When Ksenia Coffman started editing Wikipedia, she thought of it as a fun new hobby. She didn't expect to spend years of her life in an all-out edit war with Nazi fanboys. wired.trib.al/VTbHDfy 1/7
But as Coffman clicked through articles about the Second World War, one of her favorite subjects, she kept finding disturbing inaccuracies. There were genocidal commanders painted as reluctant killers, fascist propaganda-pushers cited as legitimate historians. 2/7 
This was about more than a few rinky-dink Wikipedia pages. This was a warping of historical memory. It was enough to turn Coffman’s hobby into an obsession. 3/7
She began logging on every day, contributing thousands of edits every month. She got into heated arguments with other editors. She even took one dispute to Wikipedia's highest court, the Arbitration Committee. And she kept winning. 4/7
Coffman’s enemies have called her many names, including “vandal” and “McCarthyist.” But she is undeterred. She keeps a watch list with about 2,000 articles on it. A notification pops up next to the listing whenever someone tries to make a change. 5/7
That’s the thing about edit wars: They never end. wired.trib.al/VTbHDfy 6/7
Subscribe to WIRED for less than $1 per month and get unlimited access to our longform features, buying guides, and tech news wired.trib.al/BMxcvqp 7/7
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
