On Sat, 6 Nov 2004 18:49:56 -0700, uninvited(a)nerstrand.net
<uninvited(a)nerstrand.net> wrote:
I would also like to draw attention to the growing
problem with socks,
or more generally, bad-faith users who are smart enough to know to
create an account. There is no reason why we cannot implement the
simple measures that every other web site in the world uses, like
requiring confirmation of new accounts through a valid email address,
and logging IPs of each edit in a way that is accessible to whoever is
responsible for dealing with problems. The UBB software is an
excellent example of this being done correctly in a way that balances
privacy concerns and protection of the content. It's really just a
modern-day picospan but still, its community-related features are
worthy of notice. These measures are not foolproof, but they are
enough to create a practical barrier to trolls, socks, and other
troublemakers.
I agree that this is a problem. It's a dependable pattern - someone
with a very strong opinion lands on Wikipedia, makes an account, and
promptly begins messing up articles, causing page protection, tying up
editors in talk pages and causing good-faith editors to say things
they regret later. The [[Circumcision]] edit wars (still taking place)
are one example, Reithy, and now the ciz thing with [[Zoophilia]] is
just ramping up. If ciz doesn't leave voluntarily, he'll tie up an
article and waste a lot of time until his eventual banning. A
committed POV warrior can cause problems for months before the
community is able to act decisively. It really is the same problem,
replayed over and over again. It's a very predictable pattern, and
Wikipedia should be able to recognize it and deal with it.
Rhobite