This article is prepared to reference for a fan-made project "The Hitchhiker's Dictionary To The Galaxy" which its artworks can be seen on pixiv.
About Ekşi Sözlük
Type of website online dictionary, social networking service
Founder Sedat Kapanoğlu
Date launched February 15, 1999
Slogan Kutsal Bilgi Kaynağı ("The Sacred Source Of Knowledge")
Available in the languages of Turkish
Registration Required to post entries and use other features but not required to read contents.
URLs sourtimes.org / eksisozluk.com / eksisozluk111.com (created against the censorship in 2023)
Alternate names Sour Dictionary (English translation of the official name), Sözlük Sourtimes (or "Sourtimes Dictionary" in English), エクシ・ソズリュック ("ekushi sozuryukku", notation in Katakana), 酸っぱい辞典 ("suppai jiten", Japanese translation of the official name)
General introducing
Ekşi Sözlük is usually defined as a "collaborative hypertext dictionary" in a lot of English sources.
About "Collaborative Hypertext Dictionary"
"Katılımcı Sözlük (Participatory Dictonary)", or "İnteraktif Sözlük (Interactive Dictionary)", also known as "Collaborative Hypertext Dictionary" in English sources, is a genre of social networking in Turkey, consists of dictionary-based social networks.
Any user on the these networks can open a "başlık (title)" on any topic and share posts called "entry (or "giri" in Turkish)" under these topics. Entries must be written considered as dictionary-like definitions of the topic. While the first entry in any title must contain a definition, following entry can be the continuing definition or just reference hyperlink to the title of other relevant topic. This is usually one of the rules of the collaborative hypertext dictionaries. The dictionary sites can be thematic or general (allow post sharing without subject restrictions).
Collaborative hypertext dictionaries, especially general dictionaries shape online popular culture and might have an important place in virtual freedom of speech.
This genre of social networking is often confused with forums and wiki-type online encyclopedias. However, unlike a forum, there is no discussion in which people themselves are the subjects and no entry can be a reply to previous one; unlike wiki-type encyclopedias, there are diversities of views among members, they can freely express their opinions and a shared information might support or override the others.
History
In late 1998, coder Sedat Kapanoğlu launched a satirical Turkish page named "Sourtimes Entertainment", after the Portishead song "Sour Times", and moved its contents to the domain sourtimes.org in early 1999.
On February 15, 1999, Kapanoğlu started an interactive dictionary attempt as a part of sourtimes.org, named "Ekşi Sözlük", meaning "Sour Dictionary". It was named after Portishead's "Sour Times" just as Sourtimes Entertainment was. His idea to start this attempt was totally inspired by the series "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy" by Douglas Adams and dictionary-like structure has accompanied the inspiration being shaped.
Starting from 2000s, Ekşi Sözlük has become a phenomenon in the online popular culture in Turkey; the word "ekşi ("sour" in English)" has become iconic in the history of the Internet. Many collaborative hypertext dictionary sites have launched and since they imitate the structure of Ekşi Sözlük, they're called "clones".
Ekşi Sözlük allowed its users to post about anything such as politics, daily life and this caused the site have an important place in virtual freedom of speech over the time.
The first title and entry shared on Ekşi Sözlük is related to "pena ("pick" in English)":
"the tiny plastic strange object used to play the guitar." (ssg, 15.02.1999 - 00:00)
https://www.eksisozluk.com/entry/1
Related Illustrations on pixiv
Fan-Made Project "The Hitchhiker's Dictionary To The Galaxy"
(Main article: "The Hitchhiker's Dictionary To The Galaxy", going to be created soon.)
An anime/manga-themed fan-made project which its story & characters are based on the structure and establishment & development history of Ekşi Sözlük. This project is being runned by mitsukiyadate. In the project's story, Ekşi Sözlük appears as a humanoid character.
https://eksisozluk.com/the-hitchhikers-dictionary-to-the-galaxy--6326364
https://eksisozluk.com/eksi-sozluk-manga-projesi--6296681
Related tags
エクシ・ソズリュック (Tag about Ekşi Sözlük itself)
銀河ヒッチハイク辞典 (Tag about "The Hitchhiker's Dictionary To The Galaxy", Japanese translation was made with reference to 「銀河ヒッチハイク・ガイド」the Japanese variant of "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy".
(In pixiv, artwork tags are written usually in Japanese.)
