Wikipedia:Wikipediholic

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Shortcuts WP:HOLIC WP:ADDICTED

Wikipediholism
Other names	Wikiaddiction
According to some research, people with Wikipediholism often experience hallucinations and dreams about Wikipedia in human form, for example as seen in this picture.
Specialty	Psychiatry
Causes	Wikipedia.org
Risk factors	Having registered a Wikipedia account, preexisting computer addiction, too much free time, occupation (computer programmer, academic, tertiary education student), gender bias on Wikipedia
Treatment	Incurable, though possible to alleviate partially with the Wikipatch. Putting your laptop in another room.
Medication	Turning off wifi. Going on holiday.
Frequency	Unknown; often found in WikiChildren.
Deaths	Unknown, none confirmed. Due to the lack of information about Wikipediholics, expert estimates vary wildly.

Wikipediholic
One of the few confirmed photographs of Wikipediholics in the wild. The disease is dangerous and probably incurable.
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Primates
Suborder:	Haplorhini
Infraorder:	Simiiformes
Family:	Hominidae
Subfamily:	Homininae
Tribe:	Hominini
Genus:	Homo
Species:	H. wikiaddictus[a]
Binomial name
Homo wikiaddictus[a]

A Wikipediholic, wikiholic, Wikipediaholic, Wikipath, wikiaddict, or wikimaniac (in binomial classification, Homo wikiaddictus^[b] or Homo wikidependus) is someone who suffers from Wikipediholism, or obsession (addiction in some cases) with Wikipedia or other wikis. One of the most common characteristics of the condition is the victim reading or editing Wikipedia articles with much more frequency than the average person. Another common characteristic is having a web browser window constantly open to the Recent Changes section of Wikipedia and/or other wikis (or in the condition's slightly milder form, one's Watchlist), and pressing the "Reload" or "Refresh" button with a high frequency (sometimes leading to carpal tunnel syndrome) (or using the live updates feature to avoid having to refresh). Others have a bottle of Wikipedihol tablets by their desktop. Others click the "random page" button instead. Still others endlessly edit pages, and/or endlessly track and monitor the edits of users with whom they have become obsessed. This disorder can lead to a serious decrease in productivity in all other areas of the victim's life, like any other addiction. That is why they're called Wikipedia abusers, after all. Do not taunt their lack of significant others; it is but a mere illusion.

• Official Wikipediholism Test: If you think you are a Wikipediholic, please take this test for proper diagnosis. Note: This is quite long; set aside at least 15 minutes to take this test.

This is a recent phenomenon – having been made possible by the creation of Wikipedia in January 2001 – and affects primarily academics, graduate students, game show contestants, people working in STEM, nerds, telecommuters, people living in the suburbs, news junkies, the unemployed or soon-to-be unemployed, WikiChildren, people who are bored, and, in general, people with multiple interests and high IQs (or at least believe they have high IQs).

Although people who fit those descriptions are welcome, especially the coconut monkeys, they should know that their fellow primates do not necessarily share their world-view, and that it may be better for wiki itself if they take a walk once in a while, and remember that their body consists of more than fingers, eyes, brain, and bladder. And that wiki exists to serve us, not as an end wholly in itself.

An alternative addiction is "wikistalking".

Wikistalkers have gotten over their addiction to editing. However, they enjoy watching even the most minute changes. Most probably check New pages continuously.

Wikiholics are often called "nerds", a term used negatively. In fact, with how many articles they read and absorb into their brains, they are super-sapiens.
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