Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Mmyers1976 (talk | contribs) at 20:02, 10 December 2008 (→Admin Wannabes). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

My Philosophy on Misplaced Pages

I don't consider myself a "wikipedian" or an "editor" or a member of the "wikipedia community". I am an average person who recognizes that more and more people are coming to this website as their first stop for information on subjects, and that concerns me. Like many people out there, I am extremely skeptical of this site's value. If someone quotes Misplaced Pages to me, I tell them to come back with a credible source, preferably a primary source, as there is too much downright false information on Misplaced Pages for it to be taken seriously. I believe that 'misinformation is worse than no information at all'. I think that Misplaced Pages has become a dangerous source of misinformation in this world, and I am not the only person out there with that viewpoint: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/02/12/bias_sabotage_haunt_wikipedias_free_world/

So why do I have an account on this site at all?

Because, regrettably, it seems that in most internet searches of subjects these days, the wikipedia entry is the first hit, right at the top of the list. It is what most people are going to go for to find out the information. Therefore, I keep an account on Misplaced Pages, and do read Misplaced Pages articles from time to time on topics of high interest to me (ones I am likely to discuss with other people) for two reasons:

1. So that I can know what kind of misinformation people are likely to pick up from Misplaced Pages on these topics, and I can be prepared to counter that with the correct information, which I have looked up in a real source.

2. So that I can correct that misinformation in the hope that I won't have to hear someone repeat it in the first place.

So, with that in mind, you will be unsurprised that I have no interest in moving up to administrator status, nor do I have a lot of concern over whether my edits or comments comport to any wikipedia-specific rules of etiquette. I really have no loyalty to the Misplaced Pages "community" whatsoever. I am more concerned with whether or not the facts are being presented correctly than I am with whether or not I have ruffled someone's wikipedia sensibilities, and warnings that I have overlooked some arcane wikipedia rule are not going to faze me.

For instance, if I see incorrect information about a person or entity that casts that entity in a negative light, I am going to inform that entity that the information is here on Misplaced Pages, and let them decide what to do with it, rather than going through some Misplaced Pages dispute arbitration process. That doesn't mean I am rude or a troll. In general, I am a very civil person, even when provoked by people who are looking to have a flame war. Most likely I will walk away. If I make a change, and you don't agree with it and post telling me so, I am not going to get defensive. I am going to politely explain my reasoning, try to show you that I always act in good faith. Then I am going to do what I am going to do. I have no interest in building consensus for my edits. I edit to correct misinformation. If no one changes that edit, I take no further action. If people do change that edit, well, I did what I could in the limitations of the amount of time I have to spend on Misplaced Pages. The only time I might take further action is if the misinformation is dangerous or defamatory to a person or entity, and then I'm going to contact that entity. I will not express my intent to contact that entity on Misplaced Pages before doing so, as people choose to misinterpret this courtesy as a "threat".

If all this makes me a bad "Wikipedian" in anyone's eyes, I really don't care.

I am sure there are those out there who will say "if you think Misplaced Pages is so flawed, and think you are so good at providing correct information, why don't you devote yourself to making it better, rather than just putting it down?" Well, here is my response: In my opinion, those editors who do get their facts straight before adding them to articles are fighting a losing - no - already lost battle to the pranksters, biased, and misinformed. The best thing that can happen to Misplaced Pages is that it will get widely discredited enough that people will not want to use it as a source of information, and will instead seek out the many reliable information sources out there. It would not be ethical for me to sabotage Misplaced Pages just to make that go faster, and I do have the compulsive habit to fix errors when I see them, so I do correct Misplaced Pages sometimes, but actively trying to make Misplaced Pages better (when I know that is a losing proposition) would work contrary to my desire of seeing it ultimately discredited as an information source.

Admin Wannabes

Another reason I dislike this site - it's a huge place for dorks and fanboys who don't get enough validation in real life to exert cyber-muscle and talk tough, smack people for pedantically-interpreted "infractions" of the rules of Misplaced Pages. Most of these people aspire to one day be "elevated" to administratorship status to stroke their fragile little egos, and many of them even start to act like an administrator before they are officially knighted so, to get attention from the admins. Here is a perfect example:

"Hi, if you are reading this you saw that I am helping out at the administrator's noticeboard, even though I am not an admin. I believe what I do is useful, and I will continue to do so unless/until an admin asks me to stop. I created the disclaimer after a user became frustrated that he had filed a report and a non-admin had responded. I think I was helpful in that case anyway, but in the spirit of full disclosure, I now often let people know as soon as I answer an ANI report that I am not an admin, especially if I believe the thread will eventually result in admin intervention."

http://en.wikipedia.org/User:Jaysweet/Why_I_help_out_at_ANI_even_though_I_am_not_an_admin

The eager little beaver (who once blasted me for my criticism of Misplaced Pages) above recently got shot down for adminship, much to my schadenfreude. Fnny to see such a once-ardent supporter of this crappy site get disillusioned. Reading his whine about it was one of the most satisfying experiences I have had on Misplaced Pages:

http://en.wikipedia.org/User_talk:Jaysweet/Archive_5#Hey_there_Mr._Admin....oh_wait_you_are_not_a_admin.3F

Good Admins

Not every admin is like this; there are a few good eggs. Here is one I have come across, and I will add other to this list as I come across them:

http://en.wikipedia.org/User:DavidWBrooks

And the ULTIMATE example of Misplaced Pages's stupidity/proof that Misplaced Pages is not an encyclopedia that should be taken seriously:

Erdős–Bacon number

"A person's Erdős–Bacon number is the sum of one's Erdős number—which measures the "collaborative distance" in authoring mathematical papers between that individual and Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdős—and one's Bacon number—which represents the number of links, through roles in films, by which the individual is separated from American actor Kevin Bacon. The lower the number, the closer an individual is to Erdős and Bacon."

This should be a drinking game for nerdy grad students who can't get laid, not an encyclopedia article. The fact that this foolish article not only was written, but afte being nominated for deletion was selected to be KEPT shows how inane Misplaced Pages is and that its revered system of editing and collaboration is a failure. Check out Encyclopedia Britannica. No entry for "Erdos-Bacon Number". Also no entry for "Beer Pong".

Misplaced Pages's days are numbered, I fear, consumed by its own nonfeasance. Tribes of influential (= have the most free time on their hands) admins and editors have decided that WP policies say something other than what they actually say. They want to have loose reigns to make WP their playground for their own particular agendas. People who follow strict and standardized interpretations of policies threaten that and must be stalked and rebuffed.

The problem on WP is not so much the obvious trolls but the ones who make editing painful for other editors by repetitive questions, tendentious editing, private agendas hidden beneath yet lord of all arguments; immature teenagers and college students who view biographies of living persons as their private political platform rather than a task requiring the utmost responsibility and mature outlook, all in recognition that words can be like flames and real lives can and sometimes really are ruined or at least permanently altered; people who fill up talk pages with nonsense, who see the truth of contrary arguments yet refuse from selfishness to acknowledge them; who endlessly Wikilawyer the most obvious points, and enforce not the policies but the policies as they privately interpret them through the grid of their own private agendas.

Most people like me ended up at Missing Wikipedians much sooner, and many such people are enjoying the heck out of other, more responsible wikis, and some enjoying reading the jabs at places like Wikitruth. The price that has been paid and will continue to be paid until something changes is a Project in the guise of an encyclopedia that cannot even be cited by 1st graders, lest high schoolers. Welcome to your Misplaced Pages. I am done. CyberAnth 20:43, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

Given the level of dysfunction that has come to prevail on Misplaced Pages, the most appropriate course for a principled scientist is to withdraw from the project.

The bureaucracy should either take corrective steps to fix this situation, or else suffer the eventual loss of huge amounts of valuable talent and volunteered resources.

If you agree with this statement, post it to your pages, and pass it on. (discuss this here)