[Foundation-l] The image filter: Thoughts on the German/English question

[Michael Snow]

On 10/13/2011 8:43 PM, Andreas Kolbe wrote:
> My impression, from reading several articles in this topic area in both projects, is that this is quite a representative example, illustrating fundamental differences in approach between the German and English Wikipedias, with the German Wikipedia generally aspiring to a more high-brow, rather than populist, approach.
It's worth adding that so many people from German-speaking culture have 
good English skills, including virtually all of those who are interested 
in pursuing the less scholarly presentation of information, that it 
allows the English Wikipedia to serve as a release valve where this 
might otherwise create greater divisions in the German Wikipedia's 
philosophy of creating an encyclopedia. Going beyond the issue of 
images, this manifests itself in their rather different perspectives on 
inclusion/deletion and notability.

In all respects, this was a very insightful analysis of the situation. 
It's interesting to consider some of the unexpected tradeoffs involved 
in taking different approaches to making an encyclopedia.

--Michael Snow