Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2017-02-27/Traffic report

A Feeble Song in the Heart (February 12–18, 2017)

This year, the return of

For the full Top 25 this week, see Wikipedia:Top 25 Report/February 12 to 18, 2017.

For the week of February 12 to 18, 2017, the ten most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the WP:5000 report were:

Rank	Article	Class	Views	Image	Notes
1	Valentine's Day		1,519,240		The annual greeting-card consumption festival returned to the top of the chart this week, though with a fairly anaemic view count compared to past years (see 2013 and 2014 and 2015).
2	Oroville Dam		998,789		"We're in the middle of a drought and the water commissioner drowns!" goes the memorable line from Chinatown, "Only in LA!" Well the Oroville Dam isn't in LA, but it seems California can outdo fiction for irony, as recent epochal rainfall during the worst drought in the region's history has slowly begun to overwhelm this dam, meaning a lot more than just the water commissioner are in danger of drowning. In fact 188,000 people were evacuated as a precaution. One of Wikipedia's less heralded uses is providing up to the minute information during periods of crisis, so it's not surprising people turned to it.
3	Michael T. Flynn		959,948		On February 13, 2017, Michael T. Flynn became the shortest-serving National Security Advisor in US history upon resigning his position after just 24 days. Turns out getting caught lying does have consequences for politicians. Particularly when it involves lying about treating with an unfriendly foreign power. Given how deeply connected the Trump administration is to said foreign power (Russia), and how rapidly the revelations on this topic have been breaking, I don't think this is the last we'll see of him.
4	Donald Trump		862,573		WDDD? What Did Donald Do this week? Well judging from the headlines specific to this time frame, "White House chaos" seems to be the dominant theme, as many of his ... controversial appointees either didn't get confirmed, were confirmed under dubious circumstances, or resigned. Apparently to remedy this, the President decided to call a last minute press conference so bizarre that late night comedians made montages of cable news talk show hosts opening their commentary with "... Wow".
5	Chance the Rapper		839,710		The, er, Men At Work, Marc Cohn and Evanescence. Still, for every one of those there's an Adele, Amy Winehouse, or Bobby Darin, and Meghan Trainor remains popular for some reason, so call it a 50/50 shot.
6	Bruno Mars		774,985		He didn't win (that was Prince's Let's Go Crazy in full Purple Rain getup, including ruffles and eyeliner, wowed both the audience and the critics.
7	Elimination Chamber (2017)	n/a	771,938		Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona on February 12.
8	Justin Trudeau		739,930		The Prime Minister of Canada and head of state everyone in the Western world secretly wants as their own met with Donald Trump this week, leading to a number of "bae" memes, including a shot of Trump's daughter Ivanka apparently giving him the eye.
9	Deaths in 2017		727,657		After the annus mortalis that was 2016, the "Deaths in... " list seems to have settled down to its stable, comforting thrum, albeit at a far higher average number of views. Again, because its numbers vary so little from week to week, it acts like a barometer of traffic levels, and the fact that it has shot up 7 slots shows just how pallid the view count is this week.
10	Adele		703,229		The British belter is no stranger to Grammys- she's won 14, five of which were awarded this year, for her album 25 and song Hello. Not bad for a girl from Tottenham who released her first album less than a decade ago.

Football and Politics Do Not Mix (February 5–11, 2017)

It initially seemed "death" was a major theme in this week's report, but neither

For the full Top 25 this week, see Wikipedia:Top 25 Report/February 5 to 11, 2017.

For the week of February 5 to 11, 2017, the ten most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the WP:5000 report were:

Rank	Article	Class	Views	Image	Notes
1	Tom Brady		3,748,813		Quarterback of the New England Patriots (#7), Tom Brady seems to have broken various Super Bowl records last week. Apparently, "Brady directed the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history to tie the game at the end of regulation. This resulted in the first overtime in the history of the storied game." He is now the first quarterback in NFL history to win five Super Bowls. I can understand why people are so interested in the man.
2	Lady Gaga		2,870,782		Lady Gaga headlined the This Land is Your Land". Her song "Born This Way " may have been the most politically progressive song to have ever been sung at the Super Bowl, but the event was otherwise just some good old pop fun. Probably for the best.
3	Betsy DeVos		1,439,337		I was surprised to see that the United States Congress accepted DeVos as the US' new Secretary of Education. I suppose I should know better by now. Let's see how this activist-turned-politician will handle the country's school system.
4	List of Super Bowl champions		1,282,718		broncos, seahawks, ravens, giants, and saints – I have always liked how American football teams are named. The Patriots (#7) have a very successful history with the Super Bowl, but you wouldn't be able to predict the winner of any given event from this list.
5	Donald Trump		1,227,176		Donald Trump is still controversial. under heavy fire ; Trump keeps sending out Twitter messages about how the federal judge and court system are putting the entire nation in peril. Now, if he could tell us why these seven countries specifically are dangerous, he might be able to save the country.
6	Super Bowl LI		1,140,923		Some of this year's highly-watched Super Bowl commercials have been perceived as anti-Trump, or at least pro-immigration. I'm the kind of person that likes to look for politics everywhere I can in American media, and I won't let some sporting event get in-between that.
7	New England Patriots		1,098,494		The New England Patriots won said sporting event (#6). Having appeared nine times in the Super Bowl and having won five of these matches, the Patriots are possibly the most successful American football team in the country. Congratulations, Greater Boston region.
8	XXX		1,095,937		I don't know if people are looking for the triple X syndrome. I'm sure it's not the latest Vin Diesel film XXX: Return of Xander Cage they are looking for, which is part of the XXX film series .
9	Kidnapping of Shannon Matthews		915,840		The 1998 kidnapping and abuse of nine-year old child Shannon Matthews is currently being dramatized as The Moorside. After reading this article, all I care about knowing is how Matthews is doing today, something that isn't touched upon in it at all. For the record, it seems like the girl was caught by social services and given a new identity.
10	Gisele Bündchen		794,893		This gorgeous model is the wife of Tom Brady (#1).

Are you tired of winning yet? (January 29 – February 4, 2017)

Once again,

For the full Top 25 this week, see Wikipedia:Top 25 Report/January 29 to February 4, 2017.

For the week of January 29 to February 4, 2017, the ten most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the WP:5000 report were:

Rank	Article	Class	Views	Image	Notes
1	Neil Gorsuch		2,453,582		In a perfectly orchestrated ceremony, complete with red carpet and red roses, Donald Trump delivered the cathodic President's decision.
2	Royal Rumble (2017)		2,115,245		John Cena wins again, scoring his 13th WWE Championship title. Tremendous guy! Trump loves him. Believe me!
3	Donald Trump		1,855,391		Two weeks into his presidency, Donald Trump keeps everybody's heads spinning. From typing unpresidented tweets to penning tough-looking executive orders, his fingers know no rest. Expect him to grab Australia by the Aussie, China by the vagina and Mexico by the sombrero.
4	Roger Federer		1,535,712		The Swiss Best paid too. Now that we're on winning terms, Roger has a message for President Trump. You see, Switzerland is not only home to the best tennis players, but we've got the best mountains. Look at those big fat mountains. Unlike the Netherlands , so flat, total disaster.
5	Milo Yiannopoulos		1,388,501		Gay immigrant journalist with a black boyfriend and a loud mouth who trolls Amazon pre-sales again. So much for silencing him…
6	Steve Bannon		1,364,232		Trump's Star Wars meta-sequel. With just 24,000 views between them, I bet he's jealous of Milo Yiannopoulos now.
7	Fred Korematsu		1,059,722		How could we ever complete our history lessons without the good graces of two degrees of The Donald . Who would surely have fired him. (See #10.)
8	Raees (film)		1,043,144		Why do we get Bollywood, when we need Khizr Khan? Uh, sorry, not the founder of the Sayyid dynasty, I mean the guy who single-handedly revived sales of pocket constitutions. See also Kaabil (#16). And did you know that Raees also means President? I love Indian people . Indians have the best words. It's true!
9	Edmonia Lewis		953,833		It's sculptor. A woman too. Tremendous people! See also Frederick Douglass (#18).
10	Sally Yates		884,904		Got her When Harry Reid met Sally Yates. At least Sally Ride (unrelated to Harry Reid) had the wisdom to board Space Shuttle Challenger before it blew up. And she wasn't fired. Such a winner.