[WikiEN-l] User Pages & Editing in Wikipedia

Thu Dec 28 21:10:50 UTC 2006

On 12/28/06, Marc Riddell <michaeldavid86 at comcast.net> wrote:
[snip]
> I believe anyone who wishes to make edits to Wikipedia should have a single,
> individual, registered User Name, User Page and a Talk Page. With this,
> anytime a person makes an edit, creates a change, in the encyclopedia, their
> User Name is recorded with that edit. Accountability. Trackability.
[snip]

The overwhelming majority of the edits are very minor.

Do we really need accountability for spelling corrections?
Does having a userpage (especially a blank one) really make anyone accountable?

If we make people who really don't want accounts get accounts, they
will just make a new one every time they edit. Perhaps they will
install a browser extension that automates this process. Will
communication really be improved?

Of course, we could go further.. mail a copy of your government issued
ID to the foundation before you can edit.. Then we might have some
accountability. But would that really help? Would it be worth the
costs?