This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Michael Snow (talk | contribs) at 18:45, 25 May 2005. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 18:45, 25 May 2005 by Michael Snow (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)In order to prevent prolonged disputes about the significance, factual accuracy, and neutrality of material on subjects in which you are personally involved, it is often a good idea to wait until others lay the groundwork before creating or heavily expanding such articles. This is especially true for auto-biographies.
If you create a new article about yourself it will most likely be listed on votes for deletion and a heavy debate will ensue. That does not mean it will be deleted, of course, but there are people who feel strongly that you should at the very least not start articles about yourself, no matter how important you consider yourself. This is because independent creation encourages independent validation both of significance and of verifiability.
If you are reasonably significant, someone will create an article about you sooner or later (see Misplaced Pages:Wikipedians with articles for examples of this). Some of us feel that even editing an article about yourself is best avoided, on the same principle. If you do so, please only add verifiable information and be especially careful to respect the neutral point of view. Noting objections or corrections on the talk page may be appropriate.
Similar principles apply to articles about works that you are primarily responsible for — the company you run, the website you started, the book you wrote. Use common sense.
Also, realize that anything you submit can be edited. Several autobiographical articles have been a source of dismay to their original authors after a period of editing by the community, and in at least three instances have been listed for deletion by their original authors. In some cases the article is kept even if the original author requests otherwise.
See also: Misplaced Pages:Criteria for Inclusion of Biographies, Misplaced Pages:WikiProject Biography, Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style (biographies)
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