Justin Knapp

Justin Knapp

Justin Knapp—a Caucasian male with brown hair and a bushy beard—stands with his arms folded

Knapp in 2012
Born Justin Anthony Knapp
November 18, 1982
Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Nationality American
Citizenship United States
Justin Anthony Knapp's voice
Knapp introducing himself

Justin Anthony Knapp (born November 18, 1982)[1] is an American Wikipedia user from Indianapolis, Indiana, who was the first person to contribute more than one million edits to Wikipedia.[2] He also works at a pizza shop, at a crisis line, at the American Friends Service Committee, and at a grocery co-op.[3]

Career

Wikipedia

Knapp (third from left) at a Wikipedia training session in 2011

Knapp, who holds degrees in philosophy and political science from Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis, has been submitting on average 385 edits a day since signing up in March 2005; about his performance he had to say: "Being suddenly and involuntarily unemployed will do that to you."[4] His Wikipedia username, Koavf, was chosen as an acronym for "King of all Vext Fans", a reference to a contest Knapp entered for the comic book Vext in the 1990s.[5] Knapp was a significant contributor to Wikipedia's entry on George Orwell,[6] and he has also made many edits involving the categorization of albums through Wikipedia's category structure.[7] Jimmy Wales congratulated Knapp for his work and presented him with the site's highest award for his achievement[8] by declaring that April 20 would be Justin Knapp Day.[9] As of 2013, Knapp was pursuing a nursing degree at Indiana University.[6] In a 2014 interview with Business Insider, Knapp said that "there is no typical day" with regard to his Wikipedia editing, and that his "go-to edits are small style and typo fixes." He also argued that the declining number of Wikipedia editors is "not necessarily a problem."[3]

On July 21, 2014, his editing was the subject of a question on the BBC quiz show University Challenge.[10]

Activism

In 2005, at the United Nations Sixtieth General Assembly, Knapp advocated for the Sahrawi people and spoke about the situation then in Western Sahara.[11] He has also done community organizing for a Restore the Fourth rally in 2013.[12]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Comisky, Daniel S. (July 26, 2012). "King of Corrections". Indianapolis Monthly.
  2. ↑ "The hardest working man on Wikipedia April 19, 2012". Daily Dot. Retrieved September 3, 2012.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lubin, Gus (19 September 2014). "This Guy Has Edited Wikipedia More Than 1.3 Million Times — And He Doesn't Believe In The Decline Of The Free Encyclopedia". Business Insider. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  4. ↑ "First man to make 1 million Wikipedia edits". The Telegraph. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
  5. ↑ Pogue, Paul F.P. (23 May 2012). "Wiki's Million Edit Man is lifelong Hoosier". Nuvo. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Hansen, Lauren (30 January 2013). "6 super-dedicated employees". The Week. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  7. ↑ "Wikipedia: Meet the men and women who write the articles". BBC News. 14 July 2012. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  8. ↑ "Hardest working man on the internet passes one million Wikipedia edits". Engadget.com. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
  9. ↑ Alissa Skelton (23 April 2012). "Wikipedia Volunteer Editor Reaches 1 Million Edits". Mashable. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  10. ↑ "Episode 2". University Challenge. Season 2014/2015. Episode 2. 21 July 2014. BBC.
  11. ↑ "REPRESENTATIVES OF MEMBER STATES, NON-SELF-GOVERNING TERRITORIES, PETITIONERS ADDRESS FOURTH COMMITTEE, AS IT CONTINUES GENERAL DEBATE ON DECOLONIZATION: Statements Focus on Questions of Gibraltar , Western Sahara , Guam". United Nations. October 6, 2005. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
  12. ↑ Ritger, Carla (July 3, 2013). "Protesters to March Against Government Surveillance in Nationwide Rally". Indianapolis Star. Gannett.

External links