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&…)5002257),
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&…)5674330),
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.