On Thu, 08 Nov 2007 12:16:28 -0800, Ray Saintonge saintonge@telus.net wrote:
I wonder if Judd Bagley would have gone to such lengths two years ago?
That's what scaling is all about. If someone like Bagley is a 1 in 1,000,000 shot we can probably expect that there's another on like him around. When we were smaller we were likely completely off his radar. This doesn't mean that we don't deal with these problems when they arise. We do avoid elaborate mechanisms for catching them when the cost of those mechanisms is considerably greater than the potential damage.
But is it worth the effort for a website at Alexa rank 1,386,489? I'd say not. Whereas we know form bitter past and current experience that is sure as hell is worthwhile playing the long game, doing your damndest to undermine the community and get your message across, for a top ten website.
Yes, I know that things scale, but I think the attractiveness of the target, and the prominence your message can get if you manage to weasel it in, makes the one in a million much more likely to come to Wikipedia than before.
Guy (JzG)