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wikiality n. Reality as defined by a consensus, particularly in a collaborative endeavor such as Wikipedia. Also: Wikiality. [Blend of Wikipedia and reality.]

Example Citations:
"Wikiality," from populist Online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, means reality as determined by majority vote (as when scientists voted to stop treating Pluto as a planet).
—"From the mouths of fake journalists," San Jose Mercury News, August 28, 2006

Are you wikiliterate? If not, start studying!

For one thing, "wikiality," a Stephen Colbert-inspired "word of the year," is a password that signals you are an irony insider. But beyond that, the wiki website model, popularized by Wikipedia, is also emerging as a hot business tool.
—Rick Newman, "The next Internet gold rush," U.S. News & World Report, August 28, 2006

Earliest Citation:
Any user can change any entry and if enough other users agree with them, it becomes true. ... If only the entire body of human knowledge worked this way. And it can, thanks to tonight's 'Word': Wikiality. Now I'm no fan of reality, and I'm no fan of encyclopedias. I've said it before: Who is Britannica to tell me that George Washington had slaves? If I want to say he didn't, that's my right. And now, thanks to Wikipedia, it's also a fact. We should apply these principles to all information. All we need to do is convince a majority of people that some factoid is true.
—Stephen Colbert, "The Word," The Colbert Report, July 31, 2006

Related Words:
celebreality
crowdsourcing
dramality
mixed reality
social media
socially produced
Web 2.0
wiki
wikification
Wikigroaning

Subject Categories:
Computers - Internet
Culture - General

Posted on August 30, 2006


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