Posted by Nate Jones on 12/28/2012 at 6:13 PM News

The Popdust Files: one direction, technology, Wikipedia

One Direction didn’t exactly come out of nowhere when they burst onto the scene earlier this year—a successful X Factor run is no small thing, at least in Britain—but the boy band was still a bit of an unknown quantity when they made their initial stateside invasion this spring. Who were these guys? Did they win their season? The guy with the floppy hair, which one was he? No, the other one!

Luckily, the answers to all these questions and more were contained in one handy digital document: the One Direction Wikipedia page. And it appears that a significant number of people needed the help, as that Wiki page was the fourth most-visited article on the English language Wikipedia this year.

The Wikimedia Foundation doesn’t release official pageview stats on their articles, but thanks to one Swedish computer programmer, we know that the 1D boys’ page received a whopping 22 million visits in 2012, behind only Facebook, Wiki and Deaths in 2012.

No other real people appeared on the top 10, which is a fine illustration of the sheer magnitude of Directioners’ fervent desire for information about the lads, as well as the mild curiosity that rabid fandom induced in the rest of us.

The full top 10 stats are below:

1. Facebook – 32,647,942

2. Wiki – 29,613,759

3. Deaths in 2012 – 25,418,587

4. One Direction – 22,351,637

5. The Avengers – 22,268,644

6. 50 Shades of Grey – 21,779,423

7. 2012 phenomenon – 20,619,920

8. The Dark Knight Rises – 18,882,885

9. Google – 18,508,719

10. The Hunger Games – 18,431,626

[ONTD]