[WikiEN-l] Opt Out for Not So Notable Biographies

[Michael Snow]

Erik Moeller wrote:

> On 4/8/07, Fred Bauder <fredbaud at waterwiki.info> wrote:
>
>> Not so notable is the rough dividing line between public figures and 
>> those who
>> are not. George W. Bush is a public figure as as most of those who 
>> regularly
>> appear in the media. Those whose doings are not ordinarily covered by 
>> the
>> media are not public figures, although something interesting may have
>> happened to them and there has been spot coverage.
>
> This is all very vague ("the media") and would IMHO lead to a loss of
> useful biographies of scientists, authors, inventors, and other
> individuals who are not celebrities, but whose work is continuous and
> relevant.

I agree with Erik, and I'd be particularly concerned that such a policy 
would make the subject's wishes basically the sole criterion needed for 
deletion in many cases. I would prefer to have a system that takes their 
preference into account, but is not dictated by it. To some extent our 
culture is already moving in that direction. Perhaps not fast enough, 
and the issue is complicated because mentioning that such a request was 
made brings a lot of knee-jerk resistance that has nothing to do with 
the merits of whether we should have an article or not.

This is why I am okay with allowing a group like the team of OTRS 
volunteers to occasionally delete things without publicly announcing all 
of the considerations involved. They are willing to respond privately to 
questions about individual cases, but we also need to respect their 
judgment (as we would any other conscientious, good-faith contributor) 
and realize that not every issue is suited for public debate.

--Michael Snow