[WikiEN-l] Attack Site Wars, Episode VII... The Return of the Essjay

[Anirudh]

On 7/12/07, geni <geniice at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On 7/5/07, Anirudh <anirudhsbh at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Wikipedia IS the world's largest website;
>
> Myspace would probably beg to differ.


Erm, alrighty, but you get the point, don't you?


> it IS the world's largest
> > compendium of knowledge,
>
> Ah no various astronomy databases are larger.


...

> the biggest encyclopedia. Do we have
> > responsibilities?
>
> Certainly. They are clearly laid out under various laws.


Laws, schmlaws, I am referring to ethics.

> What about ethics?
>
> I hear you can buy all kinds of stuff on ebay.


Your point being...?

> We are ACTIVELY affecting the
> > lives of various individuals worldwide,
>
> Yes? Strangely it is always an intern acting without orders who then
> makes the snips (well with one exception).
>
> > and one aspect of those
> > impacts could be easily negative, if we tolerate negative but
> > well-sourced information that clearly says -- "THIS GUY DONE FOUL"
>
> What is the ethical issue?


As I have already stated, his life is getting affected by the negative
publicity. The article does nothing but make a mockery of that individual.
We are an encyclopedia and not a web-based newspaper which publishes each
and every thing that happens on the planet. I am not against inclusionism,
but some articles are better left outside, and for good reasons.

> Ryan Jordon is probably going to have a lot of hindrances while
> > applying for employment and placements. Who are we to exacerbate the
> > situation for an individual who is clearly not notable and affluent
> > enough to get over the after-effects of the controversy?
>
> Who are we to make the judgement that employers should be denied
> useful information?


They are not being denied information in any manner, but the point of him
having an article featuring himself makes the situation even more enormous.

> Why should we
> > constantly harp about upholding notability guidelines when it does
> > more harm than good to borderline notable subjects?
>
> Because Wicca is not the official religion of wikipedia.
>
> harp about upholding notability guidelines would appear to be a strawman.


No, it's about the systematic biases that plague Wiccapedia.

> Our job as the largest encyclopedia in the world is to be the total
> > sum of human knowledge but with certain responsibilities to the
> > society and its members. If getting featured in various publications
> > and dailies of repute does make a person notable enough to get them an
> > encyclopedic entry, then we should get rid of this systematic bias.
>
> Being worked on. Digging through microfilms is a slow process mind.


*cough*

> An alternative solution which might appease both the sides would be to
> > remove the name "Ryan Jordon" from the article itself.
>
> Enough valid stuff has already been removed from the article.
> --
> geni
>
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