar | | 732,847 |  | Twenty-five years. Twenty-five years before we caught this physician whomolested gymnasts in the guise of medical treatment. Twenty-five years. And remember that we're talking abouta sport usually contested by teenagers! No wonder the thing that actually led Nassar to be arrested was the FBI discovering he had an extensivechild pornography collection and a video of him molesting underage girls. The sentence of 60 years in prison seems too light in retrospect. |
Unlikelast year, a Falcon won during Super Bowl week. Of course, I'm talking aboutFalcon Heavy (#14), which had itsmaiden flight conducted bySpaceX on February 6. Elon Musk (#1) is of course the founder and CEO ofSpaceX.
Now, let's address the obvious theme one will find throughout this list:Super Bowl LII (#10), the 52nd edition of theSuper Bowl. Quarterback and Super Bowl MVPNick Foles (#2) and head coachDoug Pederson led thePhiladelphia Eagles (#10) to victory overTom Brady's (#5)New England Patriots. The Super Bowl for the Eagles was the franchise's first, meaning they're now on theList of Super Bowl champions (#9). Also Super Bowl-related: the game's half time performerJustin Timberlake, andThe Cloverfield Paradox (#4), a Netflix film which received praise for its Super Bowl commercial marketing.
Oh... hey, there's even more sports with the opening ceremony of the2018 Winter Olympics (#8) happening this week. This rendition notched 1.23 million page views, an increase from the2014 event's 1.06 million page viewsduringits opening ceremony week.
And then there wasTravis Scott (#3) andKylie Jenner (#7), who both found their way into the top 10 after announcing the birth of their child.
For the week of February 4 to February 10, 2018, the most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from theWP:5000 report were:
| Rank | Article | Class | Views | Image | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elon Musk | | 1,986,094 |  | The best type of billionaire. Sure, he wasn't the Super Bowl MVP, but he was the MVP of the Top 25 Report, and isn't that whatreally matters? Elon was of interest this week because of thatSpaceX company of his conducting itsFalcon Heavy (#14) launch. |
| 2 | Nick Foles | | 1,977,688 |  | NamedSuper Bowl MVP as he led theunderdogPhiladelphia Eagles to their first Super Bowl championship over the reigningNew England Patriots (#20) dynasty. |
| 3 | Travis Scott | | 1,718,006 |  | La Flame andKylie Jenner (#7) announced the birth of their baby on February 6. |
| 4 | The Cloverfield Paradox | | 1,632,812 | Although directorJulius Onah's (pictured) film was applauded for its clever (errclover?) marketing via dropping the film onNetflix mere hours after it was teased in a Super Bowl commercial, it received generally negative reception for the film's actual content. | |
| 5 | Tom Brady | | 1,601,211 |  | As a fan of theMiami Dolphins, parity in the NFL, and breaths of fresh air, nothing is sweeter than seeing Tom Brady lose. Although, I guess he already has 5 reasons to not be too upset. 6 if you addGisele. Up 14 spots from last week. |
| 6 | Justin Timberlake | | 1,563,698 |  | JT performed at the Super Bowl's half time show. His dancing was phenomenal, but his overall performance did seem to attract a mixed reception, especially when compared to other recent Super Bowl half time performers. |
| 7 | Kylie Jenner | | 1,327,038 |  | Kylie announced the birth of her child this past week, which had many on social media buzzing about and visiting her article. |
| 8 | 2018 Winter Olympics | | 1,234,016 |  | The Super Bowl wasn't the only major sports event to occur this week. The 2018 Winter Olympics held its opening ceremony inPyeongchang County on February 9, so definitely expect this article to maintain high traffic through its closing ceremony on February 25. |
| 9 | List of Super Bowl champions |  | 1,163,663 | You can add the Eagles to this list now. | |
| 10 | Super Bowl LII | | 1,114,569 | .jpg) | A rematch ofSuper Bowl XXXIX:New England Patriots vs.Philadelphia Eagles. The almostGalactic Empire-likeNew England Patriots vs. theunderdog Philadelphia Eagles. One of the most exciting and competitive Super Bowls fromstart to finish in a while... and for those in Philly, LII is theRocky II to XXXIX'sRocky. |
This week's report can be summarily reduced to three events – the cinematic behemoth that isBlack Panther, the ongoingWinter Olympics in South Korea, and the horrific school shooting in Florida. The report is dominated by articles related to these topics, diverse as they may be. Media may captivate, between incessant sports coverage and Hollywood productions, but the sad tragedy of pointless bloodshed casts a dark shadow over the report as a whole. Though less diverse than usual, there is stark contrast and interesting content in this week's iteration of the Report, between the weather-plagued Olympics and the searing and scorching heat of Wakanda. Ergo, I found the report riveting to compile, and hope that it is as engaging to peruse as it was to produce.
Without further ado, for the week of February 11 to February 17, 2018, the most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from theWP:5000 report were:
| Rank | Article | Class | Views | Image | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Black Panther (film) | | 2,341,749 |  | Black Panther(directorRyan Coogler pictured) may not be thefirstfilm adaptation of ablack superhero, but it is arguably the first good one. The masses, this Wikipedian included, journeyed to the fictional utopia ofWakanda to follow the adventures of the fabledKing T'Challa, and it has captured the cultural zeitgeist in doing so. I think that the willingness ofthe Big Six to bucktheir shared history and make stories about minorities is a massive positive for the industry, and like their lastsuch effort,Black Panther's cultural relevance is being leveraged into abox office behemoth. |
| 2 | Shaun White | | 2,253,849 |  | The greatest snowboarder of all time consolidated this lofty title in Pyeongchang this week, as he claimed his third gold medal in the sport. His display was utterly dominant, as he performed tricks with immense prowess and poise. If his famousamigo is anything to go by, we can anticipate White todiversify intogames of swiftly declining quality. |
| 3 | 2018 Winter Olympics | | 1,816,173 | | The Winter Olympics have never interested me in the slightest. Perhaps this is a result of myhomeland'sabysmal track record, but it has always struck me as the lesser Olympic games, reducing in scale and importance. Yet, even for me as a snowgrinch, this year's ceremony is piquing my interest: between phenomenal performances by American snowboarders (#1 and #12), and the political significance ofthe host's ice hockey team, this is a highly intriguing event. |
| 4 | Priya Prakash Varrier |  | 1,177,538 |  | A very curious entry here, as the Indian sub-internet was set alight by a mere wink this week. The model, who will star in the upcoming filmOru Adaar Love, set the information superhighway abuzz this week following the release of atrailer for the movie. So far, so routine, even if the film's premise is toned down compared to some of itscinematic compatriots. Yet, the intriguing part of this story arises from the fact that the fourth most popular article of this weekdoes not even exist now. It was a fleeting stub... just like a wink. |
| 5 | Valentine's Day | | 1,125,181 |  | The annual ceremony of |
| 6 | Johnny Weir | | 1,007,840 | .jpg) | Weir, a former figure skater, is part of a duo with Tara Lipinski on NBC, covering the Winter Olympics. The LGBTQ activist engages audiences daily by commenting on events over inPyeongchang, and this is drawing many internet users to his article. I can't say that I find the sport too intriguing, but their shared commentary is riveting andhumorous, perhaps accounting for their popularity. |
| 7 | Curling | | 843,968 |  | Hands down the greatest part of the Winter Olympics, icepétanques is riveting. This sport lies squarely at the intersection of skill, mental computation, teamwork, and precision, and I adore it. I could watch it indefinitely, which is convenient, asNBC need to air something to maintain their wall of coverage. |
| 8 | Tara Lipinski | | 840,046 |  | The former figure skater and Olympic champion is part of NBC's analysis panel for the Winter Olympics (#3) alongside her co-anchor, Johnny Weir (#6). Perhaps her ubiquity on the Peacock network has propelled her figures on Wikipedia upwards, as has her sharp critiques of the skaters. Living outside of the US, I cannot say that I am too familiar with Lipinski and her credentials to analyse the Winter Olympics, but the last syllable of her surname is irrefutably apt. |
| 9 | Elon Musk | | 810,064 | | For many wealthy celebrities, one has to discuss the negative attributes of the person alongside the positives. There is a reason why thebiographies of so many Forbes favorites are so long. Yet for Musk, it could be summarised thusly – ameliorated online finance, revolutionised vehicular transport, enhanced space transport, and may be our Martian colonist. Now that heslotted acar in orbit, he is multiple steps closer, and also produced an amazingvideo in the process. |
| 10 | Deaths in 2018 | | 741,231 | | People have a horrible tendency to die. It is inescapable and inevitable, and there is nothing that we can do to alter this fundamental truth. No amount of wealth, no accumulatednotability, no masterful magnum opus, nothing will prevent this. Notable individuals die too, and this week, as with any other, hundreds of thousands of people journeyed to a list of their names, to ruminate and reminisce on love and legacy. |
