The people of Armenia, a tiny eastern European country, are sick and tired of being known only as the country that gave the world the Kardashian family. Now, in a new government-backed initiative, they’re taking to Wikipedia to change all that.
The One Armenian, One Article campaign started with a single YouTube video, which was then broadcast repeatedly on television in Armenia to really get the message across: Every Armenian should write a Wikipedia article about their country.
The Wikipedia scheme was launched in cooperation with Armenia’s governemnt and, bizarrely, a talk show named Human Factor.
According to the Armenian Wikipedia page (on Wikipedia, of course), the community was launched in 2003, and has since grown to include over 125,000 articles. As part of the new campaign, Armenian citizens are encouraged to hold “wiki-meetings” with scholars and scientists to familiarize them with the site.
So what have the Armenians been writing on their very own corner of the Internet encyclopedia? Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan has proudly penned an article on the Armenian army. One young Armenian citizen has also been shown gleefully writing an article about radishes. The One Armenian, One Article campaign group has even suggested that articles about celebrities are to be encouraged, although possibly not the Kardashians.
H/T Newsweek | Illustration by Jason Reed