Methodology
This page explains how we collected, processed, and analyzed data for the History's Attention Gap research project. Our goal was to compare historical importance (as measured by academics) with current internet attention (as measured by Wikipedia pageviews).
Data Sources
1. MIT Pantheon (Historical Importance)
Pantheon is a project from MIT's Collective Learning group that ranks historical figures by their global cultural impact. We used the top 1,000 figures ranked by their Historical Popularity Index (HPI).
The HPI score measures how famous someone has remained across cultures and time—factoring in how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them, how detailed those articles are, and how long ago they lived. It's a peer-reviewed, academically-grounded measure of "who matters" in history.
2. Wikipedia Pageviews (Current Attention)
We used Wikipedia's pageview data to measure current internet attention—specifically, how many times each figure's English Wikipedia page was viewed during 2024 and 2025 (full years for both).
English Wikipedia is the largest edition and most reflective of global internet attention, making it a reasonable proxy for "who the internet is paying attention to right now."
Metrics
Attention Score
Our core metric measures whether a figure is getting more or less attention than their historical importance would predict. We calculate how many pageviews someone "should" get based on their HPI rank, then compare that to their actual pageviews.
| Score | Meaning |
|---|---|
+1.0 |
10× more views than expected (overexposed) |
0 |
Attention matches importance |
-1.0 |
10× fewer views than expected (overlooked) |
Year-over-Year Change
Compares 2025 pageviews to 2024 pageviews. A figure with +50% YoY got 50% more attention in 2025 than the year before.
Momentum
Measures the trend within 2025—comparing early months to later months. This identifies figures who are rising (gaining attention through the year) versus those who had an early spike followed by decline (like after a death or movie release).
Labels
We assign descriptive labels based on combinations of these metrics:
- Breakout Star / Viral / Trending: High attention, rising
- Famous: High attention, stable
- Rediscovered: Was overlooked, now surging
- Forgotten / Fading: Low attention, declining
⚠️ Limitations
- English Wikipedia only: Figures more prominent in non-English contexts may be underrepresented
- Wikipedia ≠ true attention: Pageviews measure one platform; they don't capture books, podcasts, classroom discussion, etc.
- News events skew data: Deaths, movies, and political events cause temporary spikes that may not reflect lasting interest
Citation
If you use this research, please cite:
Kidopoly. (2025). History's Attention Gap: Who the Internet Ignores.
https://kidopoly.com/research/attention-gap/Data sources:
- MIT Pantheon – Historical Popularity Index rankings
- Wikipedia Pageviews API – 2024 and 2025 pageview data