[WikiEN-l] Proposal for simplified credentials model

[Steve Bennett]

On 3/9/07, K P <kpbotany at gmail.com> wrote:
> IMO, the problem with the Essjay mess (of which I read very little) is that
> someone, the  news media, thought his credentials mattered--apparently as
> much as he did.  Shouldn't the content of what he was writing have spoken
> for itself?  Do we have to buy into the news media putting so much into his
> credentials?

Yeah, a whole bunch of false assumptions instantly get created and
spread around with stories like this:

- an "editor" is a priviledged position at Wikipedia (very common,
presumably because "editor" has such a strong meaning to journalists)
- editors with PHds are treated differently to those without
- Wikipedia is written by so few editors that losing one would matter
- Most editors edit under their real name - EssJay was an exception.

Would using the term "contributor" instead of "editor" help?

Steve