User talk:DesignReferences

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Your edits to Grace Bonney
Please do not delete content from articles on Wikipedia. Your edits could be considered vandalism, and have been reverted. If you would like to experiment, please use the sandbox. --Hiddekel 17:02, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

Deleting Grace Bonney and Design Sponge entry
from User talk:Scientizzle Hi

I created the entries and would like to have them removed because Administrators aren't doing a good job of keeping defamatory content off the page. The subject of the entries contacted me as well and ask me to remove them. I have requested Speedy Deletion because they have been constantly edited with personal attacks. I tried to blank the page all together and was told that my edit was considered "vandalous" (But in the FAQ on deletion it says that if a creator blanks a page it could be considered a request for deletion). Please let me know what I need to do to remove this entry all together from Wikipedia to prevent the defamation which is going on.

DesignReferencesDesignReferences
 * Unfortunately, vandalism is a constant, real problem on Wikipedia. Any editor that vandalizes an article is subject to warnings and possible block. I vandalism occurs, reversion to a prior version is appropriate.
 * If you really believe the page should be deleted, you should list it for deletion--following these instructions.
 * RE: the blanking of the page--the clause to which you are referring applies almost exclusively to new pages that have little-to-no edits from any editor other than the article creator. Your blanking is (reasonably) viewed as vandalism by any editor that is not privvy to your insider info & intent.
 * Rather than delete the content, perhaps it would be better to enlist administrator help. File a claim at WP:AN/I and tell them what is up. I'll try to help you as much as I can... -- Scientizzle 08:15, 3 March 2007 (UTC)


 * I've filed a report at Administrators%27_noticeboard/Incidents. -- Scientizzle 08:23, 3 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Oh please. This user blanked the page and replaced the page with comments like "Grace Bonney is a pirate."  Vandalism is a constant real problem on Wikipedia when editors are detracted from catching real vandals because people are busy vandalizing pages they created themselves.  KP Botany 08:41, 3 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Fair enough... -- Scientizzle 09:09, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

Dear KP Botany,

(First and foremost, Thank you Scientizzle for your patience and instruction in helping me wade through this.) Of course I was the one who put "Grace Bonney is a pirate who lives on the Isle of Man". I did it as a stop gap until I could figure out how to get through the deletion process because Grace Bonney wrote me and requested that I delete the file because it is constantly edited to have negative comments about her. When I blanked the page, no sooner had I finished doing so when the defamatory text was restored. I thought that that meant it was not possible to edit a page to leave it blank, so I just came up with some text. "Grace Bonney is a pirate..." as at least better than allowing text that insulted her and her work to stay. (Mad Grace Bonney is a pirate, by the way).

Reverting back to the original posted text obviously doesn't seem to work, and I have little to no understanding of how Wikipedia Administrators determine what is appropriate or not, but restoring text that refers to someone as "lame" and "useless" and a plethora of other derogatory adjectives to me doesn't seem to be helpful at all, and would justify an editor "vandalizing" their own entry to keep someone else from being defamed.

DR

DesignReferences 12:59, 3 March 2007 (UTC)


 * So defaming her by calling her a plagiarist (one meaning of pirate, "someone who uses another person's words or ideas as if they were his own") is your solution? Sorry, but no, you're not allowed to defame her just because someone else did.  Wikipedia has rules about biographies of living persons, none of which allow you or anyone else to falsely accuse Grace Bonney or any other living person whose biography is on Wikipedia--use reputable references and post encyclopedia worthy information in a neutral manner, don't play games with other editors in an article about a living person.  Your vandalism only made the matter more difficult and made more work for other editors.  Please be more respectful of Wikipedia in the future.   KP Botany 02:46, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

Sorry KP Botany, you have taken this to an absolute irrational and inappropriate extreme bordering on name calling. Every other person who has intervened here has been well-mannered and nice. Then you come along.

"Mad Grace Bonney" was a pirate not in the plagiarist sense of the word, and only *you* read it that way. It would be no more defamation to say that Jim Morrison was a member of the Doors and for someone to edit that by saying that Jim Morrison is my next door neighbor. Both are true. Neither is defamation. I tried to delete the text, but someone did not allow that and preferred to restore the defamatory text, NOT the pirate context. You should be spending your time making sure that bios of living people are not edited to say "lame" and "useless" etc., instead of attacking original authors who are trying to protect the subjects of bios on line.

The issue of plagiarism is something that *you* have read into this, and I think you were rude and disrespectful to your colleague Scientizzle who was only correctly trying to help the situation. Instead you have come in and been aggressive and just plain wrong with your accusations. As the author of the original bio, I would say that everyone else who came in and made it defamatory, restored the text to defamation and insults was playing games with *my* entry, not vice versa. And you did *nothing* to help, but would rather sit here and see someone truly defamed. I did what I thought was appropriate by deleting the entire entry since the living person requested me to do so. If you can't figure this out, sorry for you. One thing is certain, if this were a print medium and the subject of the living bio could sue for defamation, she wouldn't be suing me. DesignReferences 10:47, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

Some Tips
Howdy, DesignReferences! I'm responding to the questions you asked me yesterday on my talk page, though it looks like you may have already discovered the answers on your own, heh.

There are a number of Wikipedia guideline resources available to read that will address your concerns. I suggest first checking out Etiquette, which will give you a good basic understanding about what sort of behaviour is expected of folks in this online community. A key rule of etiquette in this community is to initially assume good faith on the part of editors. If a user has violated this rule (perhaps inadvertently), a good first step is to make the user aware of this policy, by directing him to the appropriate policy page (the one I just linked to).

If you still have problems with any user, there are escalating levels of resolution eventually (but NOT initially) involving third-party intervention. This process is laid out in Resolving Disputes.

I hope these three pages help you out! Good luck. --Hiddekel 14:47, 5 March 2007 (UTC)