[WikiEN-l] Experiment on new pages

[Anthony DiPierro]

On 12/6/05, The Cunctator <cunctator at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 12/5/05, Jimmy Wales <jwales at 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