If youâve been anywhere on the internet lately, youâve probably run into Depths of Wikipedia. The gimmick social-media account plunges into the recesses of the community-written online encyclopedia to curate obscure and drily funny articles one might otherwise never run into.
One post highlights rumpology, a pseudoscience that examines peopleâs asses to assess their character traits. Another focuses on the strange fact that popcorn can be classified into two shapes: âmushroomâ and âbutterfly.â And did you know Mozart had a scatological obsession which was documented in 39 of the famed composerâs letters? You do now.
The project is run by Annie Rauwerda, a 22-year-old from Grand Rapids, Michigan who has grown Depths of Wikipedia into a vast enterprise spanning Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter, and boasting millions of followers. On Tuesday, August 16, sheâs bringing a Depths of Wikipedia live show to the Here-After at the Crocodile, spreading her weird Wiki cheer to our corner of the Pacific Northwest.
Most millennials and Zoomers grew up with access to Wikipediaâs fountain of knowledge, from extremely detailed entries tracking Britney Spearsâ career to the accidentally poetic content list of the siteâs Fermi paradox article. Teachers routinely prohibit students from relying on or citing Wikipedia because it can be edited by pretty much anyone. But thatâs also the beauty of it. The communal aspect allows for knowledge thatâs democratizedâand fascinatingly bizarre.Â
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Rauwerda started the project during her sophomore year at the University of Michigan back in the early days of quarantine, she says, âwhen everyone else was making sourdough.â As an occasional Wikipedia editor, she was asked by a friend to contribute to a âquaran-zine,â and decided to collate a bunch of offbeat Wikipedia entries. After discovering she really enjoyed mining the depths of the online encyclopedia, she started an Instagram account where she could share her quirkiest findings.Â
Initially, the Instagram account circulated only amongst Rauwerdaâs friend group. But then the iconically infamous influencer Caroline Calloway took issue with the account posting a Wikipedia excerpt that listed her career as ânothing.â Rauwerda apologized to Calloway, who ended up boosting the Depths of Wikipedia to her legion of followers, sending the account on its way to internet fame.
Nowadays, Rauwerdaâs posts about works based on dreams or the wild theory of nuclear pasta routinely go viral, with hundreds of thousands of likes. Most recently, an entry about the Dave Matthews Band septic tank dumping incident spread to several different corners of the internet and nearly raised the occasion to national holiday status. The trivia collector even has a podcast where she and co-host Hajin Yoo go deep on peculiar articles each week. (Itâs currently on hiatus, fyi.)
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The Depths of Wikipedia formula is perfectly suited to the way information is consumed on the internetâin short, visual bursts. Most posts feature a Wikipedia article title, a photo, and the top-line description that demonstrates some absurdity in either contrasts or subject matter. When it comes to the actual content, Rauwerda said thereâs no set type of article that makes a good Depths of Wikipedia post. âIt has to be a little irreverent,â she said. âThe whole idea of humor is that it subverts your expectations in some way. I think my posts are a little bit more subtle about that.â
Part of Depths of Wikipediaâs appeal is the sense of discovery it offers. On most social-media platforms, users are forced to interact with content an algorithm thinks we might like or might encourage us to spend money. Thereâs an extractive quality to cruising my Discover Page on Instagram or For You Page on TikTok. But Depths of Wikipedia reminds me of using websites like StumbleUpon back in the late 2000s and early 2010s, when the internet seemed less curated and unearthing eccentric concepts seemed paramount. Like, did I need to know about PowerPoint karaoke? No. Do I want to? Absolutely.Â
For her live show, Rauwerda has planned a bit of everything. Sheâll do some stand-up, present a slide show of fun Wikipedia entries, and oversee some improv-type games. âMy goal is definitely to entertain,â she says of show. âItâs [centered] on learning and the joy of trivia.â
Depths of Wikipedia has two shows on Tuesday at Crocodileâs Here-After. Buy tickets to the 9 pm show while they last.Â