[WikiEN-l] The deletion paradox

[Jimmy Wales]

Delirium wrote:
> There's no reason to *delete* a 2-sentence unverified stub, merely to
> make clear to our readers that it is in fact a 2-sentence unverified
> stub, and so ought to be read accordingly.  Of course, an intelligent
> reader already ought to be able to recognize that for themselves, but we
> can help the rest along.

In many many cases there is a reason to delete a 2-sentence unverified
stub.  We need to be extremely aggressive about doing so when the
article in question contains negative claims about any living person or
existing company.   Such articles may be examples of people using our
site to attempt to libel others or they may just be hurtful to someone
who is non-notable for no good purpose.

I am always dismayed when I see a good editor wikifying and tagging an
absolute crap article, rather than blanking/radically stubbing it (at a
minimum) or deleting it (often would be better).

--Jimbo