Andrew Gray wrote:
More seriously, they're going to do it anyway, whether we tell them to or not. We may as well encourage people to tell them how to do it effectively and without causing trouble or producing actively bad material.
(This sounds impressively like the celibacy-sex-education debate, doesn't it! We don't want them to, but they're going to, so let's make sure they do it safely...)
Writers will be loath to declare a conflict of interest when that declaration unleashes a shitstorm of criticism. Many will try to be as objective as they can be under the circumstances. If the result misses the mark it is a wiki after all, and anyone can edit it into neutrality.
Parents who want their kids to be open about their sex lives need to restrain the urge to condemn every sexual encounter as being in league with the devil. If we want openness on the part of employees writing about their employers we need to restrain those who perpetrate the ignorant lie that there is necessarily a conflict of interest.
Ec