Common Knowledge?: An Ethnography of Wikipedia projects, its budget, the activities of the Wikimedia chapters of volunteers who organize for their own projects, or any individual project. As founder of Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales has a unique relationship with the Wikipedia community. The Wikimedia community has recognized him as a classical authority figure. His primary role is as a spokesperson for the movement. The author describes his role in the Wikimedia movement, asserting 6 years of ethnographic research while also being a community member. Academic criticisms of Wikipedia's overall model are summarized. A reviewer for "Vice" called the book "both primer and detailed study on the habits
Jimmy Wales edited his own biographical entry on the English Wikipedia. Writer Rogers Cadenhead drew attention to logs showing that in his edits to the page, Wales had removed references to Sanger as the co-founder of Wikipedia. Sanger commented that "having seen edits like this, it does seem that Jimmy is attempting to rewrite history. But this is a futile process because in our brave new world of transparent activity and maximum communication, the truth will out." Wales was also observed to have modified references to Bomis in a way that was characterized as downplaying the sexual nature of some of his