[WikiEN-l] Correction to New Yorker Article

[Jeff Raymond]

David Gerard wrote:

> I was most amused to see Daniel Brandt ranting about it, considering
> that avoiding Brandt's blatant stalking and harassment of editors was
> one of the main reasons for Essjay doing it.

While there is some irony there, I suspect many "this isn't a big deal"
people are, well, missing the point.  If Essjay simply said "I'm a guy
who's initials are S.J. from Location, and my specialty is in religious
areas," and then it turns out that he's R.J from Different Location, then
there's no real problem - he created a pseudonym and sent people off-track
in a whole different area.  The problem comes when he claimed to be a
tenured professor, a PhD even.  His expert opinion was then solicited in
discussions
(http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Five_solas&diff=prev&oldid=15002257),
probably giving extra weight to it, and he even made a claim of being one
of Wikipedia's "foremost experts" on the subject
(http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Confession&diff=prev&oldid=15674330),
which I posit was possibly blatantly false given his true education
levels, and certainly not a statement he could make an educated stab at.

I've edited for a very long time with a nickname I use across the
internet, and with my real name readily available.  When I've been
interviewed by a newspaper for Wikipedia, I used my real name.  If he felt
worried about trolls and maliciousness, then that's fine, but that's also
not a free pass to misrepresent one's education levels, and to continue up
the Wikimedia ladder after it's been revealed.  The line in the sand is
pretty clear here - no one would have said a peep if minor,
inconsequential facts were blurred for the sake of anonyminity.  When you
start working advanced degrees and tenureship into the equation, well...

-Jeff Raymond
BA, History and Political Science
And nothing else.