[WikiEN-l] (no subject)

[charles.r.matthews at ntlworld.com]

"Jussi-Ville Heiskanen" wrote

> I personally fear systemic bias on wikipedia is being squeezed from
> two directions concurrently at the moment.
> 
> The way AFD currently works means that pages which are not on many
> users watchlists is uniquely vulnerable to AFD-wonks predation. So
> that means that the bias stemming from our communitys composition not
> only affects what gets created but also what gets deleted. This
> two-way squeeze worries me.

Yes, but deletion is only a secondary factor.
 
> Although I commend in general terms the drive to emphasize quality
> over quantity, to me at least that does not extend so far as to
> emphasizing removal of content over creation of it. And this is a
> question that should at least be addressed. I think it would be useful
> if the board and or Jimbo uttered something on the matter to let us
> know how they view the question in general on this mailing list.

The Board? This is all at a per-wiki level.


> So how about it? Even if we accept that quantity is *less* important
> than the quality, is creation still preferred over removal?

I think there is exactly this type of issue, namely that pressure for 'instant high quality' in articles means that it is much easier (in terms of time) to create articles that are in areas where there is existing reference-quality material. As for how to address the problem: watch closely the use of PROD and CSD A7 deletions, which can be ridiculous; appeal to everyone's good sense in asking patiently for sources for articles which are in tougher areas, and respecting everyone's work.

Charles 

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