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::::::::::::A short response is not a lecture and reading multiple policy pages, they are about what Wikipedia is and is not for. (Besides no quotes, means Isquith was not quoting) -- [[User:Alanscottwalker|Alanscottwalker]] ([[User talk:Alanscottwalker|talk]]) 14:59, 16 November 2014 (UTC)
::::::::::::A short response is not a lecture and reading multiple policy pages, they are about what Wikipedia is and is not for. (Besides no quotes, means Isquith was not quoting) -- [[User:Alanscottwalker|Alanscottwalker]] ([[User talk:Alanscottwalker|talk]]) 14:59, 16 November 2014 (UTC)
:::::::::::::Thanks for the clarification. --[[User:Anthonyhcole|Anthonyhcole]] ([[User talk:Anthonyhcole|talk]] · [[Special:Contributions/Anthonyhcole|contribs]] · [[Special:EmailUser/Anthonyhcole|email]]) 15:05, 16 November 2014 (UTC)
:::::::::::::Thanks for the clarification. --[[User:Anthonyhcole|Anthonyhcole]] ([[User talk:Anthonyhcole|talk]] · [[Special:Contributions/Anthonyhcole|contribs]] · [[Special:EmailUser/Anthonyhcole|email]]) 15:05, 16 November 2014 (UTC)
:Let me explain this to you. Here is the whole paragraph from Iquith:
:{{quote|That, really, is about as clear a testament to the perils of fetishizing moderation as you’re likely to get. Faced by Gamergaters on one side and SJWs on the other, Auerbach, following a pattern observers of American politics know all too well, maneuvers himself right into the middle. “In truth, we bear collective responsibility for these larger problems,” he writes. The women bombarded with violence and abuse, the men hurling invective at anyone challenging their privilege; spurred by his unexamined need to find common ground, both, Auerbach writes, should share in the blame.}}
:Here is what he referenced in Auerbach's piece:
:{{quote|When Polygon editor Ben Kuchera tweets, “The legacy of the hashtag will be in its ability to prove how terribly this industry treats women,” he makes no sense. Gamergate is mostly made up of consumers, not industry members. (Developer Brianna Wu has pointed out that Gamergate is merely a symptom of a much larger problem.) Through sleight of hand, Gamergate absorbs the sins of gaming companies and media organizations. It’s a neat trick, making Gamergate a convenient target of ostracism that serves to make the rest of us feel better about ourselves and non-Gamergate elements of society. It has led to the endless flame wars that do nothing but prolong harassment, rather than solutions that would end it, in the hopes that if people scream loud enough, Gamergate will go away. In truth, we bear collective responsibility for these larger problems. Not just gaming, not just the Internet, but society itself has a sexism problem, a misogyny problem, a race problem, and a harassment problem. America is Gamergate. Start admitting that, and Gamergate starts dissolving.}}
:The statement about "larger problems" is not referring to GamerGate at all, but to the issue of sexism and diversity in the gaming industry and culture. So the suggestion that Auerbach said women being threatened and men attacking "should both be held responsible for what Gamergate had become" is simply garbage as nothing of that nature was stated. A bigger problem exists with how Ryulong phrases it. By stating Isquith is "criticizing [Auerbach's] insistence" Ryulong is presenting what follows as though it were simply a factual statement about Auerbach's views, rather than Isquith's opinion about Auerbach's views. In that respect alone it is clearly a BLP violation.--[[User:The Devil's Advocate|<font color="vermillion">'''The Devil's Advocate'''</font>]] <sub>[[User talk:The Devil's Advocate|<font color="burntorange">tlk.</font>]] [[Special:Contributions/The Devil's Advocate|<font color="red">cntrb.</font>]]</sub> 23:34, 16 November 2014 (UTC)

Revision as of 23:34, 16 November 2014



    (Manual archive list)
    quacking duck
    The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.

    Jimbo, don't you think the One Young World article could use some improvement? For example, it mentions the Dublin 2014 event as if it is still in the future. Also, there is not a single word of criticism about the organization. Do you think that reliable sources have never critiqued the organization or its programs? - Stylecustom (talk) 00:17, 12 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

    Jimbo shouldn't be held accountable for every single article on Wikipedia. A great way to adress the issues that you're having is by taking it up on the article's talk page where editors who are interested in that article can see your concerns. It would be quite wierd if Jimbo had to go over all 5979 pages with an NPOV dispute and fix them. He is the co-founder of Wikipedia but he's not a machine or miracle maker. Best Regards InsaneHacker (talk) 09:59, 12 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    Hey, thanks for your feedback, InsaneHacker. But, the reason this article may be more germane to Jimbo than other articles is that Jimbo delivered a presentation at the 2014 One Young World conference in Dublin. I just read an article at Wikipediocracy.com that suggests that most of One Young World has been written by people closely associated with the organization. So, if we bring that up on the Talk page, what's the typical solution? Do we just gut the article and start over, or is it okay as it is? - Stylecustom (talk) 14:35, 12 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    @Smallbones:, I cautiously removed the {{hat}} template seeing as I can't find anything documenting a block or ban from this page on Stylecustom (using Special:WhatLinksHere/User:Stylecustom and Special:Log.) Best Regards InsaneHacker (talk) 10:51, 13 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    @Smallbones:, I still see no indication that Stylecustom has been banned anywhere. Could you please adress my question before {{hat}}ing his post. Best Regards InsaneHacker (talk) 16:33, 13 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    @Smallbones:,@Demiurge1000:, Why exactly did you link WP:DUCK? I have no relation to Stylecustom at all. I'm just a user from da-wiki who thought it was wierd that you decided to call Stylecustom a banned user when there's no material indicating such a thing. Calling someone a sockpuppet or accusing them of ganging up without proof is extremely rude. On top of that you haven't responded to any of my inquries, you just keep putting {{hat}} or {{collapse}} on the post with no reasoning as to why. Please post an explanation and check CentralAuth before throwing accusations everywhere. Best Regards InsaneHacker (talk) 09:43, 14 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    Sorry InsaneHacker if you thought I was accusing you of being a sockpuppet, I'm not. I'm also not accusing Stylecustom of being a sockpuppet of a banned user, I'm stating it as a fact. This particular banned user has a particular message that he sends out at every possible opportunity, in a similar style, and loves to telegraph his identity (as above). It gets quite tedious. According to WP:BANREVERT anybody can revert any banned users edits, which I do for this particular editor at every opportunity. That's just the way our banning policy works, he invents new usernames and the only thing that stops it is that anybody can revert him. If he disagrees with this he can take me to arbcom, or you could even take me to arbcom, but you'd lose after a long tedious process that I think you'd prefer not to go through.
    If you'd like we can continue this discussion on my user talk; right under the section where an apparently banned editor attacks me for ignoring one of the injustices that he perceives to be occurring on Wikipedia. But no - you won't convince me that Stylecustom is not a banned sockpuppet. Smallbones(smalltalk) 05:00, 15 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

    Why did you encourage Gamergaters to write their own version of the Gamergate Wikipedia article?

    [1] What is your end goal with this? Integrating it into our article? KonveyorBelt 01:22, 13 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

    Err yeah, gotta admit that doesn't look good. An explanation would be good. Were you being sarcastic? serious? Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 02:13, 13 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    I was being completely serious. There are a great many complaints about our article, and at least some of them are from people who are not raging lunatics. There have been some specific complaints about behavior, and again not all those complaints are wrong nor are they all from raging lunatics. The specific wiki that I pointed people to is a pro-gamergate wiki, and it's a legitimate challenge: if there is a complaint that the Wikipedia entry is in violation of Wikipedia policies it will be useful to see exactly how.
    On twitter, a writer from Slate (a notable publication, obviously) is complaining as well that his views have been unfairly represented in our article. There are repeated complaints that don't strike me as completely wrong that there is a double standard for sourcing with sources which are anti-gamergate being given a pass where they would be challenged as mere blogs if they were pro-gamergate. That's obviously a point worth discussing but (a) twitter is not a very helpful medium for having a serious discussion and (b) the level of drama on the Wikipedia talk page is not going to be helped if I just tell them to bring their concerns to the talk page.
    So it seems to me that the challenge is a solid way to move things forward. If they are able to produce something that independent and thoughtful Wikipedians agree is validly better than our article in some respects, that will be useful.
    For me, when people say "Valid mainstream sources are being ignored or misquoted in the Wikipedia entry" I take that very seriously - but it's hard for me to fully evaluate it if the complaint goes no further than that. I'd like to be shown how those who think our article is bad would improve it.--Jimbo Wales (talk) 08:35, 13 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    I have to say, I'm totally on board with that reasoning, but if the goal is to have it be integrated into the Wikipedia article one day, maybe in the future having them create it in a sandbox area on-wiki would be better? I only mention this because I know that the edit history is seen as part of satisfying the BY portion of the CC-By-SA license, so I don't know if that can get tricky when pulling content from Wikia to Wikipedia. Either way, I have to agree that inviting a bunch of SPAs to a talk page doesn't usually help a situation out, and having them come in with fleshed-out ideas of their ideal wording and sourcing is I think not a problem. 0x0077BE (talk · contrib) 14:32, 13 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    I can think up some positive reasons but the troll potential and the possible bias among editor's opinions outweighs them all. - Knowledgekid87 (talk) 02:15, 13 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    If there is troll potential, that'll be an issue for the admins of that wiki to deal with. I'm quite sure this is better than me inviting a mass of single purpose accounts to come to the Wikipedia talk page.--Jimbo Wales (talk) 08:35, 13 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    Probably to see how they'd phrase some things, and the possibility to add to the article currently here if found within wiki policies/guidelines. When you've spent all the time looking at the article on Wikipedia, and not having any attempt to see what the other side would've characterized certain events as, you get a skewed perspective. I'm happy with Jimbo's decision to do such, as it has the benefit of offering the other side the way to contexualize and centralize what happened, and Jimbo a way to see if there are any legitimate things that could be added to the wiki page. Additionally, Wikipedia is fragrantly complicated and convoluted. Wikia very much isn't, especially the newly created wikias, and would probably lead to broader participation as a result. The semi protection on the GamerGate talk page also probably doesn't help. Tutelary (talk) 02:19, 13 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    I agree with all of that.--Jimbo Wales (talk) 08:35, 13 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    I doubt that 4chan isn't going to take full advantage of this. Its a good idea yes but can have some bad results. - Knowledgekid87 (talk) 02:24, 13 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    Just strikes me as incredibly divisive and polarising. Oh well, let's see what happens. Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 02:28, 13 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    I don't see how it is divisive and polarising at all.--Jimbo Wales (talk) 08:35, 13 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    Errr, you don't see how two articles in parallel could be polarising.... rather than, say, discussion on one article here...? Umm, yes it can and will. Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 09:28, 13 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    I also want to add that if it adds to the controversy, Jimbo could get involved in it. - Knowledgekid87 (talk) 02:31, 13 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    To me, it seems like dividing Wikipedia editors into those who like the current version of the article and those who don't is incredibly divisive. Thus I agree w/Casliber. Everymorning talk to me 01:34, 16 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    The article at Wikia couldn't be worse than the one here that's guarded by 5 guys burger and fries. --DHeyward (talk) 05:01, 13 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    The article is actually looking ok (aside from been written by people with no wiki experience) it doesn't make any negative claims (unless you count extreme cynicism of anti-gg's reports of harassment) but it needs A LOT of work and sourcing. I foresee sections of it being used but at the moment it is full of trolls and unsourced opinion. Retartist (talk) 07:09, 13 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    And if that's all it ever becomes then serious Wikipedians (like me) who have no personal interest in the issue can feel more comfortable that allegations of a small cabal of abusive editors (frequently mentioned in complaints are Tarc and Ryulong) are controlling the article to the detriment of Wikipedia are not very persuasive. And if they come up with an article that is well-sourced, neutral, and contains information that ours has omitted due to bias - then Wikipedia can be improved.--Jimbo Wales (talk) 08:35, 13 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    More constructive might have been suggesting they talk to journalists and give their side of the story...and if aforesaid journalists write new articles, then they are in reliable sources. Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 09:28, 13 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    ...which is another approach, not necessarily "more constructive," just something of a different nature. --Francis Schonken (talk) 09:32, 13 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    What Cas Liber is aiming at is the fact that we have very, very few reliable sources explaining Gamergate's perspective; pointing at marked-up screenshot imgurs and random YouTube videos isn't going to give us anything new to work with there. A large percentage of the issue is that Gamergate supporters believe there is some grand media conspiracy to silence them while the mainstream perspective is that Gamergate's claims have been examined and found wanting. NorthBySouthBaranof (talk) 09:46, 13 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    Comparing the two approaches (just a first thrust at this):
    • Advantages (of "talk to the press" approach):
    • Disadvantages of "talk to the press" approach:
      • Time delay: it is incertain if and when reporters may decide to publish anything on the subject. Do we want to keep a Wikipedia article in kaboots for a day that may never come?
      • When such press publication appears it still may have WP:RS issues, compare e.g. [2] which resulted from such "faction talking to the press" approach, and did not result in an external source that was of much use for the Wikipedia article it was discussing.
      • When such external publication appears there is more risk of uncertainty that we really get to know what the insiders may see as an equilibrate article, and which third party sources they would primarily rely on.
    --Francis Schonken (talk) 10:05, 13 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    I think the fourth disadvantage of the "talk to the press" approach is that, when there are claims that journalistic integrity is a significant component of the gamergate controversy, there then becomes distrust in the neutrality of articles appearing in the press on the subject.
    I applaude this suggestion of Jimbo's. I feel that much work is needed on the article, to try to reconcile it with the large number of sources on the Internet which apparently contradict it, yet do not appear to be the work of raging lunatics. This could be a significant step forward in that direction. --Mrjulesd (talk) 10:31, 13 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    Initially I was supportive of this idea, but now I don't see it ending well. Let's assume a best case scenario - 1000's of people get together and produce a mostly NPOV pro-GamerGate article, some of which might be used to better balance the one we have. Is this what they were after? Because I'm fearful that they believe that they have been offered an opportunity to write their own version of the article which may be used as a replacement for the one here, and, in all honesty, I don't see that happening. (Reading through 8Chan, that appears to be the least of what they believe they can achieve with this article). Assuming that they do write a decent article, what do you see as happening next, and will that be enough? - Bilby (talk) 13:49, 13 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    @Jimbo Wales: If parts are copied over, how are we going to attribute it? Retartist (talk) 04:41, 15 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    (not Jimbo Wales.) By linking to the history of the Wikia article in the edit summary when you add or paraphrase the Wikia content into the Wikipedia version. When you make changes to the WP article that are inspired by the Wikia article, even if you're not using their text, you should acknowledge the source somehow; maybe by linking to the relevant version of the Wikia article in the WP edit summary. --Anthonyhcole (talk · contribs · email) 07:16, 15 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    A clear case of Jimbo once again outsmarting himself. All this does is further the divide on Wikipedia with systemic bias. As if the harassed and those that abhor such tactics won't take stuff like this as a slap in the face. Meanwhile, most reliable sources have the 'issue' well documented, despite the large troll infestation. Jimmy should next visit 8chan and /b/, to invite them to start writing articles about women. Dave Dial (talk) 08:04, 15 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    Judging by the overwhelming lean in contrast to your average gaming site towards being female-centric, they would probably become lop-sidedly pro. Also they really like boobs.--Ihadurca Il Imella (talk) 22:06, 16 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

    A possible broader picture: distrust of primary sources

    What may be (one of?) the underlying issues of this is Wikipedia's difficulty of dealing with WP:PRIMARY sources:

    • Official policy (WP:PRIMARY) is to be extra careful when using primary sources;
    • This often turns into wholesale "distrust" of primary sources: avoid them, scoop them out with a bulldozer, well, who wants to put time and effort in being "careful" when a nuclear option is so much more simple?

    My take on this is that articles can't really become equilibrated, a.k.a. WP:NPOV, when primary sources are barred entirely. Not wanting to speak for anyone else, but I think Jimbo is concerned about this too.

    Compare current efforts at:

    (My interest in this was spurred by the ACIM issues, which still seem far from being solved) --Francis Schonken (talk) 10:41, 13 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

    Francis, as it appears you're not entirely familiar with the Gamergate matter, we have to entirely almost entirely reject primary sources there because it involves a number of highly-sensitive claims made about living people, and we're simply not going to repeat anonymous bloggers' claims about people's personal lives. NorthBySouthBaranof (talk) 10:50, 13 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    Oh, I'm completely unaware of Gamergate, never heard of it, and didn't even click the links in this talk page section (my bad). Re. "we have to entirely reject primary sources because it involves a number of highly-sensitive claims made about living people", well, *that* kind of assertion I can interpret immediately, and without knowing *anything* about the Gamergate content matter, to be contradicting current policy: WP:NPOV, WP:NOR, WP:V and WP:BLP (see most applicable section links to these policies in what I said before) — note: we're talking crucial "core" content policy here, not some accessory guidance open to a wider interpretation for implementation. --Francis Schonken (talk) 11:00, 13 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

    (A somewhat older involvement in this: Wikipedia:Wikipedia is a tertiary source) --Francis Schonken (talk) 11:04, 13 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

    I should qualify my statement with "almost." Yes, there are a very few places where primary sources might be usable, where a person is saying something uncontroversial about themselves. But the vast majority of primary sources are entirely inappropriate for articles related to this issue. WP:BLP is core content policy, not "accessory guidance," and it ensures that we don't become a vehicle for republishing scurrilous, unfounded or outright libelous material about living people. NorthBySouthBaranof (talk) 11:03, 13 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    Well, gee, you didn't have any problem using primary sources to smear my name when your inference was completely false and you were apparently trolled (I don't read 8chan/4chan/reddit, don't get email and certainly don't participate). Then you refused to retract it. Didn't stop you from reposting a primary source that is completely wrong though. I'm pretty sure that's the definition of a hypocritical liar.[3] --DHeyward (talk) 16:27, 13 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    I was specifically listing WP:BLP as one of these core policies above. Well, anyway, if you could concentrate more on which primary sources (and which material contained in them) are eligible for use in the Wikipedia article on Gamergate (which would be a positive implementation of WP:ABOUTSELF — the non-BLP part of this — while being watchful to avoid WP:BLP issues, I suppose), instead of throwing it all out based on a misreading of WP:BLP, I think you'd be taking a big step in the right direction. And Jimbo's invitation (which to me reads like: create a primary source free of BLP issues and we'll see what we can do) is collaborative to that effort. --Francis Schonken (talk) 11:17, 13 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    There really aren't any primary sources so eligible, because the whole thrust of Gamergate is centered around making allegations of wrongdoing by identifiable living people. NorthBySouthBaranof (talk) 11:57, 13 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    Yeah, that much I understood. But going from "(virtually no) primary sources so eligible" to finding out and exploiting what *is* eligible per Wikipedia policy is the change of mindset that would do a lot of good here imho. --Francis Schonken (talk) 12:10, 13 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

    Reorg

    The above is an interesting experiment but what the Pedia should do is re-think its organization (which would address due weight, and have the side benefit of cutting out most editorial dysfunction): Merge the article into a paragraph of Video game culture and let the rest of the winds blow elsewhere (or blow themselves out), at least until the academic studies come in. Alanscottwalker (talk) 14:12, 13 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

    I see a similar state of denial regarding validity of sources in that: in Wikipedia:Identifying reliable sources "academic studies" is only one of many sets of possible sources (and even then, usually primary regarding the actual study results).
    Once there are enough third-party reliable sources on a topic it can have its separate article (call it "notability" or whatever: insider primary sources play no part in establishing a topic merits its separate article)
    Once there is a separate article, insider primary sources can and often should be considered to build the article content in a NPOV way. --Francis Schonken (talk) 14:45, 13 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    Denial of what? Deny a platform for personal opinions and tabloid fodder is what we do. (And academic studies of a social movement are not going to be a primary source -- its not a medical study). Alanscottwalker (talk) 15:40, 13 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    I meant, the denial to see primary sources sanctioned by policy (or in the variant, sources outside scholarship) as valid sources. --Francis Schonken (talk) 13:53, 14 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    Use of primary sources is problematic centering on WP:NOR and WP:NPOV, especially in the SYNTH and DUE aspects - that's not "denial", that's "understanding of" There are also often WP:RS problems in that there is no editorial control, nor reputation for fact checking/accuracy. Alanscottwalker (talk) 09:19, 15 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

    Wikipedian of the year

    Mr. Wales, you've named Ihor Kostenko (from Ukrainian Wikipedia, deceased on Euromaidan) Wikipedian of the year for 2014. Are you going to send his award ($5,000)) to his family? Regards.222.187.222.118 (talk) 17:31, 14 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

    Russia plans alternative version of 'Wikipedia'

    "Analysis of this resource showed that it is not capable of providing information about the region and life of the country in a detailed or sufficient way," the state news agency RIA quoted a statement from the presidential library as saying. "The creation of an alternative Wikipedia has begun."[4]--♦IanMacM♦ (talk to me) 18:29, 14 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

    See User talk:Jimbo Wales/Archive 159#Russian alternative to Wikipedia (April 2014).
    Wavelength (talk) 22:05, 14 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

    Homophobia in the Ukrainian Wikipedia!!!

    Hello. I'm open gay Wikipedian from Ukraine. I want to report a homophobic activities of some administrators and patrol Ukrainian Wikipedia. Present direct and indirect discrimination. Related articles LGBT renamed, removed or changed beyond recognition and biased their content. LGBT friendly accused of "advocating LGBT"! There is even an article on a similar topic that is unique only in the Russian Wikipedia and is unrelated to common sense and the rules of Wikipedia[5]. Wikipedia Wikipedia, homophobes administrators and patrol called a "collection of information" and promote "non-traditional values." Homosexuality Article in Ukrainian Wikipedia entitled "homosexualist[6]." And Article hey do not have any relation to the topic of the article. There napsyano of MSM and that gays - spread the AIDS disease. User A1 promotes orthodox attitudes to homosexuality and phaye information on how it relates to LGBT church in the paper, which is irrelevant[7]. The new administrator Green Zero[8] has deleted many categories and articles on LGBT issues. particular category of gay writers. Me and other LGBT participants repeatedly verbally humiliated publicly. Addiction is especially thorough and biased. Although we attempt to write quality articles as possible and have contributed enough respect. That our existence they and other homophobes recognized as "LGBT propaganda." I and other LGBT Wikipedian very simple somehow affect this entire situation because this is unacceptable - it bullinh and in direct violation of not only LGBT rights in Ukraine but also the rules of Wikipedia! Thank you! Please help! --Rayan Riener (talk) 21:03, 14 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

    @Rayan Riener: Bystander here. I have added a POV template to the first article you linked to. Although I do not speak your language, Google Translate shows that the article is not very neutral. Could someone who speaks Ukrainian read the linked pages and tell us about them? --Tony Tan98 · talk 03:40, 15 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    Another bystander here with no opinion about content. The title of the first article is "Homosexual Propaganda" [9] so it's reasonable to expect that there would be non neutral information there. There's a different article called "Homosexuality" [10] that seems a lot more reasonable to me at first glance. If this is a content dispute, has it been addressed on the article talk page? I know the language, but maybe not as well as a native speaker. This example [11] is a proposal to rename the article. The title is not ""homosexualist" like is being claimed. The proposal is to rename the article from "Societal attitudes toward homosexualism" to "Societal attitudes toward homosexuality." The discussion on the proposal talks about how the words related to homosexuality are not native to the Ukrainian language. All versions of the word are adaptations of English. So the discussion is about what's the right word to use "homosexuality" or "homosexualism."
    According to the user page, User:Rayan Riener claims to know Ukrainian, so my question is why are they not on the Ukrainian WP addressing this on the talk page there? What is being claimed in this English request is not reflected on the article. "There is even an article on a similar topic that is unique only in the Russian Wikipedia" --- I see the same article in Russian, Ukrainian and Polish, and they're not recent, they've been there for years. I don't know if Rayan Riener is fluent in English, but this request makes no sense to me. USchick (talk) 04:52, 15 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    Could it be that User:Rayan Riener does not understand English well and wrote the above post with the help of a machine translation? The user, "Green Zero" (admin), mentioned does seem to have replaced some instances of "homosexual" with "gay:" here, but I cannot make a judgement as I cannot understand the language without the help of Google Translate. However, that action was eventually reverted by another editor. Just out of curiosity, are there any articles named "Homosexual Propaganda" in other wikis besides what you mentioned? I know that on enwiki, it redirects to a more neutral section on Societal attitudes toward homosexuality. --Tony Tan98 · talk 05:09, 15 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    Based on their edit history, it's very possible that User:Rayan Riener has a very limited proficiency in English and contributes with assistance, electronic for very simple things, and a secretary for more complicated things like this request. Their user page is written in third person, like a famous person's profile. If they contribute in other languages, their profile is not linked to their English profile, and being from a region not friendly to their needs, there may be a good reason for this, so I'm assuming good faith. As far as I can tell, Rayan Riener is unhappy with the actions of admins on Ukrainian Wikipedia. It's hard to tell what those actions are, because we don't know his identity there, so I can't track the actual edits. Rayan Riener doesn't have a talk page, and even if he did, I'm not sure he would be able to use it, but it's worth a try if someone wants to do that. As far as "Homosexual propaganda" article, it exists in Russian, Ukrainian and Polish. The title reflect the actual term used in other languages and in parliament to write laws for several countries including Latvia. If they're legislating "Homosexual propaganda" people need to know what it means. In the lede it does a good job of explaining what the term means to both sides, those who do and do not support the idea of homosexuality. And it's written in a neutral tone. Both Russian and Ukrainian articles seem fine in the lede. I can't speak for Polish. In the Russian version, it even explains that "propaganda" is not used in the traditional sense, that it's a combined term. Yes, that's correct. It's a combination of two words that means something different than each word individually. In English "Homosexual propaganda" means something totally different, that's why it redirects. An example of a combined term in English would be "pretty cool" where each word separately means something different. It's also possible that Rayan Riener only speaks English, which would explain his outrage. USchick (talk) 07:24, 15 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

    Rayan Riener I have to edit here as an IP because I am community banned here on English Wikipedia. But let me address some of the issues you have raised here. For the record, I am queer myself. :)

    I have discussed the issues you raised above with some editors from Ukrainian Wikipedia, and in no particular order, the following needs to be raised:

    1. A checkuser on Ukrainian Wikipedia found that you have been "abusing" multiple accounts. In addition to your Rayan account, you also were using uk:User:Kvitka Cvit. Whilst this in itself is not a problem if you are creating content, like I have, where you ran into trouble is.....
    2. at this category discussion.
    3. on Wikipedia, we don't tend separate "gay" or "lesbian" from "LGBT" topics. Simply put, human sexuality is a complex subject and LGBT covers-all.
    4. many of the comments in that discussion from uk:Користувач:A1 are, I agree, totally unacceptable. Being a board member of Wikimedia Ukraine, A1 should take stock of what they have said there and think whether some of their comments were appropriate (they are not!), and perhaps Wikimedia Ukraine members should think whether his comments truly are representative of Wikimedia projects.
    5. the articles you mention which were deleted, there are several issues:
      1. This was deleted for being a copyvio of this.
      2. This was deleted for not being notable. It is available here and it simply isn't notable.
      3. Likewise this was deleted for similar reasons. It is apparently a yaoi manga by uk:Камо_Набако, whom himself does not appear to be notable.
      4. There were several other deletions of non-notable garage bands and the like.
      5. There were also several machine translations of articles. Don't use machine translations on articles, do natural translations.
    6. Apparently you sent invites to over 100 editors on Ukrainian Wikipedia inviting them to join an LGBT WikiProject. Whilst a project for LGBT subjects would be an excellent idea, it's apparent that posted invites to random editors, many of whom have not shown an interest in editing those subjects. Targeted invites to editors whom had shown interest in those subjects would have been a better idea.

    On the general issue of so-called gay propaganda, I can attest that uk:Пропаганда гомосексуалізму is an absolutely horrific article. We need to remember that Wikipedia is the sum-of-all human knowledge, not just the sum of all Ukrainian knowledge, or Russian knowledge, or American knowledge. It is similar to Gay agenda here on this project, in that it does not present a worldwide view of the subject, and yes, all of these articles could do with a lot of work. Just be sure to aim for neutrality when editing and cover all points of view from a worldwide viewpoint. Good luck. 175.106.47.131 (talk) 10:53, 15 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

    Perhaps I should add that uk:Користувач:A1's views on this matter do not represent WMUA's position in any way. I, also being member of the board of WMUA, was actually opposing him in one of the discussions. Sincerely, Yury Bulka (talk) 15:44, 15 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    @175.106.47.131:@Russavia: This is off topic, but I see that you are a sysop on Commons, so out of curiosity, I would like to ask why you were banned here? It seems strange. Thanks, Tony Tan98 · talk 21:54, 15 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    @Tony Tan 98: Extensive block log here. Looks like harassment, edit warring, various other things. 0x0077BE (talk · contrib) 22:29, 15 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    1. Thank you! What is not neutral? What section? --Rayan Riener (talk) 07:56, 16 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
      Hi, @175.106.47.131:. So, before I had a lot of mistakes. But that was before. I consider myself a beginner and trying to improve my skills, and I think that happens. Ryan Riener account I lost, forgotten password in 2012. Flower Blossom account created in 2013 and used it about a year. But clinging homophobes and removed all the articles on LGBT topics that I translated from English Wikipedia. So I created a new account that I did not touch many months was it. Then, to regain its original account. Of course, I had problems with the creation of articles at the beginning. But now everything is quite different. Everything else, except one - the same homophobia. --Rayan Riener (talk) 08:20, 16 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    • In 1991, according to WHO recommendations, Ukraine was the first former Soviet republic abolished criminal penalties for voluntary sexual relations between adult men (Article 122, part 1 of the Criminal Code of the USSR).

    The word "homosexualizm" is used right-wing nationalists, Svoboda or Right Sector (!) Or other parties that support Russia. But rights or Latvia or Ukraine - It does not enshrined in any law (!) A major Ukrainian parties like the "Popular Front" or "Block Petro Poroshenko" (including all coalition representing the majority of the Ukrainian people) call against homophobia, and also promised to introduce legislation on combating discrimination LGBT in Ukraine. --Rayan Riener (talk) 08:45, 16 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

    • I'll try to add my 5c to help others (as well as Rayan Riener) better understand the situation.
      • First of all, it's true that Ukrainian society is not the most gay-friendly one: sociologically according to the recent poll only 4.6% support same-sex marriages. On the other hand, I have absolutely no idea what Right Sector has to do with it: while this party is widely used by Russian propaganda, it does not have any notable pro- or anti-LGBT-related activity. I haven't seen anything either about pro- or anti-LGBT activities of major nationwide parties, thus I have no idea how this is relevant to the case. At the same time, unfortunately there is a problem of users who make untolerant statements, A1 unfortunately being one of them. However, I hope such statements are not representatives of Ukrainian wiki community.
      • What is true that most mainstream Ukrainian sources currently use the term гомосексуалізм, while LGBT-community prefers гомосексуальність to represent homosexuality. I don't see any bias here as well: the term гомосексуалізм is also used by neutral news or scientific sources. It's not up to Wikipedia to change terminology, it's up to WP:SOURCEs to change first. There is no difference between the word homosexuality or any other term here: Wikipedia uses the term used in sources, whether you like it or not.
      • However, the main issue for Rayan Riener was not that he is an open gay, but his contributions and behaviour. I don't remember any problems with his contributions until he started actively breaching rules, and community largely ignored the fact he was an open gay. However, problems started after creation of 5 sockpuppets (uk:Вікіпедія:Запити на перевірку користувачів#Прохання про перевірку) with some small contributions to articles and active participation in discussions. Raising an LGBT-related issue in a discussion and promoting your point of view from 5 different accounts is definitely not the best way to do it: constructive, neutral and well-grounded arguments are much better way yo do it. On the other hand, vandalising articles by users who made anti-LGBT statements is not a good way to deal with the problem either. Similarly, contributing to the article on same-sax marriages with text that some people in Ukraine want to destroy the LGBT-community is far from NPOV: such texts are definitely non-neutral and in addition irrelevant. At the same time, the previous version of the article (before contributions from one of Rayan's accounts) was much closer to NPOV as it did not contain any comments on the situation, neither pro-LGBT nor anti-LGBT
      • Another point that was very negatively viewed by Ukrainian community was spamming talk pages over 250 invitations to WikiProject LGBT. I used the word spamming because most invitations were sent to people having absolutely no interest in the topic. In particular, most users having template User Against Homophobia received no invitations, while users identifying themselves as deeply religious did receive an invitation. An obvious reaction of many people who were never interested in LGBT was reverting the invitation, sometimes with unfriendly comments.
      • Finally, there was a problem related to use of sources. While LGBT-community finds that the fact that a person is a gay is very important, that is not true of other users and readers. The fact that a person is a gay might be worth mentioning in the article, but definitely not as a main (in the introduction) or the only fact, except if the person is primarily known for LGBT-activities. In addition, such facts must be well-sourced. For example, it is incorrect to write that Walt Whitman or Yukio Mishima were gays given the disagreement among biographers and lack of clear evidence, while discussions on sexuality are worth mentioning in the article. In the same way, Michael Cunningham should not be called a gay writer without mentioning that he refuses this indication. This is extremely important for living people where one should carefully use sources. In the same way, edits with sole contributions being adding the fact that a person is gay without any source, are badly viewed by the community.
      • To sum up, this whole story shows that the problem is not about homophobia — it is mostly due to very poor image most contributors now have of the WikiProject LGBT because of repeated breach of rules, including sockpuppetry, vandalism, spam and POV-pushing. I think that constructive contributions, as well as neutral, well-sourced and non-biased articles about LGBT-topics would be much better received by the community, as well as meaningful (and not emotional) arguments in sensible discussions. Most of these homophobia-related stories could have been avoided if articles were well-written and well-sourced, as neutral articles on what a person dislikes are less chances to receive a bad reaction than non-neutral articles on the same issues. I do hope that Rayan Riener and others will try to keep their contributions as neutral and well-sourced as possible as well as follow rules and guidelines, and this will make the situation much less heated — NickK (talk) 18:27, 16 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

    OMG!

    Beeb always used to link to Wikipedia ...Do they not know Wikipedia's arcane rules means is more accurate? Stacie Croquet (talk) 01:32, 15 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

    David Auerbach

    Are messages like this what you had in mind when you extended the olive branch?—Ryūlóng (琉竜) 08:11, 15 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

    Yes, that's precisely what I had in mind. BLP violations are not ok, and a journalist falsely accused of a position that he does not hold and did not write has a right to respond here. I would like to repeat here my point that there are plenty of good Wikipedians who will look after the article, and due to your conflict with Mr. Auerbach it would be best if you just stepped away from the whole thing.--Jimbo Wales (talk) 10:38, 16 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    This is frankly ridiculous. There was no conflict with Mr. Auerbach until he came onto the site and made one by failing to assume good faith in my original edit weeks ago. I retracted all of my statements about him where I characterized his message to me as a threat. I gave him a heartfelt apology and told him why I reacted the way I did because he asked me to apologize and he just goes "don't believe you" and feels that my subsequent reaction to this is evidence enough. I am disappointed by this turn of events. There is no valid reason I should step away from the article. There are dozens of editors who have come to Wikipedia for the sole reason of rewriting the article to favor their fringe movement and they remain untouchable or undeterred because they have no real dog to lose if they get banned. But just because one writer is upset with the paraphrased criticism I wrote about weeks ago that has been rewritten already and that the various editors below acknowledge wasn't entirely incorrect means I have to step down? I have no agenda with this page. I have no personal conflict with Mr. Auerbach other than my disgust with how all this has panned out. This has somehow given the people who want to silence me for opposing their opinion are using it as an excuse to have me topic banned when there have been much more egregious violations of BLP that they have performed but remain untouched. But I'm at fault because Gamergate is just the latest in a line of nerd groups who have made me out to be the Wikidevil incarnate. The very fact I'm arguing this with you is probably making the Gamergate camp on reddit giddy with excitement that you might personally ban me for doing so. And Mr. Auerbach would not even know my user name if The Devil's Advocate hadn't plastered it at the top of the discussion on the talk page about Mr. Auerbach's complaint to you.—Ryūlóng (琉竜) 11:19, 16 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    I recommend that you take a couple of days off at least, to reassess. There have been a great many complaints about your behavior, of course not all justified, but enough justified that you should realize that you are making yourself a part of the problem rather than a part of the solution. Let others take it on.--Jimbo Wales (talk) 18:56, 16 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    Barely any complaints are justified. And the article remains fully protected for another week. All that's going on now is angry talk page and notice board discussions.—Ryūlóng (琉竜) 19:00, 16 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    If barely any complaints are justified and if nothing is going on, now seems as good a time as any for you to step away. WP:OWN takes many forms.--Jimbo Wales (talk) 19:02, 16 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    I'm not sure if taking a break while there's a discussion regarding topic banning me is going on will help matters in that regard.—Ryūlóng (琉竜) 19:03, 16 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    To the contrary, I believe that many or even most discussants would take a voluntary stepping away from the article as a wonderful gesture of good faith aimed at preserving Wikipedia's reputation for neutrality and seriousness about biographical concerns. I know that I would personally appreciate and value it.--Jimbo Wales (talk) 19:13, 16 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    Saying he threatened you is shameful and should be dealt with Loganmac (talk) 19:01, 15 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    A request that accuses me of slander, even if it is accompanied by the word please and the request that I never write about this man again is questionable. And I have not used the word "threat" on this page. When several editors who have been involved in disputes with me in the past and all have sent messages to Mr. Auerbach informing him of my wrongdoings, I feel as if there is an effort by these editors to utilize Mr. Auerbach's clout to their advantage. Loganmac in particular has been vicious to me in offsite social media where he heaps been spreading the lies about me at encyclopedia dramatica to the rest of the offsite collusion against me on Wikipedia.—Ryūlóng (琉竜) 20:06, 15 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    • I just came across this by chance. I'm one of ED's admins. No one has mentioned you on our site in regards to GamerGate. In fact, no one has any idea who you are and it was only when I read this that I even found out we wrote about you at all in an article that hardly anyone read. Please don't use us to justify your biased editing. Thanks. (I won't be returning to continue this argument) Some ed guy (talk) 21:45, 16 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    And Russavia chiming in against me is really sweet.—Ryūlóng (琉竜) 20:09, 15 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    User:Ryulong: It isn't clear what you expect Jimbo Wales or the WMF to do, or why you are being so hostile here. If you think that either a new editor or an unregistered editor is a ban-evading sockpuppet, you know where sockpuppet investigations are. Robert McClenon (talk) 20:54, 15 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    Because Jimbo was in direct contact with Mr. Auerbach before he edited Wikipedia early this morning and this afternoon to get me banned at the behest of all of these other editors.—Ryūlóng (琉竜) 21:08, 15 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    And also Russavia was heavily editing this page when I left my message earlier in the day ([12], [13], [14]). I'm fairly certain those have all been blocked for evasion and being proxies.—Ryūlóng (琉竜) 21:48, 15 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

    I'm not following this closely, so if I've missed something, I apologise but:

    1 November, commenting on an article by Auerbach, Elias Isquith says,

    By the end of the piece, Auerbach ends up in the exact same unfortunate position that the people who fetishize moderation in our politics so often find themselves in: offering a sweeping condemnation of both sides that negates any group or individual responsibility and lumps in reformers and reactionaries under the umbrella of society.

    and concludes,

    The women bombarded with violence and abuse, the men hurling invective at anyone challenging their privilege; spurred by his (Auerbach's) unexamined need to find common ground, both, Auerbach writes, should share in the blame.

    1 November, Ryulong paraphrases this in Gamergate controversy as:

    (Isquith) wrote that Auerbach put blame on both parties in the dispute for the larger problems, criticizing his (Auerbach's) insistence that women harassed and threatened and men attacking those who challenged their privilege should both be held responsible for what Gamergate had become.

    8 November, Auerbach tweets,

    Right now, the Wikipedia Gamergate article offensively misstates Elias Isquith's portrayal of my views. Get it together, @jimmy_wales.

    Seems like a pretty fair paraphrase to me, though the expression could be more elegant. No comment on whether the snippet belongs in the article per relevance, etc. --Anthonyhcole (talk · contribs · email) 01:05, 16 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

    Well, apparently Auerbachkeller took exception to Ryulong calling what Auerbachkeller requested (paraphrase: 'please don't write on Wikipedia about me'), 'a threat' (on his page but not here) but no threat was intended, and Ryulong retracted and apologized - thus the discussion became about the discussion (as is sometimes the case) and not the about the edit. Alanscottwalker (talk) 01:33, 16 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    Yea, but I read the article and don't see what Auerbach is complaining so loudly about. It looks like Anthony cole has it right. I've never edited the article, but have now read the Isquith article and do not see any kind of misrepresentation of what Isquith stated in his article. Whether Auerbach is offended by the Isquith characterization or not is between those two. There is nothing wrong with Wiki editors citing either source. Dave Dial (talk) 01:41, 16 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    (edit conflict)Yep. I am doing a bit of a topic-swerve - thanks to the broad thread title. Still. This particular bit of our article (the bit about an article about an article) is not a misstatement of Isquith's portrayal, as Auerbach claims it is. --Anthonyhcole (talk · contribs · email) 01:49, 16 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    (ec)You can ask User:Auerbachkeller. I myself am wondering if even were Ryulong wrong about his summary of Isquith, does Aurbachkeller think it was malicious, or was it just a mistake? Alanscottwalker (talk) 01:57, 16 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    Well, I assume David is watching this. Perhaps he has a problem with Ryulong's "insistence" - that does seem a little umm editorial. Still, I'm not seeing offensive misstatement. --Anthonyhcole (talk · contribs · email) 02:02, 16 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    @Auerbachkeller: and ask. He's probably not WP aware enough to check a watchlist. --DHeyward (talk) 04:19, 16 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    I did ping David. I've just read his subtle and intelligent Slate article. Isquith's characterisation of it is just stupid and doesn't deserve repeating in our article. --Anthonyhcole (talk · contribs · email) 12:13, 16 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    (e/c) I'm sorry, what? You have two published writers writing on the same subject with opposing views of the issues, so the NPOV approach is to exclude one because a Wikipedia editor thinks it's stupid? Probably, we should back up with (cut-down on) all this opinionizing, but most of all Wikipedia editors' opinionizing. Alanscottwalker (talk) 12:25, 16 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    Just my opinion. Auerbach doesn't say what Isquith says he says. He certainly doesn't say the victims of the misogyny and psychopathy have to share the blame for the present situation. Isquith owes him an apology for that insulting straw man. I wonder if Isquith will be as quick to acknowledge his error as Ryulong was. --Anthonyhcole (talk · contribs · email) 13:45, 16 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    Well, just looking at it without opinionizing, it appears that Isquith writes that that's the implication of the Auerbach piece; whether you nor Auerbach are convinced by Isquith is beside the point. They are perfectly capable of pleading their rhetorical joust further if they wish to do so, and they have their platform - but that's not Wikipedia's purpose - this is not the platform for that. Alanscottwalker (talk) 14:33, 16 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    (You really should reconsider lecturing people about what they can and can't say here.) Isquith: "The women bombarded with violence and abuse, the men hurling invective at anyone challenging their privilege; spurred by his unexamined need to find common ground, both, Auerbach writes, should share in the blame." --Anthonyhcole (talk · contribs · email) 14:46, 16 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    A short response is not a lecture and reading multiple policy pages, they are about what Wikipedia is and is not for. (Besides no quotes, means Isquith was not quoting) -- Alanscottwalker (talk) 14:59, 16 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    Thanks for the clarification. --Anthonyhcole (talk · contribs · email) 15:05, 16 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    Let me explain this to you. Here is the whole paragraph from Iquith:

    That, really, is about as clear a testament to the perils of fetishizing moderation as you’re likely to get. Faced by Gamergaters on one side and SJWs on the other, Auerbach, following a pattern observers of American politics know all too well, maneuvers himself right into the middle. “In truth, we bear collective responsibility for these larger problems,” he writes. The women bombarded with violence and abuse, the men hurling invective at anyone challenging their privilege; spurred by his unexamined need to find common ground, both, Auerbach writes, should share in the blame.

    Here is what he referenced in Auerbach's piece:

    When Polygon editor Ben Kuchera tweets, “The legacy of the hashtag will be in its ability to prove how terribly this industry treats women,” he makes no sense. Gamergate is mostly made up of consumers, not industry members. (Developer Brianna Wu has pointed out that Gamergate is merely a symptom of a much larger problem.) Through sleight of hand, Gamergate absorbs the sins of gaming companies and media organizations. It’s a neat trick, making Gamergate a convenient target of ostracism that serves to make the rest of us feel better about ourselves and non-Gamergate elements of society. It has led to the endless flame wars that do nothing but prolong harassment, rather than solutions that would end it, in the hopes that if people scream loud enough, Gamergate will go away. In truth, we bear collective responsibility for these larger problems. Not just gaming, not just the Internet, but society itself has a sexism problem, a misogyny problem, a race problem, and a harassment problem. America is Gamergate. Start admitting that, and Gamergate starts dissolving.

    The statement about "larger problems" is not referring to GamerGate at all, but to the issue of sexism and diversity in the gaming industry and culture. So the suggestion that Auerbach said women being threatened and men attacking "should both be held responsible for what Gamergate had become" is simply garbage as nothing of that nature was stated. A bigger problem exists with how Ryulong phrases it. By stating Isquith is "criticizing [Auerbach's] insistence" Ryulong is presenting what follows as though it were simply a factual statement about Auerbach's views, rather than Isquith's opinion about Auerbach's views. In that respect alone it is clearly a BLP violation.--The Devil's Advocate tlk. cntrb. 23:34, 16 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]