User:Wikizach/Signpost/Userbox Showdown



Userboxes: What's going on!? Wikizach, January 23 2006

On Saturday, it all took place on Jimmy Wales' talk page. Words of disgrace and support for a plan to eliminate all userboxes in Wikipedia. After the plan was unleashed, two users, DotShell and Cjmarsicano formed the UDUIW (Users in Defense of Userboxes and Individuality on Wikipedia). Here are some of the comments that were said on that day:

'Since when was I being rude? Since when was I being uncivil? I have not said one curse. I have only brought up the severe problems with Jimbo's request. Go ahead, ban me, it will just show the harsh reality of wikipedia. By banning me, you will not ban a vandal, you will not ban a someone who is violationg the rules, you will only ban a helpful editor who wants wikipedia to be a free place.''' Although you, having the job that you have (referring to Jimbo Wales), probably don't care about one user, I would like to express my outrage concerning your request to remove categorization from userboxes. Userboxes exist to categorize users. Christian users add Christian userboxes to show that they are Christian. Hindus add Hindu userboxes to show that they are Hindu. We are not dividing the community. Instead, we are encouraging individualtiy and group pride.'' - DotShell

''It is true that WP is not a democracy, and Jimbo's words carry a lot of weight with me, so when he says that something troubles him, I give it serious weight. I've done a fair bit of substing already back when this first came up and people were (in my view unjustifiably) deleting boxes, as substing protects one from those deletions. (the DOWNSIDE of subst is that you also don't pick up improvements like eliminating images from boxes) But in view of what Jimbo has said, I just now did a fair bit of disconnecting my already subst'd boxes from categories, at least for political/religious ones (I retained the category links for things like not liking edit wars, wanting to be told when I goof, and trusting Jimbo). I think userboxes are fast and easy ways to show how I feel, and I continue to believe there is merit in people knowing where I come from. But I'm starting to think they are cluttering up my page more than a more compressed scheme, or even a paragraph or two of prose would. Maybe if I am clever enough I'll think of something that doesn't require nested templates or a lot of work to maintain. But I digress.'' - Lar

''On the other hand, I see the problems, current and potential, which arise from people using this site as a place to stake out positions and go into battle behind the flag of their own belief system. I also see a lot of silliness in the way userboxes are being used by some people who seem to want to collect them like stamps or baseball cards, filling their pages with a huge array of sometimes-redundant, sometimes-contradictory boxes. I've seen some userpages with several dozen different boxes expressing some nuance or flavor of the concept that they regard themselves as transgendered'' - Dtobias

Why Terminate all Userboxes?
The first side, headed by Wikipedia's founder Jimmy (Jimbo) Wales, is pushing for this major change. They argue that some userboxes, such as ones proclaming hate for certain races, gender, and nationality, should be immediately abolished. But they also want to ban regular userboxes saying that, 'it divides the community, when this place should only be to collect knowledge'.

Why Keep them?
There are three seperate arguments for the side that wants to keep the userboxes. Many believe that it will be a violation of their freedom of speech, and that they have earned that right here. Two, some people say that such a major change would deteriorate Wikipedia. And three, they argue that showing a sense of individuality is no problem here on Wikipedia

Later that Same Day
The argument lasted for a very long time, with both sides pushing one another. Then it was pasted on a policy page, and it fired up even more. Afterwards, Jimbo pasted a mediation letter that asked for both sides to settle down and agree on a compromise.

''Userboxes of a political or, more broadly, polemical, nature are bad for the project. They are attractive to the wrong kinds of people, and they give visitors the wrong idea of what it means to be a Wikipedian.

I think rather than us having to go through a mass deletion (which is what is likely to happen if the userbox fad doesn't go away), it will be better to simply change the culture, one person at a time.'' - JIMBO

Many questions arise from this, but only one dominates: Can Wikipedia endure such a major change? As Wikipedia approches 1,000,000 articles, it will only be a matter of time until this is resolved. We will just have to wait.

Wikizach

For More Information on the Proposed Policy
Wikipedia_talk:Proposed_policy_on_userboxes