On 1/10/07, Nina Stratton ninaeliza@gmail.com wrote:
I like the article on extroverts and attention seekers that Luna brought up, but it doesn't really address certain cultural factors. The current veneration of celebrities in general, is almost a world-wide phenomenon now. Many people hold the view that any celebrity is good, and that celebrities are to be envied wholesale. That makes Wikipedia a target for anyone wanting their "one minute of fame".
Plenty of productive ways of getting low level fame on wikipedia. While the multiple author thing means that featured articles are not that good a way of getting it featured pictures are.
I honestly believe that most vandals come here expecting to get into the news the next day, because Wikipedia has become so high profile. It's the folks who come here sub-consciously craving negative attention that are the real problem. Those are people who are typically very wounded, and there is definitely some Psychology working there.
The Herostratus approach? I feel that this one only applies to a limited number of our more persistent Vandals.