Comments on: Life in the vast lane http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2008/08/06/life-in-the-vast-lane/ Same old blog, brand new place Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:02:37 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Janet Lee Johnson | The Art of Marketing http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2008/08/06/life-in-the-vast-lane/comment-page-1/#comment-138753 Janet Lee Johnson | The Art of Marketing Fri, 06 Mar 2009 04:52:32 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2008/08/06/life-in-the-vast-lane/#comment-138753 <strong>Wikipedia People Deletions...</strong> There’s an interesting dialogue going on over on Doc Searls Weblog about him being nominated for deletion from Wikipedia. Doc is one of the authors of the Cluetrain Manifesto, and (while the discussion thread looks as if he’s going to stay)... Wikipedia People Deletions…

There’s an interesting dialogue going on over on Doc Searls Weblog about him being nominated for deletion from Wikipedia. Doc is one of the authors of the Cluetrain Manifesto, and (while the discussion thread looks as if he’s going to stay)…

]]> By: Kathy Sierra http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2008/08/06/life-in-the-vast-lane/comment-page-1/#comment-75162 Kathy Sierra Thu, 07 Aug 2008 03:58:02 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2008/08/06/life-in-the-vast-lane/#comment-75162 Being a "living person" with a wikipedia entry is not a good thing. Wikipedia has an excellent policy on "biography of living persons", that includes issues like protecting the dignity of the person, respecting their privacy, and not having tabloid-style info... but there's no good mechanism for ensuring the policy is even known to editors let alone read and followed. In my opinion, the best thing that could happen to a living, non-celebrity bio is deletion. Or for Wikipedia to put far tighter controls on who is allowed to edit a living person bio... that would help. I've met a whole lot of people lately who have had some pretty awful things done to their Wikipedia bios, none of which would appear to most of us as obvious vandalism. One big problem is that people reading/discovering Wikipedia entries often take them far more seriously than the editors (i.e. "the crowds") do. It's not that I don't trust "the crowd", but "the crowd" has far better things to do than stay on top of one tech blogger's bio. That said, if you end up being deemed Not Notable Enough and yet my page remains, something has gone ridiculously wrong with the system. My page was originally added (by Rogers Cadenhead, in a well-meaning attempt to "get more women in Wikipedia") because of my Java books, which all combined have had a fraction of the impact of Cluetrain, your work on VRM, etc. Makes no sense. Being a “living person” with a wikipedia entry is not a good thing. Wikipedia has an excellent policy on “biography of living persons”, that includes issues like protecting the dignity of the person, respecting their privacy, and not having tabloid-style info… but there’s no good mechanism for ensuring the policy is even known to editors let alone read and followed.

In my opinion, the best thing that could happen to a living, non-celebrity bio is deletion. Or for Wikipedia to put far tighter controls on who is allowed to edit a living person bio… that would help. I’ve met a whole lot of people lately who have had some pretty awful things done to their Wikipedia bios, none of which would appear to most of us as obvious vandalism.

One big problem is that people reading/discovering Wikipedia entries often take them far more seriously than the editors (i.e. “the crowds”) do. It’s not that I don’t trust “the crowd”, but “the crowd” has far better things to do than stay on top of one tech blogger’s bio.

That said, if you end up being deemed Not Notable Enough and yet my page remains, something has gone ridiculously wrong with the system. My page was originally added (by Rogers Cadenhead, in a well-meaning attempt to “get more women in Wikipedia”) because of my Java books, which all combined have had a fraction of the impact of Cluetrain, your work on VRM, etc. Makes no sense.

]]> By: Don Marti http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2008/08/06/life-in-the-vast-lane/comment-page-1/#comment-75069 Don Marti Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:47:19 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2008/08/06/life-in-the-vast-lane/#comment-75069 If the deletionists were right, there would be some infrequently-used articles suffering wiki rot -- getting out of date or full of crap. If there's no wiki rot, why delete? Or is Wikipedia deletionist just the subtle, evolved form of Internet Troll? If the deletionists were right, there would be some infrequently-used articles suffering wiki rot — getting out of date or full of crap. If there’s no wiki rot, why delete?

Or is Wikipedia deletionist just the subtle, evolved form of Internet Troll?

]]> By: jr http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2008/08/06/life-in-the-vast-lane/comment-page-1/#comment-75067 jr Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:37:45 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2008/08/06/life-in-the-vast-lane/#comment-75067 I sometimes wonder why there is even a delete button on wikipedia. It's not like it has to be pruned down to fit in some dead tree edition some where. All that wikipedia should be concerned with is the information provided should be accurate. Giving the thumbs up or thumbs down is so last century. I sometimes wonder why there is even a delete button on wikipedia. It’s not like it has to be pruned down to fit in some dead tree edition some where. All that wikipedia should be concerned with is the information provided should be accurate. Giving the thumbs up or thumbs down is so last century.

]]> By: Mike Warot http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2008/08/06/life-in-the-vast-lane/comment-page-1/#comment-75040 Mike Warot Wed, 06 Aug 2008 16:00:27 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2008/08/06/life-in-the-vast-lane/#comment-75040 Your mention of Kurt Vonnegut trigged one of the oddest things I worry about.... There's a real live person named John Figler, who wrote to Kurt Vonnegut when he was alive, and summarized his work in the sentence: "Love may fail, but courtesy will prevail." Because of the way books work... some people assumed that Vonnegut invented the writer of the letter... but in fact he's a real person. It's odd, but I worry about it... Your mention of Kurt Vonnegut trigged one of the oddest things I worry about…. There’s a real live person named John Figler, who wrote to Kurt Vonnegut when he was alive, and summarized his work in the sentence:

“Love may fail, but courtesy will prevail.”

Because of the way books work… some people assumed that Vonnegut invented the writer of the letter… but in fact he’s a real person.

It’s odd, but I worry about it…

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