So who does Wikipedia think will win the general election? Hint: Not BJP - Play Things

So who does Wikipedia think will win the general election? Hint: Not BJP

Sidin Vadukut - Thursday, March 26, 2009 11:58 AM

Earlier today was alerted to the new Wikirank service via Twitter. The site helps you compare traffic to various entries on the eponymous Wikipedia online open encyclopedia. Is the relative popularity of entries for various politicians and political parties indicative of their real-world electoral fortunes? Hmm... Observe:

 

Clearly traffic to all three alliance pages have upped as we got closer to the elections. And, sadly for all you BJP-NDA supporters, the UPA still seems to have a sizeable lead over the other two alliances. Not enough to generate conspiracy theories? Observe:

 

So perhaps those people rooting for Behenji are right after all. The Bahujan Samaj Party head honcho is second only to Manmohan Singh in terms of Wiki-popularity. And notwithstanding the online advertisement blitz, the BJP's PM candidate LK Advani languishes in last place. Yes, even below Prakash Karat.

Of course this could all be because of the pro-west, pro-Vatican, pro-Dalit bias of the online encyclopedia.

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9 Comment

From Dhananjay Mhatre

March 26, 2009 12:38 PM
Advani's low Wiki hit ia maybe due to the fact that the ad blitz asks people to visit his personal site lkadvani.net. The site traffic at that site should betaken into account to see his popularity. Considering the messages at rediff messageboards, there are enough right wing loonie tunes surfing the net who would drive the traffic skywards.

From Cherian

March 26, 2009 12:40 PM
I had got a beta invite for Wikirank and had reviewed it sometime back on my blog, using, incidentally, the same comparison of contenders for the top kursi. I think LK Advani is flatlining because Wikirank gives varying results depending on the way a name is input. When I put his name in differently, a faint pulse was discernable:-)

From YellowMonkey

March 26, 2009 1:09 PM
Not reliable at all, as only people with computers, internet and who can read English give you a clear indication. Also with WP, most of the users are probably young uni students. I doubt they would be representative of Indian society at all.

From Pardeep

March 26, 2009 9:59 PM
BSP is the only hope & Mayawati will be the next PM. A Vote for BSP! Is a Vote for Entire Peoples’ Welfare, Happiness and Prosperity! BSP only national alternative.

From Xbalanque

March 27, 2009 5:27 AM
Agree with YellowMonkey. These statistics are clearly meaningless, since they only reflect a specific minority (Indian English-speaking Internet users) within the Indian community.

From Ravi

March 27, 2009 2:13 PM
The article reminded me of Google Trends. It allows the user to compare the volume of searches between two or more terms. Have a look at the following Google Trends pages: 1) Comparing Google Trends Pages for NDA, UPA & UNPA for the last 90 days www.google.co.in/trends?q=nda,+upa,+unpa&ctab=0&geo=in&geor=all&date=2009&sort=0 2) Comparing Google Trends Pages for Sonia Gandhi, Advani & Mayawati for the last 90 days www.google.com/trends?q="sonia+gandhi"+,+advani,+mayawati&ctab=0&geo=in&geor=all&date=2009&sort=0 Now, "Is the relative popularity of entries for various politicians and political parties indicative of their real-world electoral fortunes......" Hope the author still thinks so !!

From lakshman

March 30, 2009 2:58 PM
Alreay indians a taken for a ride by politicians.......Now you to have joined them....Please leave indian voters alone....all english channels and papers are alike , they all sing congress tune.....

From watzabatza

March 31, 2009 4:16 PM
@Xbalanque Yes' you are right.

From Ramaswamy Nadig

April 2, 2009 5:43 AM
This is the only country in the world, who provides legal assistance to criminals who ruthlessly killed and held nation to ransom. No doubt BJP will not win. When so many are mute spectators of what is happening, no wonder that patriotic parties like BJP is not favored. Let only Osama save this world !

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