There was a time when I used to make dozens of edits and corrections to Wikipedia articles. However, I no longer enjoy doing so due to the behavior of many experienced users. They are so stuck in their old ways that whenever a new user tries to edit something, they simply revert those edits and quickly issue a warning, claiming you’re doing it wrong or even accusing you of vandalism. This habit is really discouraging me from editing on the site. While I know I could report these bullying users to the admins, the process is incredibly time-consuming and involves unnecessary bickering. Frankly, I don’t go to Wikipedia to argue with random strangers who take pleasure in bullying others. I just needed to get this off my chest.

Hi, I’m Stephen Harrison, a freelance journalist, tech lawyer, and novelist. Over the past seven years, I’ve written dozens of articles about Wikipedia for Slate, WIRED, the Guardian, The New York Times, and others.

Wikipedia has basically become my beat. I’ve covered everything from profiles of Wikipedia’s most prolific editors, to why China censors the site, to more lighthearted stories like how Wikipedia handles Bigfoot. If you’re curious, here’s a list of some of my favorite pieces: https://www.stephenharrison.com/wikipedia-writing

Last year, I published my debut suspense novel, The Editors, which was inspired by the world of Wikipedia contributors. After years of reporting, I wanted to explore some of the same themes through fiction. I still have a full-time legal job and write as much as I can in my off hours.

I haven’t seen many AMAs on r/Wikipedia, but I figured it’d be fun to connect with other people who (for whatever reason) find Wikipedia fascinating. I’ll be around for the next couple of hours to answer questions about my reporting, the book, or anything else Wikipedia-related. AMA!

EDIT: Stepping away for the night to grab some dinner, but the questions have been great so far. I'll try to answer more of them over the next few days (or weeks), so feel free to keep them coming.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humans

I'm a military enthusiastic and when I reading the article about the PAVN, I saw something odd about the image of arm badges of PAVN infantry. Instead of a bayonet with an SKS (official description), it was some weird combination with shotgun and tactical knife of some sort.