On 5/11/03 10:16 PM, "Axel Boldt" axelboldt@yahoo.com wrote:
--- Daniel Ehrenberg littledanehren@yahoo.com wrote:
That's a great idea, but I think anyone should get their $100 for being a wikipedia contributer, not just the long-term ones. How could it be misused?
If everybody could get WikiDollars (now also known as WikiSmilies) just for the asking, then the currency would be worthless and it would end in rampant inflation. Right now, a WikiSmilie has a quite definite value: it is worth about 2 edits.
On the talk page I said this is a hilariously bad idea. At the same time, I don't want Axel to think I'm being completely flippant in my criticism. Quantification of goodwill is difficult and necessarily perverts the goodwill itself. For one thing, goodwill/love/friendship is not a finite resource. Then there is the simple fact that if this idea enjoys any popularity it will rapidly become completely unworkable. There's a good reason bankers and accountants exist. And if it doesn't enjoy any popularity, it's worthless.
Better is to adjudge what goals creating such a page was intended to accomplish and then try to figure out a better-planned structure for meeting such goals.