Comments for Wikipediocracy

Comment on The tragedy of Wikipedia’s commons by EricBarbour

EricBarbour — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:29:58 +0000

And just for added effect, I might point out that Scott “Russavia” Bibby, one of the most powerful administrators on Commons, has just been indefinitely blocked from English-language Wikipedia. Again. And in spite of this, he retains his power on Commons. In fact, the (few) people who spoke up in his favor were fellow Commons insiders.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard/Incidents&oldid=560660816#I_have_just_blocked_Russavia_indefinitely

As dysfunctional as Wikipedia is, Commons is worse. And the WMF operates a few other projects that make Commons look like a paradise.

Comment on The Deaf Leading the Blind — the tale of Jimmy Wales’ vanishing talk page posts by Whatever

Whatever — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:49:00 +0000

Ask, sure. Don’t expect him to reply and don’t treat it as some sort of ridiculous free speech issue when he doesn’t answer. The Jehovah’s Witnesses can come to my door, but I’m not squelching their free speech if I don’t answer.

Comment on What should we do about Wikipedia’s porn problem? by Person

Person — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 04:30:10 +0000

All of this is written on the assumption that pornography is harmful to children. Now is it? Perhaps it may seem so if we follow what a lot of our society says; the laws and such that forbid showing pornographic content to children, etc. and other things like that. But nowadays perhaps some of us are starting to realize that in fact, the idea that pornography is harmful to children is misguided. The fact is, most people get exposed to pornography at around 13 already. In fact, perhaps these images are much more educational than sex education offered in schools. Certainly, a lot of what is produced by the pornographic industry can be very misleading about what happens in real life – but that is not all of it, and even then it’s not like they really do much harm in the end.

In the end, the people who are complaining about this are people who just think pornography is immoral, that sex outside of marriage is immoral, etc. You can say “you don’t have a problem with pornography websites,” but that’s just a cover for making arguments that don’t make sense except by starting with the assumption that pornography is inherently bad in some way

Comment on The Deaf Leading the Blind — the tale of Jimmy Wales’ vanishing talk page posts by Gregory Kohs

Gregory Kohs — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 03:18:59 +0000

Is Jimbo’s talk page an appropriate forum to ask Jimbo about why he hasn’t paid a Wikipedian of the Year award that he conceived and funded? Is it an appropriate forum to ask Jimbo about his ties to Tony Blair and the Kazakhstan regime? I think so.

Comment on The Deaf Leading the Blind — the tale of Jimmy Wales’ vanishing talk page posts by Whatever

Whatever — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:35:07 +0000

Why should his talk page be an open forum for whatever agenda-driven screed somebody wants to post? Issues with the Foundation? Bring them to the Foundation. Issues with BLP policy? BLP noticeboard. His talk page is just some dude’s talk page and treating it like some free speech commons that is being squelched only serves to perpetuate the stupid Cult of Jimbo that has grown up around him.

Comment on What should we do about Wikipedia’s porn problem? by LeChuck

LeChuck — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 05:34:34 +0000

“Wikipedia and other websites of the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) host a great deal of pornographic (sic) content”

“…No, the real problem begins when Wikipedia features some of the most disgusting sorts of porn (sic) you can imagine, while being heavily used by children.”

It may be because I’m not a Southern Baptist, but I don’t find these images in any way disgusting. Can you explain WHY exactly they are such a grave danger to children? They are, after all, used in context to illustrate and explain the articles which they accompany.

Comment on The Deaf Leading the Blind — the tale of Jimmy Wales’ vanishing talk page posts by Wer900

Wer900 — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 22:30:51 +0000

Eric, I have not summarized the Jimbo Way perfectly. We need to add that the investigation into all of this will begin when Jimbo has completed the first of his many excursions to Kazakhstan.

Comment on The Deaf Leading the Blind — the tale of Jimmy Wales’ vanishing talk page posts by Gregory Kohs

Gregory Kohs — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 12:29:41 +0000

Something I find amusing is Jimmy Wales’ propensity to tell the press that most Wikipedia problems are solved by “posting your concerns to the Talk page”, and a supposed team “dedicated to accuracy” will come along to act “with transparency” to “make sure we get it right”. But, when you post concerns about Jimmy Wales, directly to Jimmy Wales’ talk page… POOF! They disappear — dismissed as “vandalism” or “trolling”. Such a juvenile approach to criticism, to plug one’s ears and say “I can’t hear you!”

Comment on A Compendium of Wikipedia Criticism by Einar

Einar — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 04:13:05 +0000

I was recently surprised to find info put out by UC Berkeley that used wikipedia as a source. http://livingnewdeal.berkeley.edu/map/ then click on Toledo Ohio and find the Macomber High School – Toledo OH article. Thre is no direct link to it. i find this food for thought. Einar

Comment on The Deaf Leading the Blind — the tale of Jimmy Wales’ vanishing talk page posts by ericbarbour

ericbarbour — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 00:58:50 +0000

“The creation of a committee to produce a full report on the status of the investigation into the preliminary investigative stage of the production of a report on the health of Wikipedia and its movement has been considered, and should be available shortly, pending an analysis on how the investigation into said investigation will affect Wikipedia process.”

At last, someone has summarized the Jimbo Way perfectly!