[WikiEN-l] Re: Filtering, etc.

[Axel Boldt]

--- Geoffrey Thomas <geoffreyerffoeg at 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

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