Difference between revisions of "978: Citogenesis"

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
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{{comic
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My name’s Eric and I just came across your website - explainxkcd.com - in the search results.
| number    = 978
 
| date      = November 16, 2011
 
| title    = Citogenesis
 
| image    = citogenesis.png
 
| titletext = I just read a pop-science book by a respected author. One chapter, and much of the thesis, was based around wildly inaccurate data which traced back to... Wikipedia. To encourage people to be on their toes, I'm not going to say what book or author.
 
}}
 
  
==Explanation==
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Here’s what that means to me…
This comic is calling into question the {{w|reliability of Wikipedia}}. This is a favorite pastime of librarians, teachers, and professional researchers, and not usually one of [[Randall]]'s. {{w|Wikipedia}} is a free and freely editable encyclopedia that aims to become a comprehensive, {{w|Wikipedia:Wikipedia in brief|neutral compilation of verifiable and established facts}}.  Wikipedia aims to provide only facts backed by {{w|Wikipedia:Identifying reliable sources|reliable sources}}. However, this comic strip details a process in which Wikipedia can not only spread misinformation but make said misinformation seem reliable through a process of "circular reporting".
 
  
The title of the comic is a play on the word [http://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/cytogenesis cytogenesis]. Cytogenesis is the formation of cells and their development. {{w|Citogenesis}}, on the other hand, is a [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/portmanteau portmanteau] of 'Citation' and 'Genesis'. A {{w|Citation}} is a reference to a source, used to back up a specific claim, and [http://mw1.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/genesis?show=1&t=1346949206 genesis] means the origin of something.  By extension, citogenesis is the creation of text in a reliable source that can be cited to back up a claim.
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Your SEO’s working.
  
In the process described here, someone adds an untrue, but plausible-sounding claim to an article in Wikipedia. A writer for some publication sees the information on Wikipedia and adds it to an article, without bothering to check the sources. The strip describes the writer as "rushed", and in this example, the information likely seems of small enough consequence that she may not have considered that someone might have made it up. Eventually, someone notices the claim in the published source and cites it in the Wikipedia article. The citation now gives the claim credence, as readers don't realize that the official source was based on the Wikipedia article. Thanks to this citation, other reporters, slightly more cautious than the first, consider this bit of information to be reliable and then cite it in articles of their own. Those articles then get cited in Wikipedia, making the claim seem more reliable, encouraging even more reporters (and possibly reporters from more reputable outlets) to believe it and repeat the claim. Eventually, a long list of citations is available, giving an impression of consensus, even though all of it originated with a single article, which was based on an uncited Wikipedia edit.
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You’re getting eyeballs – mine at least.
  
Four years before, Randall [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Xkcd&diff=162077300 commented on Wikipedia] about that process happening to him (on a minor detail), which probably indicates the inception of this comic:
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Your content’s pretty good, wouldn’t change a thing.
<blockquote>''I've never referred to the [[1: Barrel - Part 1|boy in the barrel]] as "Barrel Lad" -- that seems to have started in this [Wikipedia] article. I've called him "Barrel boy" or "The boy in the barrel". Minor detail, but it's funny how sometimes something can appear on Wikipedia, get referenced in other places, and then Wikipedia cites those other places as supporting references. Hooray {{w|Wikipedia in culture#Wikiality|Wikiality}}!'' <small>— Randall Munroe as user "xkcd", [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Xkcd/Archive_2#Notes_from_the_author en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Xkcd#Notes_from_the_author], 3 October 2007</small></blockquote>
 
  
In turn, Randall originated the untrue assertion in this comic that {{w|Steven Chu}}, a physicist, and at the time of the strip the U.S. Secretary of Energy, invented the {{w|Scroll lock}} key, a common button on computer keyboards. Since most people are aware of the scroll lock key but know little about its function or origins, this false information would make for an interesting piece of trivia that would likely spread very quickly.   
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BUT…
  
Following this comic, the actual {{w|Scroll Lock}} and {{w|Steven Chu}} articles {{w|Talk:Scroll_Lock#Thanks_Randall|were}} {{w|Talk:Steven_Chu#Scroll_lock_key|both}} vandalized by "helpful" editors trying to project Randall's reality on Wikipedia. As of May 2022, the Wikipedia article on {{w|Citogenesis}} redirects to the "{{w|Circular reporting#Circular reporting on Wikipedia|Circular reporting on Wikipedia}}" section on the article "{{w|Circular reporting}}". The section credits the term "citogenesis" to Randall Munroe, with a citation linking to this comic. To make matters even more surreal, a Wikipedia editor [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reliability_of_Wikipedia&diff=517901534&oldid=517901176 once flagged] the link to this xkcd comic as "Dubious - The material near this tag is possibly inaccurate or non-factual."!
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Eyeballs don’t pay the bills.
  
We haven't seen a book like the one Randall describes in the title text.  But one example of the misuse of Wikipedia by "reliable sources" concerns the former German minister {{w|Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg}}. His complete name contains fifteen names/words and reads: Karl-Theodor Maria Nikolaus Johann Jacob Philipp Franz Joseph Sylvester Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg. An anonymous user added one more ("Wilhelm") to the German Wikipedia, just the evening before Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg was presented as the new Federal Minister of Economics and Technology on February 10, 2009. The next day many major German newspapers published this wrong name ([http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=de&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bildblog.de%2F5704%2Fwie-ich-freiherr-von-guttenberg-zu-wilhelm-machte%2F translation of bildblog.de]).
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CUSTOMERS do.
  
==Transcript==
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And studies show that 7 out of 10 visitors to a site like explainxkcd.com will drop by, take a gander, and then head for the hills without doing anything else.
:Where Citations Come From:
 
:Citogenesis Step #1
 
:Through a convoluted process, a user's brain generates facts. These are typed into Wikipedia.
 
:[Hairy sits at a desk, typing on a laptop.]
 
:Hairy: (typing) The "scroll lock" key was was designed by future Energy Secretary Steven Chu in a college project.
 
  
:Step #2
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It’s like they never were even there.
:A rushed writer checks Wikipedia for a summary of their subject.
 
:[Ponytail sits at a desk, typing on a desktop.]
 
:Ponytail: (typing) US Energy Secretary Steven Chu, (Nobel Prizewinner and creator of the ubiquitous "scroll lock" key) testified before Congress today...
 
  
:Step #3
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You can fix this.
:Surprised readers check Wikipedia, see the claim, and flag it for review. A passing editor finds the piece and adds it as a citation.
 
:[Cueball sits on a couch with a laptop in his lap, typing.]
 
:Cueball: Google is your friend, people. (typing) <nowiki><ref>{{cite web|url=</nowiki>
 
  
:Step #4
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You can make it super-simple for them to raise their hand, say, “okay, let’s talk” without requiring them to even pull their cell phone from their pocket… thanks to Talk With Web Visitor.
:Now that other writers have a real source, they repeat the fact.
 
:[A flow chart, with "Wikipedia citation" in the center. The word "Wikipedia" is in black, the word "citations" is white with a red background.
 
:[A black arrow leads from "brain" to "Wikipedia."]
 
:[A black arrow labeled "words" leads from "Wikipedia" to "careless writers," and a red arrow labeled "citations" leads back to "Wikipedia citations."]
 
:[A black & red arrow leads from "Wikipedia" to "cited facts" which leads to "slightly more careful writers," which leads to "more citations," which leads back to :"Wikipedia" (all black & red arrows).]
 
:References proliferate, completing the citogenesis process.
 
  
==Trivia==
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Talk With Web Visitor is a software widget that sits on your site, ready and waiting to capture any visitor’s Name, Email address and Phone Number.  It lets you know immediately – so you can talk to that lead immediately… without delay… BEFORE they head for those hills.
* The word "was" occurs twice consecutively in the first panel.
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{{comic discussion}}
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Now it’s also true that when reaching out to hot leads, you MUST act fast – the difference between contacting someone within 5 minutes versus 30 minutes later is huge – like 100 times better!
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
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[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
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[[Category:Flowcharts]]
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[[Category:Wikipedia]]
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This could change everything for you and your business.
[[Category:Comics with color]]
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CLICK HERE https://boostleadgeneration.com to learn more about everything Talk With Web Visitor can do and start turing eyeballs into money.
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 +
Eric
 +
PS: Talk With Web Visitor offers a FREE 14 days trial – you could be converting up to 100x more leads immediately! 
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It even includes International Long Distance Calling.
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Revision as of 02:39, 18 January 2023

My name’s Eric and I just came across your website - explainxkcd.com - in the search results.

Here’s what that means to me…

Your SEO’s working.

You’re getting eyeballs – mine at least.

Your content’s pretty good, wouldn’t change a thing.

BUT…

Eyeballs don’t pay the bills.

CUSTOMERS do.

And studies show that 7 out of 10 visitors to a site like explainxkcd.com will drop by, take a gander, and then head for the hills without doing anything else.

It’s like they never were even there.

You can fix this.

You can make it super-simple for them to raise their hand, say, “okay, let’s talk” without requiring them to even pull their cell phone from their pocket… thanks to Talk With Web Visitor.

Talk With Web Visitor is a software widget that sits on your site, ready and waiting to capture any visitor’s Name, Email address and Phone Number. It lets you know immediately – so you can talk to that lead immediately… without delay… BEFORE they head for those hills.

CLICK HERE https://boostleadgeneration.com to try out a Live Demo with Talk With Web Visitor now to see exactly how it works.

Now it’s also true that when reaching out to hot leads, you MUST act fast – the difference between contacting someone within 5 minutes versus 30 minutes later is huge – like 100 times better!

That’s what makes our new SMS Text With Lead feature so powerful… you’ve got their phone number, so now you can start a text message (SMS) conversation with them… so even if they don’t take you up on your offer right away, you continue to text them new offers, new content, and new reasons to do business with you.

This could change everything for you and your business.

CLICK HERE https://boostleadgeneration.com to learn more about everything Talk With Web Visitor can do and start turing eyeballs into money.

Eric PS: Talk With Web Visitor offers a FREE 14 days trial – you could be converting up to 100x more leads immediately! It even includes International Long Distance Calling. Paying customers are out there waiting. Starting connecting today by CLICKING HERE https://boostleadgeneration.com to try Talk With Web Visitor now.

If you'd like to unsubscribe click here http://boostleadgeneration.com/unsubscribe.aspx?d=explainxkcd.com