[WikiEN-l] Another "BADSITES" controversy

[Risker]

Well, I don't post there, and have only read there occasionally - and I have
been involved in this discussion as long as you have, Slim.  And no, I do
not think there should be a BADSITES list, or any site that is absolutely
verboten - because Wikipedia is not a crystal ball, and we have no idea what
will happen days, months or years down the road.

For the life of me, I cannot understand how a link to a site is, by itself,
a personal attack. The links themselves are not the attacks - it is the
content and the context that render ANY link (whether to WR or Urban
Dictionary or even a WP page) into an attack.  And there is not one person
who has worked on the NPA policy who disagrees with this principle.  So why,
exactly, are entire sitebans being discussed in NPA instead of WP:EL?  Why
is this not on BADSITES or whatever other shortcut name someone wants to
give that failed policy?

Here's the hint - if one has to stick a principle ("don't link to attack
sites or else") into a policy that has nothing to do with external links,
because there is no other existing, supported policy into which it will fit,
either draft the policy and seek community support or accept that the
principle is not supported.

(As an aside, Slim Virgin, if anyone posted a link to WR in response to a
post you made or onto your user page, I think that it should be considered a
personal attack and treated as such.  Not even a complete idiot could miss
the genuine nastiness directed toward you on that site. )

Risker



On 5/30/07, Slim Virgin <slimvirgin at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On 5/30/07, Joe Szilagyi <szilagyi at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Why not just list them at BADSITES as a "do not link list"? If the
> > *community* agrees on an entry, hey, cool, don't link it. If not, well,
> the
> > community has decided, right? Unless very small minorities on-wiki get
> to
> > decide they know better than everyone else and try to policy wonk or
> game
> > their way to their ends. But that would be wrong, no? ;)
> >
> The problem with that, Joe, is that some members of the "community"
> who've been particularly vocal on the linking issue are regular
> posters to Wikipedia Review. Mango, for example, posts as Papaya.
> Should the people who keep these sites going be the ones to decide our
> policy on linking to them?
>
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