I don't think simple reversions are the biggest problem -- I spent a long time streamlining the prose of articles back in '05 and early '06, and none of my changes were reverted -- but all of the improvements washed away within a couple months, regardless.
I mean, hell: this is the one area where I'm actually an expert. I'm a technical writer. I've been to college for it. After slaving over assembly instructions, making sure that they're as clear as they absolutely, possibly could be, it's fun to help with a wikipedia article about something entertaining.
The writing style of most WP articles is decent by web standards, but a trainwreck compared to the best tech documentation (IBM or Apple) or to Britannica. It's easy to dismiss Britannica's mediocre website, but if you actually go to the library and take their encyclopedia off the shelf, it's a fucking joy to read. Everything is laid out perfectly; the writing style disappears into the text.
Not that britannica isn't completely doomed. But it's good to have them as competition.
On 9/7/07, Steve Bennett stevagewp@gmail.com wrote:
On 9/7/07, Ben Yates ben.louis.yates@gmail.com wrote:
Er. With the exception of adding paragraph breaks. That usually works out okay.
I've once added sections to a long monolith of text and had that reverted. I can't say I've had simple paragraph breaks reverted though, you're right.
Steve
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