On 15 January 2013 21:09, Sarah Stierch <sarah.stierch@gmail.com> wrote:

http://thewikipedian.net/2013/01/15/wikifoolery/

" April Fools’ Day is still about 2 1/2 months off, but Wikipedians are already planning for the big day. Every year, editors who maintain the front page arrange for silly, sometimes misleading, and even mildly offensive articles to run during the 24-hour period covering April 1st. But as we noted in April 2011, not everyone is happy that such a serious project as Wikipedia, one focused on curating the world’s knowledge, spends one day per year kind of, sort of, doing the opposite. And as of today, there’s a thread on Jimbo Wales’ Talk pagehosting a debate on the practice. This time in the mix: whether the juvenile pranks contribute to Wikipedia’s noted gender imbalance. Best comments so far: from female editors defending standing up for “women’s ability to both use and appreciate dirty or giggle-inducing language”."

I don't know that they contribute to the gender imbalance - although in fairness the women who make it as far as adminship and discussions on Jimbo's page tend to be unusually thick-skinned (I mean it as a compliment!).  I think that the puerile proposals being bandied about are likely to make Wikipedia look like it's run by, well...juvenile geeks who haven't got past giggling every time they hear someone say a "bad word".  It would be different if these things were actually funny, but they aren't. 

Although I think it probably says something about the general mentality of a significant portion of our editorship what was being proposed for April Fool's day - sex, body parts, and swearing.  Hmmm.


Risker/Anne

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