Wikipedia editors are often anonymous. Mostly, that works okay, but then we have scandals like how a coterie of anonymous individuals have infiltrated Wikipedia and declared that any and all evidence that there might be a genetic link between race and IQ is “pseudoscience” beyond appeal, and therefore all the real scientists who have researched the topic in depth are therefore, by definition, pseudoscientists, so their moderate views can’t be cited in Wikipedia.

And then we have more amusing fiascos like this one (note that I have no proof that this happened the way this popular thread claims it happened):

The hints were *subtle*. And Lourdes tried to keep her identity under wraps (not unusual for Wikipedia editors). It was kind of an open secret. In general, people tried to respect her privacy

— depths of wikipedia (@depthsofwiki) November 7, 2023

Lourdes, also known as Russian Red, is a minor Spanish gal singer who was rumored to have had an affair with a handsome but married Spanish soccer star. The athlete, a starter on Spain’s 2010 World Cup champion team, sued a newspaper for libel over the rumors.

So, I have no opinion on this alleged scandal, but have you ever heard of a more likely secret identity for a Wikipedia editor than a pretty rock starlet with a scandalous past?

As an admin, Lourdes was spending an incredible amount of time working on Wikipedia — writing articles about cricket players and also doing thankless behind-the-scenes tasks like blocking ~1000 disruptive editors, deleting ~1000 spammy pages. It's a big commitment

— depths of wikipedia (@depthsofwiki) November 7, 2023

(since Bettlebrox's comment that ties Lourdes to the singer Lourdes Hernandez Gonzalez is now deleted, I don't know exactly what Bettlebrox actually said to connect the account Lourdes to the singer. Don't know if it was an accident)

— depths of wikipedia (@depthsofwiki) November 7, 2023

And then a whole bunch more online drama involving people who don’t sound quite right in the head happened. But you’ll never, ever guess what was ultimately revealed:

You may be thinking "OMG, so this Spanish indie musician-turned-Wikipedian had a dark past life as a scammer!"
But get this: The Wikipedian Lourdes revealed that they had NEVER BEEN the indie singer??? This whole time, Lourdes had been a random person in India?!! pic.twitter.com/UjnwjQH3NZ

— depths of wikipedia (@depthsofwiki) November 7, 2023

Who could have seen that coming?

Please note that I’m not absolutely sure that the powerful Wikipedia editor who calls himself “Lourdes” really did pretend to be the Spanish songbird Lourdes the way this account says. I haven’t found any responses objecting to that take on these events, but I can’t confirm it either. Maybe the Depths of Wikipedia account is a little off too?

Who knows?

Which is why you should always trust everything that Wikipedia tells you (especially about what is and isn’t “pseudoscience”).

[Comment at Unz.com]