Peter Ansell wrote:
On 16/12/2007, Todd Allen <toddmallen(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
joshua.zelinsky(a)yale.edu wrote:
Quoting Andrew Gray <shimgray(a)gmail.com>om>:
On 16/12/2007, joshua.zelinsky(a)yale.edu
<joshua.zelinsky(a)yale.edu> wrote:
> See
http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=6424&p=147306#p147306
>
> In retrospect I'm not sure why no one did this before. The sample isn't
> exactly
> representative (since it is xkcd fora). But one interesting thing
> seems clear;
> the public prefers spoiler warnings on Wikipedia and uses them.
>
>
Well... thirty people on an internet forum prefer spoiler warnings and
use them. I'm not entirely sure we can generalise from that to "the
public" with any degree of confidence.
That's true. The sample size is very small. But considering that one
argument
made in favor of spoiler removal was that the spoiler-removal was favored by
the public this preliminary data doesn't seem to back that up at all and if
anything shows the other direction.
If you check recent changes, it's also apparent that a large number of
people are in favor of vandalism. That doesn't mean we should start
allowing it.
How did you make the connection between spoiler warnings and
vandalism? Seems like you are just putting up a straw man to knock
down.
Peter
_______________________________________________
WikiEN-l mailing list
WikiEN-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit:
http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l
I am not, per se, comparing spoiler warnings to vandalism. I am,
however, stating (and will state more clearly here) that just because an
option is popular with "the public" doesn't necessarily mean we should
actually do it. Many things are popular but outside the scope, mission,
and ideal of Wikipedia. That's fine, other sites can handle those. If
you want spoiler-free plot summaries, rumors, and speculation, those are
very popular. IMDB is a great place for you to look. If you want
encyclopedic information, including a summation of the full plot, based
on verifiable and sourced information only, that's what we do.