Deletion gestapo – Wikipedia (2007)

Note: User "P 1 9 9" voted to delete this from Wikipedia user space because <b>fifteen kilobytes</b> be too much to "host indefinitely". Given the topic, this shows it was deleted purely out of spite.

 

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"'''Deletion Gestapo'''" and "'''Deletion Na[language filter]zi'''" are terms used by frustrated contributors to ''[[Wiki]]''-type websites and [[blog]]s, referring to any (allegedly) overly-exuberant contributor who is quick to delete Wiki articles or blog entries.  

 

This article focuses on ''[[Wiki]]''s rather than blogs.

 

==Origin of the Terms==

The "'''Deletion Gestapo'''" and "'''Deletion Na[language filter]zi'''" terms (and sometimes "Deletion Police" or "Deletion Mafia") came about largely due to repeated frustration by online encyclopedia and blog contributors who have their entries deleted or flagged for deletion.<ref name="Nelson">{{cite book

| title = Understanding the Information Reformation That's Changing Your World

| edition = New Ed edition

| last = Nelson

| first = Thomas

| coauthors =

| year = 2006

| publisher =

| id = ISBN 978-0785288046

| pages = }}</ref><ref name="Cohen">{{cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |author=Cohen, Noam |coauthors= |title="Word for Word: Wikipedia Wars"|url= |format= |work= |publisher=New York Times |id=ISSN 03624331 |pages= |page=4.7 |date=Oct 8, 2006.  |accessdate= |language=English |quote= }}</ref><ref name="mediashift">{{cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2006/04/digging_deepermyspace_wikipedi.html|title=Mediashift, ''"MySpace, Wikipedia Cope With Growing Pains"'' by Mark Glaser ["''deletion gestapo''"]}}</ref><ref name="slashdot">{{cite web

| url = http://slashdot.org/articles/05/10/18/2135219.shtml

| title = Wikipedia Founder Sees Serious Quality Problems ["...the 'vote for ''Deletion Na[language filter]zis''"]

| last = | first = | coauthors = | accessdate = }}</ref><ref name="August">{{cite web

| url =http://johnaugust.com/archives/2006/introducing-jawiki

| title = Introducing jaWiki ["''Deletion Na[language filter]zis''"]| last = August | first = John | coauthors = | accessdate = }}</ref><ref>[http://www.pixelmutt.blogspot.com/] Pixelmutt, "Attention: Moron Alert" ["''Deletion Police''"]</ref><ref>[http://forums.puzzlepirates.com/community/mvnforum/printthread;jsessionid=2qkcdnjf86lr0?thread=38493&offset=30]  MVN Forum, "Piratical Parley and Politics," Thread: Wiki Stupidity ["''deletion police''"]</ref><ref>[http://rubechat.kfan.com] Rubechat, "re: Challenge to the admins"</ref>  Also known in more civil terms as "deletionists",<ref>[http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Deletionist] Wikipedia:Deletionist</ref> some related terms, ''"revert wars"'' and ''"[[Wikipedia:Edit war|edit wars]]''" were coined  referring to situations where contributors fight madly to change articles back and forth.<ref name="Hafner">{{cite news |first= Katie |last= Hafner |authorlink= |author= |coauthors= |title="Growing Wikipedia Refines Its 'Anyone Can Edit' Policy" |url= |format= |work= |publisher= New York Times |id= |pages= |page= |date= June 17, 2006 |accessdate= |language=English |quote= }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://mzmadmike.livejournal.com/30062.html|title=LiveJournal, "Wikipedia: The Preschool Playground of References" ["''Deletion Mafia''"]}}</ref>  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* '''Criteria for notability'''.  [[WP:N|Wikipedia policy on notability]] says that "''notable''" is defined as "worthy of being noted" or "attracting notice"; it is not synonymous with "fame" or "importance". This defense is given when the person flagging the deletion claims that an article is "minor" or "isn't needed". (There are no WP criteria for whether an article is "''needed''".)  Notability criteria do not equate to personal or biased considerations, such as: "never heard of this," or "page does not meet the Wikipedia notability requirements" without explaining why.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:N#The_notability_criterion|title="Wikipedia:Notability"}}</ref>

 

* '''Wikipedia goal'''.  [[Wikipedia:WikiProject_Missing_encyclopedic_articles|Wikipedia's goal]] is stated as follows: "The goal of this project is to ensure that Wikipedia has a corresponding article for every article in every other general purpose encyclopedia available...".

 

'''For [[Wiktionary]] policies:'''

 

* "'''All words'''" policy.  "As an international dictionary, Wiktionary is intended to include 'all words in all languages'"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/WS:CFI|title="Criteria for inclusion"}}</ref>

 

* "'''Multilingual'''". "Wiktionary is, above all, a multilingual dictionary".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Main_Page|title="Wiktionary main page"}}</ref>

 

Wiktionary criteria for ''exclusion'' cites such things as vandalism, protologisms, "belongs in Wikisaurus", and Wiktionary is "not an encyclopedia", etc.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/WS:CFI#Exclusions|title=Wiktionary, "Exclusions"}}</ref>  

 

==Other deletionism==

====YouTube links====

Many contributors delete [[YouTube]] links, (incorrectly) citing WP Youtube policy, which was only proposed - and rejected.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:External_links/YouTube|title=Wikipedia: "External links/YouTube"}}</ref>

 

====Screenshots====

The policy for [[Screenshots]] is clouded by legal issues of copyright.  Screenshots and other art are often deleted from Wiki articles for copyright concerns.  Wikipedia policy may be found at this link: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Image_use_policy]

 

==Neutrality==

Maintaining a [[neutral point of view]] in articles can be difficult for any knowledgeable or passionate writer, but is essential.  ''[[WP:NPOV]]'' policy requires views to be represented without bias.  Types of bias include: [[Social class|Class]], [[Corporatism|Commercial advertising]], [[Ethnicity|Ethnic]] or [[racism|racial]]: [[racism]], [[WP:CSB|Geographical]], [[Nationalism|Nationalistic]], [[Gender]], and [[Political]].

 

==Footnotes==

 

==References==

* [http://www.freethehops.org/board/viewtopic.php?p=6079&sid=b3683aaa02413e8936d483bfd27c25fe] The Hops Community ["...deletion Na[language filter]zi and needs to be put in check."]