--- Axel Boldt axelboldt@yahoo.com wrote:
--- Geoffrey Thomas geoffreyerffoeg@yahoo.com wrote:
I see so far three (ok, 2.5) reasons to implement
filters: 1) to
protect the Wikipedia from a site-wide censor, 2)
to protect those
who shouldn't see some content (this point is
debatable), and 3) to
protect those who don't want to see some content.
I realize now that
the first reason cannot be effectively implemented
without impeding
the Wikipedia's larger goals. The second,
apparently, is loaded with
too much POV (though I still don't see why we have
to ''not'' censor
content because some people might censor ''too
much''...). The third
I still believe should be implementable.
I wonder if there is anybody in group 3 at all. Most people find Wikipedia through some search engine, click around a bit, and maybe add it to their bookmark list. Suppose they come across an article they consider objectionable. Do you really think they would then investigate, find in some FAQ that registered users can block categories, create a user account, learn about the categories, block the proper ones, remember to log in each time they want to use Wikipedia -- all only so that they won't accidentally come across an article that they could have simply ignored?
Furthermore, after going through all this trouble, their original search engine will still present links to all Wikipedia articles, ignoring the category blocks.
Axel
For that reason, edupedia would make more sense than having filtering within Wikipedia, although filtering within Wikipedia should still be available for testing purposes. Edupedia would be aimed less at end users and more at schools and parents (using filtering software). --LDan
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