uninvited@nerstrand.net wrote:
In any case, my point remains: that with Wikipedia's continuing surge in popularity, we have an obligation of service to our readers. And POV warriors are making trouble on articles that, IMO, are now widely read.
In this same general area, I wanted to point out that one day my wife called me on my cell phone to let me know that she happened to go to the George Bush page only to find the infamous goatse.cx image there. (If you don't know what this is, don't try to find out if you are easily offended!)
I mention this in this context, because it also goes into the category of "we are getting very poppular, and we have an obligation of service to our readers".
I don't have an exact solution for the goatse.cx case, though I think the answer probably needs to be softer than "protect the article" when the subject is both popular and rapidly changing. I advocate the development of some sort of "delayed publish" mechanism whereby edits don't appear on the main url until some time has passed. This could be used on articles prone to heavy vandalism during peak times, to allow us to catch the vandalism and remove it before it is published. And the fact that it will not be published to the world at large, will reduce the incentive to vandalize, and therefore save us all a big headache.
--Jimbo