Cla68 - nauseating paid editor?

[Moonage Daydream]

From Jimbo's talk page:

Am I out of line on this? It makes me sick to my stomach, and I think it's violative of our ToS as well

Could you have a look at Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents#User:Cla68 advertising his services as a paid Wikipedia editor? As is often the case, your name is being invoked. --Orange Mike | Talk 19:51, 25 April 2012 (UTC)

[thekohser]

Surprisingly, it looks like OrangeMike's foaming-at-the-mouth rant is backfiring on him...

Most of those weighing in seem to support Charles' proposition, and a few are even taking a jab or two at the Wikimedia Foundation, which seems to pay dozens of people to do... we're not sure what!

All in all, this is very amusing and fun to watch. Good luck Cla68!

[Volunteer Marek]

You really can't make this stuff up. Or these people (starting with OrangeMike).

[thekohser]

Of course, Jimbo thinks that by calling Cla68 a "troll", everything will work itself out.

How funny would it be if in 12 months' time, there are dozens of Featured Articles that have gotten that way solely through paid effort? Then, I predict, Jimbo will decree that he has always been supportive of paid effort that produces high-quality Wikipedia articles; that he's only ever denounced "paid advocacy", which Featured Articles are not. He eventually worms his way out of every community opinion shift that runs him over.

[greybeard]

Our dear Mr. Ainsworth really has a talent for satire, doesn't he?

Good for him, yet again, letting some of the air out of the Wikipedia windbags.

[Vigilant]

I wonder if you'd take the article "Jeffrey Vernon Merkey" on?

I'm good for the money...

[EricBarbour]

It's amazing how simple and rewarding it is to troll OM.
He's easily one of the worst administrators in WMF history. Easily.

If you need examples of his staggering incompetence, just let me know.

PS: nice one, Marek!

Or in other words, the prices that Cla68 is proposing to charge are outrageous, and a complete ripoff. THIS is the real travesty here. Hence I have taken the step of entering the market myself and I want it noted that I am offering fair, competitive, just and reasonable prices which are lower than Cla68's.

Additionally I would like to request that Cla68 be banned for being a monopolist, and that anyone else who tries to enter the market in the future, once I'm there, is immediately banned because of obvious WP:COI, WP:POV, WP:IDONTLIKEIT, WP:ABF, and WP:CANVASS and also for being incivil and making personal attacks.

VolunteerMarek 21:25, 25 April 2012 (UTC)

[Cla68]

My statement was intended to stir things up a little by forcing a discussion on the issue of paid editing. The correct thing that Orange Mike and the others who think like him should have done was to ignore me. Of course, they apparently don't have sufficient situational awareness to realize that. By bringing it up in administrative forums and Jimbo's talk page, they have now likely cemented it in place as an acceptable practice. The thing is, if someone really is willing to pay me that much for a FA-level article, I am willing to accept and do it.

A big reason over the last several years I haven't submitted many articles for FA is because I just don't have the time. Outside of work, I am occupied with being a parent of several children, trying to learn Japanese (an extremely time consuming endeavor), and taking care of my exercise and dietary regimens as I get older and my youthful energy and resilience fade away. The only way I could justify to my family the amount of time it takes to get an article ready for FA is if I was being well-compensated for it. $1,000 an article seems about right, because preparing an article for FA usually takes around 30-50 hours, sometimes more.

[Hersch]

And it does my heart good to see how the hard-line Wikipediots like MastCell are still in mourning over the TimidGuy case.

[greybeard]

The only way I could justify to my family the amount of time it takes to get an article ready for FA is if I was being well-compensated for it. $1,000 an article seems about right, because preparing an article for FA usually takes around 30-50 hours, sometimes more.

From what I have seen of your work, $20/hr is selling yourself short. However, if this is a gateway to spending less of your time editing Wikipedia for free, then I approve. As a political statement about Wikipedia's use and misuse of volunteers, I approve even more.