On 12/6/05, The Cunctator cunctator@gmail.com wrote:
On 12/5/05, Jimmy Wales jwales@wikia.com wrote:
But preveneting anons from creating new pages is a different matter, and it seems a worthy time to make an experiment of it.
Don't call it an experiment if it's not. If it is an experiment, then there should be clear conditions for its start and finish, and clear methods for taking measurements from it. Just admit that it's a policy change and move on.
Unless you're willing to state an end date for this. Or *at a minimum* start collecting good data on the effects of the change.
I have some other ideas for experiments, by the way, if anyone's interested in actually trying things to make Wikipedia better.
I think these comments are way over the top. Jimmy *is* interested in actually trying things to make Wikipedia better. You may not agree with the methods, but to call into question his motives is inappropriate.
You should also consider that maybe there *are* clear conditions for the start and finish of this experiment, and maybe there *are* clear methods for taking measurements from it. Maybe this information just wasn't made public yet, as to do so would seriously skew the experiment (there are a lot of factors skewing it already, though, I'm reminded of the company that found out that productivity was increased by any experiment, regardless of what it was, simply because the process of performing experiments was causing the increased productivity).
Anyway, I think it's great that Wikipedia is finally getting some real leadership. I don't really have high hopes for this particular decision, but the fact that someone is finally standing up and making decisions is enough to outweigh that.
Anthony