Hatnote: Listen to Wikipedia Being Updated

Lori Sambol Brody shows you the sound of Wikipedia.

Hatnote, a project formed to promote Wikipedia, developed a program that turns every change made on Wikipedia into sound. The sound of bells represents additions, and the sound of string plucks represents deletions. The pitch indicates the size of the edits — the lower the note, the larger the edit made. On the website, as Wikipedia is edited, circles rise like ripples on a pond when a stone is thrown in, identifying the page being edited and whether the contributor is unregistered or an automated bot.

Listen here.

The sound is ambient, spellbinding. Wouldn’t you like the soundtrack for your editing to be as melodic? You can read more about this project here.

Originally published on 5/21/16.