| Revision as of 19:03, 20 January 2012 editYaron K. (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users2,216 edits →Criticism: Removed references for "deletionism caused editing dropoff" statement that didn't actually back it up - i.e., all but one← Previous edit | Revision as of 19:06, 20 January 2012 edit undoDream Focus (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers39,010 edits Undid revision 472303336 by Yaron K. (talk)removed your original research. We only report what all the sources said, not what you personally believeNext edit → | ||
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| Such debates have sparked the creation of websites critical of Misplaced Pages such as Wikitruth, which watches for articles in risk of deletion.<ref name="CIO" /> Wikinews editor Brian McNeil has been quoted as saying that every encyclopedia experiences internal battles, the difference being that those of Misplaced Pages are public.<ref name="National Post" /> | Such debates have sparked the creation of websites critical of Misplaced Pages such as Wikitruth, which watches for articles in risk of deletion.<ref name="CIO" /> Wikinews editor Brian McNeil has been quoted as saying that every encyclopedia experiences internal battles, the difference being that those of Misplaced Pages are public.<ref name="National Post" /> | ||
| Misplaced Pages is currently facing a problem of record numbers of volunteers abandoning the site due to excessive ''deletionism''.<ref name="exodus">{{cite web|url=http://www.wolfsheadonline.com/?p=3716#ed35f|title=Misplaced Pages in Trouble as Volunteers Leave|date=November 23, 2009}}</ref><ref name="deathMUD">{{cite web|url=http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/06/mud-history-dissolving-into-the-waters-of-time/|title=MUD history dissolving into the waters of time|author=Seraphina Brennan|publisher=Joystiq|date=Jan 6th 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Report: Misplaced Pages losing volunteers |url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10403467-93.html |publisher=news.cnet.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/11/25/160236/Contributors-Leaving-Misplaced Pages-In-Record-Numbers|title=Slashdot: Contributors Leaving Misplaced Pages In Record Numbers}}</ref><ref name="bbc4900">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8379566.stm|title=Misplaced Pages Loses 49,000 editors|publisher=BBC News | date=2009-11-25}}</ref><ref name="deletehappy">{{cite web|url=http://www.google.com/search?q=wikipedia+delete+happy|title=Google search results on amount of users frustrated with Misplaced Pages editors' article deletion}}</ref> | |||
| In 2009, Misplaced Pages began to see a reduction in the amount of edits to the site, which some called a result of user frustration due to excessive deletionism.<ref name="exodus">{{cite web|url=http://www.wolfsheadonline.com/?p=3716#ed35f|title=Misplaced Pages in Trouble as Volunteers Leave|date=November 23, 2009}}</ref> | |||
| ==Notable debates== | ==Notable debates== | ||
Revision as of 19:06, 20 January 2012
Deletionism and inclusionism are opposing philosophies that largely developed and came to public notice within the context of the community of editors of the online encyclopedia Misplaced Pages. The terms are connected to views on the appropriate scope of the encyclopedia, and the appropriate point for a topic to be allowed to "include" an encyclopedia article (i.e., "inclusion") or "delete" the article (i.e., "deletion"). Inclusionism and deletionism are broad terms falling within a spectrum of views. The concepts are closely related to the concept of notability, with deletionists and inclusionists taking a strong or relaxed stance on "notability" accordingly. Many users do not identify strongly with either position.
"Deletionists" are proponents of selective coverage and removal of articles seen as unnecessary or highly substandard. Deletionist viewpoints are commonly motivated by a desire that Misplaced Pages be focused on and cover significant topics – along with the desire to place a firm cap upon proliferation of promotional use (seen as abuse of the website), trivia, and articles which are of no general interest, lack suitable source material for high quality coverage, or are too short or otherwise unacceptably poor in quality.
"Inclusionists" are proponents of broad retention, including retention of "harmless" articles and articles otherwise deemed substandard to allow for future improvement. Inclusionist viewpoints are commonly motivated by a desire to keep Misplaced Pages broad in coverage with a much lower entry barrier for topics covered – along with the belief in that it is impossible to tell what knowledge might be "useful" or productive, that content often starts poor and is improved if time is allowed, that there is effectively no incremental cost of coverage, that arbitrary lines in the sand are unhelpful and may prove divisive, and that goodwill requires avoiding arbitrary deletion of others' work. Some extend this to include allowing a wider range of sources such as notable blogs and other websites.
To the extent that an official stance exists at 2010, it is that "here is no practical limit to the number of topics it can cover" but "there is an important distinction between what can be done, and what should be done", the latter being the subject of the policy "What Misplaced Pages is not". The policy concludes "onsequently, this policy is not a free pass for inclusion".
Background
Due to concerns about vandalism and appropriateness of content, wikis require policies regarding inclusion. Misplaced Pages has developed spaces for policy and conflict resolution regarding the disputes for individual articles. These debates, which can be initiated by anyone, take place on an "Articles for deletion" page. Much discussion concerns not only the content of each article in question, but also "differing perspectives on how to edit an ideal encyclopedia."
At the end of each debate, an administrator judges the community consensus. Articles that do not require debate can be flagged and deleted without debate by administrators. If the administrator's decision is disputed, then the discussion can be taken to "deletion review," where the community discusses the administrator's decision. In controversial cases, the debates can spread to other places on the Internet.
A 2006 estimate says that pages about Misplaced Pages governance and policy entries are one of the fastest-growing areas of Misplaced Pages and contain about one quarter of its content.
Positions
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The Association of Inclusionist Wikipedians and the Association of Deletionist Wikipedians were founded by administrators. Each has a Wikimedia page listing their respective members, charters and principles. While written in humorous tones, they reveal the perceived importance of Misplaced Pages held by the members.
Inclusionists may argue that the interest of a few is a sufficient condition for the existence of an article, since such articles are harmless and there is no restriction on space in Misplaced Pages. Favoring the idiosyncratic and subjective, an inclusionist slogan is "Misplaced Pages is not paper."
On the other hand, deletionists favor objectivity and conformity, holding that "Misplaced Pages is not Google," a "junkyard," or "a dumping ground for facts." They argue that the interest of enough people is a necessary condition for article quality, and articles about trivial subjects damage the credibility and future success of Misplaced Pages. They advocate the establishment and enforcement of specific standards and policies as a form of jurisprudence.
According to veteran contributor Geoff Burling, newer members are less likely to have helped delete articles that should have been kept on hindsight, and so exercise less caution. Journalism professor K.G. Schneider has identified the mentality of deletionism as having manifested once the emphasis of the encyclopaedia shifted from quantity to quality.
A "Wikimorgue", in which all deleted articles and their edit histories would be retained, has been suggested as a means to provide greater transparency in the deletion process. A website, Deletionpedia, in fact now has a file of representative deleted pages from February to September, 2008.
Alternatives
Between the two groups, various ideologies have been formed that are not mutually exclusive.
In November 2004, editor Reene Sylverwind created the Association of Mergist Wikipedians to promote a middle ground between the two groups, as not all deletion debates result in keeping or deleting the article entirely. A merge from one article to another is executed by moving the relevant content from the former to the latter, and redirecting the former to the latter. This is a sort of compromise since the content still exists, satisfying the inclusionists, while the original article no longer exists by itself, satisfying the deletionists arguing against retention.
Criticism
Documentarian Jason Scott has noted the large amount of wasted effort that goes into deletion debates. Being called an inclusionist or deletionist can sidetrack the issue from the actual debate, which may contribute to community disintegration, restriction of information, or a decrease in the rate of article creation that suggests a decrease in passion and motivation amongst editors. Nevertheless, some have observed that the interaction between the two groups may actually result in an enhancement of overall quality of content.
Novelist Nicholson Baker recounted how an article on the beat poet Richard Denner was deleted as "nonnotable", and criticised the behaviour of vigilante editors on Misplaced Pages in the New York Review of Books. The article has since been restored.
There are some people on Misplaced Pages now who are just bullies, who take pleasure in wrecking and mocking people's work – even to the point of laughing at non-standard 'Engrish'. They poke articles full of warnings and citation-needed notes and deletion prods till the topics go away."
— Nicholson Baker
Such debates have sparked the creation of websites critical of Misplaced Pages such as Wikitruth, which watches for articles in risk of deletion. Wikinews editor Brian McNeil has been quoted as saying that every encyclopedia experiences internal battles, the difference being that those of Misplaced Pages are public.
Misplaced Pages is currently facing a problem of record numbers of volunteers abandoning the site due to excessive deletionism.
Notable debates
Specific cases of disputes between deletionists and inclusionists have attracted media coverage.
The article on South African restaurant Mzoli's was nominated for deletion after being created by Misplaced Pages co-founder Jimmy Wales, who said that supporters of deletion displayed "shockingly bad faith behavior." The article was kept after a multitude of editors helped work on it. The consequence is that while inclusionists can say the deleting administrator crossed the line, deletionists can say that the process works as notability was established.
In February 2007, the nomination of the Terry Shannon article for deletion was ridiculed by The Inquirer.
The deletion of the biography of television anchor Susan Peters, the article for the Pownce website and Ruby programmer Why the lucky stiff also sparked controversy.
Comic book and science fiction/fantasy novel writer Peter David, who helped cast actor Kristian Ayre in the Nickelodeon TV series he co-created, Space Cases, criticized the November 2009 deletion of Ayre's Misplaced Pages biography, and what he perceived as deletionism on the part of some of the project's editors, in his "But I Digress ..." column in Comics Buyer's Guide #1663 (March 2010), remarking that "Misplaced Pages, which has raised the trivial to the level of art form, actually has cut-off lines for what's deemed important enough to warrant inclusion." In attacking the practice in general, David focused on the process by which the merits of Ayre's biography were discussed prior to its deletion, and what he described as inaccurate arguments that led to that result. Referring to the processes by which articles were judged suitable for inclusion as "nonsensical, inaccurate and flawed", David provided information about Ayre with the expressed purpose that it would lead to the article's recreation. The article was recreated on January 20, 2010.
Notable advocates and analysts
Misplaced Pages co-founder Larry Sanger identified himself as an inclusionist, excepting on topics pertaining to sexuality, for his Citizendium project.
Andrew Lih, a deletionist-turned inclusionist, observes a cultural shift from Misplaced Pages's initial expansion in that it has become more cautious. He changed his position when an article he created about the social networking website Pownce was speedily deleted by another administrator as advertising.
Subjects of deleted articles
In July 2006, The Inquirer was offended by claims made by certain Misplaced Pages editors that it conspired with Everywhere Girl to create her phenomenon. They observed an apparent campaign to remove all references to Everywhere Girl on Misplaced Pages. Later, they found it contrary to common sense that what became included on Misplaced Pages was their series of reports on the deletions of the Misplaced Pages article.
In December 2006, writer and composer Matthew Dallman found that Misplaced Pages's biography of him was under debate, and became drawn to the vote counts. He was deciding to not participate on his own behalf due to Misplaced Pages's apparent dislike of self-promotion, saying that "It's like I'm on trial and I can't testify," though he would not be able to resist the urge.
Andrew Klein was disappointed that the article on his webcomic Cake Pony was deleted, despite his claims that the "article contains valuable and factual information about a popular internet meme." He conceded that "it's their site and you've got to play by their rules." Many other webcomic-related articles were deleted in fall 2006 to criticism by their artists.
Slate.com and The Wall Street Journal writer Timothy Noah documented his "career as an encyclopedia entry," and questioned the need for rules on notability in addition to rules on verifiability.
It is possible to have a new article marked for deletion and then for speedy deletion in minutes, then removed in at most hours, "resolving" deletion discussion by a couple of people and without giving the author any time to reply. This is also true when the content does not possess any threat like defamation or copyright violations, includes some references and potentially could be discussed with less hurry.
Scholarly research
At the 2005 Digital Arts and Culture Conference, the two groups were discussed as examples among Eventualism and Immediatism in a successful large-scale architecture of participation.
The Institut national de recherche pédagogique (National Institute for Educational Research) in France, in case studies of Misplaced Pages, reported that while it was difficult to measure the influence of the groups as of April 2006, their existence is indicative of Misplaced Pages's internal dynamics consisting of multiple identities, and may play progressively increasing roles.
Deletion debates over an article on Enterprise 2.0 sparked a study by the Harvard Business School.
In the journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, a study of Misplaced Pages social dynamics, called inclusionism and deletionism the two most prominent associations within Misplaced Pages. They observe that users in the same role (administrator, etc.) may hold different perspectives, and that "the diversity of member preferences and the low cost of forming or switching associations may encourage schism in an existing association or evolution of new groups." At the same time, the associations may help to better critique existing policies and to find and achieve points of convergence.
Other language Wikipedias
Since each language Misplaced Pages sets its own notability standards, these have in some cases diverged substantially. The German Misplaced Pages is said by one journalist to be dominated by "exclusionists" whereas the English Misplaced Pages is "inclusionist"; although it is pointed out that the English Misplaced Pages has for several years required users to create accounts to create articles, which German Misplaced Pages does not. A debate in late 2009 over inclusion of several articles led to criticism in the German blogosphere of such vehemence and volume that the German Wikimedia held a meeting with several bloggers and German Misplaced Pages administrators regarding the German Misplaced Pages's notability criteria, and issued a press statement.
External initiatives to salvage the deletions
- Deletionpedia is an archive of about 62,679 pages which have been deleted from the English-language Misplaced Pages.
- Infinithree Project - avowedly inclusionist complement to Misplaced Pages
References
- David E. Gumpert (2007-09-05). "A Case Study in Online Promotion". BusinessWeek. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
- ^ Besiki Stvilia, Michael B. Twidale, Linda C. Smith, and Les Gasser (2007). "Information Quality Work Organization in Misplaced Pages" (PDF). Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology: 16, 31. Retrieved 2008-01-24.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Ian Douglas (2007-10-11). "Misplaced Pages: an online encyclopedia torn apart". telegraph.co.uk, The Age. London. Archived from the original on 2007-12-28. Retrieved 2008-01-23. Also published by The Age on 2007-10-13.
- "Marked for Deletion". Weekend America. National Public Radio. 2007-01-20. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
- ^ Nick Farrell (2007-02-26). "Hack got death threats from Wikipidiots". The Inquirer. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
- ^ "What Misplaced Pages is Not". July 20, 2010.
- Lowell Bryan, Mobilizing Minds: Creating Wealth from Talent in the 21st Century Organization, p. 223, McGraw-Hill (2007), ISBN 978-0071490825
- Yochai Benkler, The Wealth of Networks, p. 73, Yale University Press (2006), ISBN 978-0300125771
- ^ Karim R. Lakhani and Andrew P. McAfee (2007). "Debates and Controversies in Misplaced Pages". Harvard Business School. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
- ^ Nicholson Baker (2008-03-20). "The Charms of Misplaced Pages". The New York Review of Books. 55 (4). Retrieved 2008-02-29.
- ^ David Segal (2006-12-03). "Look Me Up Under 'Missing Link': On Misplaced Pages, Oblivion Looms for the Non-Notable". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
- ^ Scott Rettberg of The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey (2005). "All Together Now: Collective Knowledge, Collective Narratives, and Architectures of Participation" (PDF). Digital Arts and Culture Conference Proceedings. p. 8. Retrieved 2008-01-24.
- Dirk Riehle (2006-08-23). "How and Why Misplaced Pages Works: An Interview with Angela Beesley, Elisabeth Bauer, and Kizu Naoko" (PDF). International Symposium on Wikis. Retrieved 2008-01-26.
- ^ Tibbets, Janice (2007-12-27). "Misplaced Pages warriors hit delete". National Post. Archived from the original on 2008-02-04. Retrieved 2009-03-23.
- The Letterman (2006-07-19). "Let Cher Price join Everywhere Girl in the dustbin of history". The Inquirer. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
- ^ "The battle for Misplaced Pages's soul". The Economist. 2008-03-06. Retrieved 2008-03-07.
- ^ "L'édition de référence libre et collaborative : le cas de Misplaced Pages" (PDF). Les dossiers de la veille (in French). Institut national de recherche pédagogique: 25. 2006. Retrieved 2008-01-24.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) - ^ David Sarno (2007-09-30). "Misplaced Pages wars erupt". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
- ^ K.G. Schneider (2007-09-26). "Misplaced Pages's Awkward Adolescence". CIO. IDG. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
- ^ Laure Endrizzi (2007-01-31). "La communauté comme auteur et éditeur: l'exemple de Wikipédia" (DOC) (in French). Institut national de recherche pédagogique: 7–8. Retrieved 2008-01-24.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) - ^ Nicole Gaudiano (2006-02-27). "Inside the world of Wikipedians, there's drama, politics and love". USA Today. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
- Jason Scott (2006-04-08). "The Great Failure of Misplaced Pages" (transcript). Notacon 3. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
- Konrad Lischka, October 12, 2007, Misplaced Pages-Leidenschaft kühlt ab, Spiegel.de
- ^ Brock Read (2007-10-03). "A War of Words on Misplaced Pages". The Chronicle of Higher Education. Archived from the original on 2008-03-10. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
- "The Charms of Misplaced Pages by Nicholson Baker | The New York Review of Books". Nybooks.com. Retrieved 2011-11-30.
- "Misplaced Pages in Trouble as Volunteers Leave". November 23, 2009.
- Seraphina Brennan (Jan 6th 2009). "MUD history dissolving into the waters of time". Joystiq.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "Report: Misplaced Pages losing volunteers". news.cnet.com.
- "Slashdot: Contributors Leaving Misplaced Pages In Record Numbers".
- "Misplaced Pages Loses 49,000 editors". BBC News. 2009-11-25.
- "Google search results on amount of users frustrated with Misplaced Pages editors' article deletion".
- Douglas, Ian (2007-11-10). "Misplaced Pages: an online encyclopedia torn apart". London: The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2009-02-06.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Terry Shannon
- Mike Magee (2007-02-22). "Terry Shannon nominated for Misplaced Pages deletion". The Inquirer. Archived from the original on 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
- Nat Torkington (2008-06-16). "On Misplaced Pages, storms, teacups, and _why's notability". O'Reilly Media. Retrieved 2008-07-19.
- Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Kristian Ayre
- David, Peter, "Wiki wha?", Comics Buyer's Guide #1663 (March, 2010), p. 82
- "First version of recreated Kristian Ayre article; Misplaced Pages; January 20, 2010". En.wikipedia.org. Retrieved 2011-11-30.
- Nate Anderson (2007-02-25). "Citizendium: building a better Misplaced Pages". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
- Adamson Rust (2006-07-14). "Everywhere Girl: You're deleted". The Inquirer. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
- "Wiki high executioner executes Everywhere Girl". The Inquirer. 2007-01-30. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
- Timothy Noah (2007-02-25). "I'm Being Wiki-Whacked". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-01-23. Also published by The China Post on 2007-03-03.
- ^ Kai Biermann, Die Zeit, 23 October 2009, Die Diktatur der Relevanz
- Torsten Kleinz, c't, 30 October 2009, Misplaced Pages: Der Kampf um die Relevanz
- "Deleted from Misplaced Pages - Main Page - Deletionpedia". Deletionpedia.dbatley.com. 2009-02-05. Retrieved 2011-11-30.
- "Infinithree Project". Infinithree.org. Retrieved 2011-11-30.
Further reading
- John Broughton (2008-01-25). The Missing Manual: Misplaced Pages. Pogue. ISBN 9780596515164.
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See also
- Misplaced Pages is not a paper encyclopedia
- Misplaced Pages is not an indiscriminate collection of information
