[WikiEN-l] [Wikipedia-l] Accountability: bringing backa proposal I made nearly 2 years ago

[Philippe Beaudette]

NO information keeps the crazies away just as well or better.  That's the part of this whole thing I just don't get.  WHY in the name of all that is holy (or the lack therof) would anyone create a false identity?  Just don't give out identity information, period.  It's much easier.

I think we should officially discourage "disinformation", plainly and clearly.  Instead, we encourage not giving ANY personal information about yourself online, and being smart about it.  For instance, if I join the WikiProject Oklahoma, I think I might also join WikiProject Vermont and Montana too, just to disguise where I live.  I'm not giving misinformation, but I'm deliberately obscuring the truth.

Philippe
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: William Pietri 
  To: English Wikipedia 
  Sent: Sunday, March 11, 2007 11:55 AM
  Subject: Re: [WikiEN-l] [Wikipedia-l] Accountability: bringing backa proposal I made nearly 2 years ago


  Slim Virgin wrote:
  > I think we could just as easily introduce a culture of strongly
  > discouraging people from saying anything about their academic or
  > professional backgrounds unless they're prepared to give sufficient
  > personal details on their user pages to allow others to check if they
  > want to. In other words, if you're not prepared to say a lot about
  > yourself, say nothing; don't drop uncheckable hints.

  I like that a great deal. It does seem to fit better with the current 
  culture, and would be a lot easier to manage.

  It's obviously not something I'm worried about, but how would you 
  address Essjay's "disinformation keeps the crazies away" argument?


  Thanks,

  William

  -- 
  William Pietri <william at scissor.com>
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:William_Pietri

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