Wikipedia:Requests for comment/Wikipedia policies and guidelines/Userbox content: Difference between revisions
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:::::2: The idea that we're just another internet forum. If outsiders see a bunch of people with a bunch of political POVs displayed, they may join in order that they can make their own POVs known. In other words, it sends the message that Wikipedia is a social-networking site, and does the opposite of stressing that people should come here to work on the encyclopedia. <small style="font:bold 10px Arial;display:inline;border:#009 1px dashed;padding:1px 6px 2px 7px;white-space:nowrap">[[User:Equazcion|<font color="#000">Equazcion</font>]] [[User talk:equazcion|•''✗'']]/[[Special:Contributions/Equazcion|''C'' •]] ''17:51, 21 Jan 2008 (UTC)''</small>
::::::That really sounds to me like the argument of "it attracts vandals and drama queens so it should be deleted" that I see so often at AfD and that has hardly ever been accepted as a valid argument. I've never seen evidence of an influx of such users that you describe as a result of the use or display of userboxes. Wikidrama happens regardless (and some of the "best" wikidrama stems from article content disputes that are as far from userboxes as you can get), and regardless of how "professional" one is, drama and disputes are like car wrecks--most people can't help but rubberneck. You speak as if getting rid of "POV userboxes" as you call them will solve a large portion of Wikipedia's ills. Most users, myself included, who use/display such userboxes do so less prominently than encyclopedia-building content and more or less just let them set and forget about them after some time. Quite the opposite of what you allege. If you can actually show evidence that this behavior due to POV boxes is endemic rather than just spouting unfounded rhetoric about it, then please do so. But I've never seen a case of someone joining, putting userboxes on their userpage and then immediately going on a POV-pushing crusade related to those userboxes. Even in such a hypothetical case, the userboxes certainly make it easier to figure out that their patterns are indeed a crusade rather than misguided edits. [[User:LaMenta3|LaMenta3]] ([[User talk:LaMenta3|talk]]) 20:28, 21 January 2008 (UTC)
::::::: The things you're claiming you've never seen are not anything I've suggested would occur (POV pushing crusades??). I also never said it would solve any "ills". This isn't something you would notice ("influx"), it's something that would happen gradually, and perhaps already has. This also isn't like an AfD for an article. This is about a general practice among users that affects the way our community runs. I haven't "alleged" anything. This is a general feeling about the direction Wikipedia is headed. You think this will affect it in a good way and I think this will affect it in a bad way. Neither of us have any evidence to prove our points, because this isn't something that would produce an acute, measurable effect; Unless you have any evidence that this transparency of biases you speak of has had a positive effect. I would also appreciate you not referring to my arguments as "spouting unfounded rhetoric"; As I've just shown, if I'm doing it, then so are you. We're both stating our abstract views here without any evidence, so let's at least try and keep it civil. <small style="font:bold 10px Arial;display:inline;border:#009 1px dashed;padding:1px 6px 2px 7px;white-space:nowrap">[[User:Equazcion|<font color="#000">Equazcion</font>]] [[User talk:equazcion|•''✗'']]/[[Special:Contributions/Equazcion|''C'' •]] ''20:52, 21 Jan 2008 (UTC)''</small>
==General discussion==
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