[WikiEN-l] Bad And Wrong Policy/Procedure/Guideline

Sat Nov 4 00:42:29 UTC 2006

On Nov 3, 2006, at 9:59 AM, Gregory Kohs wrote:

> I think that WP:COI (or Wikipedia:Conflict_of_interest) is  
> botched.  The
> basic notion is that if you really intimately know about or care
> passionately about a topic that might have some impact on your career,
> even in some tangential way, you are either "strongly encouraged"  
> or (just
> in case you are dense) "very strongly encouraged" to avoid editing  
> Wikipedia
> on that topic.

We have had a vigorous debate on these issues on the talk page, and  
similar concerns were voiced there. The current wording about "close  
relationships" makes allowances related to editing within policies.  
It now reads:

----
== Close relationships ==
Friedrich Engels would have had difficulty editing Karl Marx, because  
he was a close friend, follower and collaborator.[1] Any situation  
where strong relationships can develop may trigger a conflict of  
interest. Conflict of interest can be personal, religious, political,  
academic, financial, and legal. It is not determined by area, but is  
created by relationships that involve a high level of personal  
commitment to, involvement with, or dependence upon, a person,  
subject, idea, tradition, or organization.

There is no tidy definition of what is meant by "too close" in this  
context, and editors should use their common sense in deciding  
whether this guideline applies. An article about a little-known band  
should preferably not be written by a band member or the manager. On  
the other hand, an expert on climate change is welcome to contribute  
to articles on that subject, even if he is deeply committed to it. As  
a rule of thumb, the more involved you are in a particular area in  
real life, the more careful you should be to adhere to our core  
content policies — Wikipedia:Neutral point of view, Wikipedia:No  
original research, and Wikipedia:Verifiability — when editing in that  
area. Closeness to a subject does not mean you're incapable of being  
neutral, but it may incline you in that direction. Be guided by the  
advice of other editors. If editors on a talk page suggest in good  
faith that you may have a conflict of interest, take seriously what  
they say and consider withdrawing from editing the article.

----
There is some opposition to this wording on the basis that it is "too  
soft", but IMO it captures the spirit of what this guideline wants to  
say about editing articles in which one may have a COI based on a  
"close relationship".

-- Jossi