Daniel P. B. Smith wrote:
From: Jesse W jessw@netwood.net
\However, many bad pages created are not created in bad faith - the people who create them are not vandals. People who think the encyclopedia would benefit from an article on their novel theory of history, or their new company, or this fascinating new website they just came across - *are* *not* acting in bad faith, and *are* *not* intending to damage the 'pedia (although, in fact, they are), and so *are* *not* vandals.
When anyone who creates a new article, a message above the edit box is displayed which reads:
"Wikipedia is not an advertising service. Promotional articles about yourself, your friends, your company or products; or articles created as part of a marketing or promotional campaign, may be deleted in accordance with our deletion policies."
Anyone who goes ahead anyway and creates an article promoting their new company most certainly _is_ acting in bad faith.
Perhaps this warning should be made a click-through for all first-time editors, with the "Save page" button replaced by a button reading "Yes, I have read the warning above, and still wish to create this article, which is not about myself or any of my friends."
Mind you, they'd still ignore the warning, because they are IMPORTANT PEOPLE THE WORLD NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT.
-- Neil