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that he initially thought the prank wouldn’t cause much harm. He described the first time he realized the prank was harmful was when he read a book about
Victorian inventors and found Alan MacMasters listed as one of the inventors. Alan later said in an interview that he still edits Knowledge as an
39:
invented the toaster in 1893. One of the friends created a separate article about the fictitious Alan MacMasters in
February 2013 and embellished it further in the following years. The fake article was cited by newspapers and other organizations until the hoax was exposed in July 2022.
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After the lecture, Alan and his friends visited the toaster article on
Knowledge, where one of his friends, Alex, edited the article to replace the lecturer's friend's name with Alan MacMasters, claiming he invented the toaster in
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and not a legitimate photo. This research was prompted after his teacher spoke about MacMasters in class and Adam searched him up. However, Adam was unaware that the entire article was a hoax. Adam reported his concern on the
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to MacMasters and suggested that the toaster had contributed to one of
Britain’s earliest fatal appliance fires. One fabricated anecdote recounted a woman whose kitchen table caught fire after the toaster's
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A year later, Alex contemplated the extent to which he could escalate the prank. In
February 2013, he created an article dedicated to Alan MacMasters, including an image of himself
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to resemble a 19th century photograph, and published it on
Knowledge. Alex and other editors extended and embellished the fictitious biography in the following years.
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perpetuated the false story of MacMasters as the inventor. Alex then used these articles citing MacMasters as the inventor of the toaster to
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In the article, Alex mentioned that the product was not commercially successful. He also attributed the invention of the
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was based on technologies and features invented between 1890 and 1920 by various people and companies.
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Alex intended the article as a jest; however, newspapers, encyclopedias, government agencies, and the
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named Adam posted an explanation, revealing that the photo on Alan MacMasters' Knowledge page was
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student Alan MacMasters was at a university lecture on dynamics where the class was warned
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In
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in
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by an individual who responded to a request for nominations from the
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223:"Alan MacMasters: How the great online toaster hoax was exposed"
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apology, but remains anonymous out of fear of being banned.
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The Iraq War: A Historiography of
Knowledge Changelogs
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110:further propagate the false information
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16:Hoax about the inventor of the toaster
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354:from the original on 4 September 2022
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126:2014 Scottish independence referendum
982:Carlos Bandeirense MirandĂłpolis hoax
952:on the Arabic and Persian Wikipedias
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313:from the original on 9 December 2023
262:Belmont, Virginia (11 August 2022).
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299:Felton, James (22 November 2022).
264:"Knowledge's Credibility Is Toast"
14:
1401:
1390:Nonexistent people used in hoaxes
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376:The Weirdest Hoax on the Internet
221:Silva, Marco (18 November 2022).
45:development of the pop-up toaster
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550:Predictions of the project's end
64:not to use Knowledge as a source
1007:Seigenthaler biography incident
383:from the original on 2024-07-31
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938:Wikimedia Foundation actions
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1302:List of online encyclopedias
1287:Knowledge for World Heritage
1063:Israeli–Palestinian conflict
693:WikiConference North America
521:deletionism and inclusionism
474:Conflict-of-interest editing
164:marked the page for deletion
140:In July 2022, a 15-year-old
7:
1256:Magna Carta (An Embroidery)
1068:Russian invasion of Ukraine
851:Rosie Stephenson-Goodknight
479:political editing incidents
415:List of hoaxes on Knowledge
193:List of hoaxes on Knowledge
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160:Knowledge administrators
1375:Knowledge controversies
1013:Star Trek Into Darkness
652:Wikipedian in residence
136:Discovery and aftermath
647:Wikimedian of the Year
173:Alex anonymously told
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608:Arbitration Committee
78:, Scotland, in 1893.
60:aerospace engineering
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1277:Wikimedia Foundation
1212:Google and Knowledge
977:Alan MacMasters hoax
683:WikiConference India
516:Deletion of articles
390:– via YouTube.
57:University of Surrey
55:On 6 February 2012,
1250:LGBTQ and Knowledge
1227:Science information
1207:Depths of Knowledge
1140:Listen to Knowledge
409:deletion discussion
373:fern (2024-07-14).
170:from the platform.
130:Scottish Government
1380:Fictitious entries
1292:Knowledge in India
1282:Wikimedia movement
1217:Health information
1101:Knowledge Monument
1094:Viola angustifolia
997:Henryk Batuta hoax
992:Essjay controversy
846:Lisa Seitz-Gruwell
786:Dariusz Jemielniak
635:List of Wikipedias
340:(12 August 2022).
188:Circular reporting
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791:Rebecca MacKinnon
761:Florence Devouard
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1113:and analysis
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836:Larry Sanger
771:David Gerard
662:Women in Red
641:The Signpost
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499:geographical
411:on Knowledge
385:. Retrieved
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230:. Retrieved
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1365:2013 hoaxes
1360:2012 hoaxes
1195:Content use
919:Scientology
866:Molly White
861:Jimmy Wales
816:Jason Moore
811:Erik Möller
766:Sue Gardner
688:Wiki Indaba
678:Edit-a-thon
657:WikiProject
555:Reliability
504:ideological
83:manipulated
43:The actual
25:manipulated
1354:Categories
1297:Wikiracing
1181:WikiReader
1111:References
904:First edit
707:Wiki Loves
630:Edit count
545:Plagiarism
526:notability
469:Censorship
387:2024-07-24
306:IFLScience
199:References
987:Edit wars
934:#1Lib1Ref
724:Monuments
698:Wikimania
603:AfroCrowd
584:Community
574:Vandalism
540:MediaWiki
486:Criticism
461:(outline)
451:Knowledge
275:11 August
76:Edinburgh
1338:Category
1186:Wikiwand
1130:Cultural
1034:Coverage
719:Folklore
459:Overview
381:Archived
352:Archived
311:Archived
227:BBC News
182:See also
142:Redditor
118:ÂŁ50 note
106:Delaware
97:melted.
68:toasters
33:toasters
1236:Related
1202:DBpedia
1171:Wapedia
1166:QRpedia
897:Nupedia
880:History
734:Science
490:Biases
168:blocked
51:Origins
1154:Mobile
1081:Honors
1015:debate
743:People
671:Events
623:Lsjbot
509:racial
494:gender
358:2 June
317:2 June
232:2 June
146:edited
1222:Kiwix
1135:Films
1058:Death
892:Bomis
729:Pride
714:Earth
347:Input
1326:List
1161:Apps
956:2022
946:2021
909:Logo
747:list
618:Bots
407:and
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319:2024
277:2024
234:2024
23:The
104:in
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
