William Beaty wrote:
But Wikipedia is an experiment in *anonymous* free speech, where abusive people with mild mental problems cannot be blocked . . .
Actually, the editors can block people, and they have done so occasionally. I suppose the offenders can simply register a new name.
If Wikipedia started out using the simple email-verified registration which nearly all WWW forums use to exclude trolls/flamers/spammers, it would be a very different resource today.
Well, they might change to that model. They seem like smart people, who are willing to try new things. After the recent scandal they reduced the editing capabilities of anonymous contributors. I think they said that anonymous contributors can no longer initiate articles or sections.
Against my better judgment, I added some stuff to the cold fusion article today, including three links to introductions to the subject in different languages. Some anonymous person promptly chopped them out. I wrote to him/her/it:
"Dear Anonymous Person: Why were these [links] moved? Did you move them to the other versions of Wikipedia? Is there there some kind of policy at Wikipedia banning non-English articles?
If there is such a policy, kindly point it out to me. If not, let us put the links back. Also, I would appreciate it if you would sign your work in future. . . ."
- Jed
