[WikiEN-l] Why changing the deletion process is a bad idea

Thu Sep 15 12:18:24 UTC 2005

> Does it matter? So far, the only argument advanced to say that it does
> is that such entries damage Wikipedia's credibility. With Wikipedia
> now the most popular reference website in the world, I'd say that
> Wikipedia no longer has any credibility issues. There may still be
> some whiney critics around, but no-one is listening to them, clearly!

The counterargument to that is popularity doesn't imply credibility. 
Wikipedia is still perceived to be noncredible by some people, who
cite (amongst other things) our large population of stubs and
otherwise incomplete articles.  However, I suspect that these people
will always find an excuse to hold Wikipedia in ill repute (do we
really care what Encyclopedia Britannica or Larry Sanger think of us),
and so trying to make them happy is probably pointless.

Kelly