On Tue, Apr 10, 2012 at 1:53 AM, Arnav Sonara <sonara.arnav(a)gmail.com>wrote;wrote:
"*Where and how else can your voice be heard
thousands of times round the
world by different people?*"
Posing such a question in the context of image and file uploads may be
fine. However, if we attempt at recruiting editors saying that Wikipedia
is a means to have their voice heard then we risk compromising our NPOV
ideal by attracting the attention of the POVpushing blogger complex.
So I'd recommend not advertising Wikipedia as a platform for having "your
voice heard" but as a place where the contributors' research work is
appreciated and read not only by a community of dedicated users but also a
part of the 400 million+ unique visitors each year. Though I know "having
your voice heard" sounds far more sexier but partisan POVpushing is a
serious issue on en.wp and tends to drive away far more contributors than
anything else.
One of the reasons why our project tends to have far more teenage editors
is likely because this is a demographic segment which has still not formed
strong opinions on different subjects, and therefore are more likely to
represent sources accurately without misrepresentation, original research
and original synthesis. Older people have far less patience for a project
that adamantly gives more weight to third party reliable sources and
scholarly research and rejects original research and synthesis. Some of
the users who get banhammered by one of these administrators ultimately
criticize the project saying that it is run by pimple-faced teenage
school-boys with too much time on their hands. :-)