Wikipedia:Wikipedia does not need you: Difference between revisions

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This is an essay.

It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints.

This page in a nutshell: Let it go.

You need the wiki – that's a fact. It's statistically proven and phenomenologically indisputable: you need the wiki. After all, you're here. Equally true, and much more detrimental to the idea that we are all unique individuals and that we matter, is that the wiki does not need you. It likes you, it appreciates your presence and your contributions, it wants you to get an account, to patrol Recent Changes (well... it doesn't mind it), to start verifying unreferenced BLPs, to make copyedits by hond or by bat – but the wiki does not need you. It wants you to trim External links sections, to change {{Reflist}} into <references/> and back again, to trim trivia sections and tag them, to add WikiProject templates to talk pages – but the wiki does not need you. The wiki appreciates your incessant jokes at WP:ANI, your useful advice at Wikipedia:Reference desk, your cheerful jabs at Jimbo Wales – but the wiki does not need you.

Should it happen that a cabal of admins, operating on the talk page of the talk page of ANI, manages to block you on an invented charge, the world will continue to turn. The grass will grow, the birds will lay eggs, the number of Pokemon-related articles will still double every 1.7 weeks, and articles on weathermen will be brought to AfD. Sure, it won't be done as smoothly and as elegantly as when you did it, but it will be done. In the same way that your ex-boyfriend found happiness, that the dog that ran away found a home, that the Republican party found a candidate, the wiki will continue to turn. Sad, but true – your departure (or, for that matter, that of somebody you think is in the right, while all others who (quite coincidentally) oppose them are in the wrong) won't cause copyvio to spike through the roof, your favourite WikiProject to collapse, or a green multi-tentacled blobby thing to take over the captaincy of the USS Wikipedia.

So if things are too stressful – take a break. Or leave. The latter would be especially sad, but Wikipedia will still be here tomorrow. It's bigger than me, bigger than you, possibly bigger than Jimbo (but unlikely to be bigger than Captain Kirk's ego (or libido)). So if you start to think you're untouchable because you're indispensable to the project, just remember: you're not. However, it's likely that a deep breath and a cup of tea will resolve the problem that has you stressed, and both you and the Wiki can enjoyably spend more time together.

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 {{policy in a nutshell|Let it go.}}
-You need the wiki--that's a fact. It's statistically proven and phenomenologically indisputable: you need the wiki. After all, you're here. Equally true, and much more detrimental to the idea that we are all unique individuals and that we matter, is that '''the wiki does not need you'''. It likes you, it appreciates your presence and your contributions, it wants you to get an account, to patrol Recent Changes (well...it doesn't mind it), to start verifying unreferenced BLPs, to make copyedits by hond or by bat--but the wiki does not need you. It wants you to trim External links sections, to change <nowiki>{{Reflist}}</nowiki> into <nowiki><references/></nowiki> and back again, to trim trivia sections and tag them, to add WikiProject templates to talk pages--but the wiki does not need you. The wiki appreciates your incessant jokes at [[WP:ANI]], your useful advice at [[Wikipedia:Reference desk]], your cheerful jabs at [[Jimbo Wales]]--but the wiki does not need you.
+You need the wiki – that's a fact. It's statistically proven and phenomenologically indisputable: you need the wiki. After all, you're here. Equally true, and much more detrimental to the idea that we are all unique individuals and that we matter, is that '''the wiki does not need you'''. It likes you, it appreciates your presence and your contributions, it wants you to get an account, to patrol Recent Changes (well... it doesn't mind it), to start verifying unreferenced BLPs, to make copyedits by hond or by bat – but the wiki does not need you. It wants you to trim External links sections, to change <nowiki>{{Reflist}}</nowiki> into <nowiki><references/></nowiki> and back again, to trim trivia sections and tag them, to add WikiProject templates to talk pages – but the wiki does not need you. The wiki appreciates your incessant jokes at [[WP:ANI]], your useful advice at [[Wikipedia:Reference desk]], your cheerful jabs at [[Jimbo Wales]] – but the wiki does not need you.
-Should it happen that a cabal of admins, operating on the talk page of the talk page of ANI, manages to block you on an invented charge, the world will continue to turn. The grass will grow, the birds will lay eggs, the number of Pokemon-related articles will still double every 1.7 weeks, and articles on weathermen will be brought to AfD. Sure, it won't be done as smoothly and as elegantly as when you did it, but it will be done. In the same way that your ex-boyfriend found happiness, that the dog that ran away found a home, that the Republican party found a candidate, the wiki will continue to turn. Sad, but true - your departure (or, for that matter, that of somebody you think is in the right, while all others who (quite coincidentially) oppose them are in the wrong) won't cause copyvio to spike through the roof, your favourite WikiProject to collapse, or a green multi-tentacled blobby thing to take over the captaincy of the USS ''Wikipedia''.
+Should it happen that a cabal of admins, operating on the talk page of the talk page of ANI, manages to block you on an invented charge, the world will continue to turn. The grass will grow, the birds will lay eggs, the number of Pokemon-related articles will still double every 1.7 weeks, and articles on weathermen will be brought to AfD. Sure, it won't be done as smoothly and as elegantly as when you did it, but it will be done. In the same way that your ex-boyfriend found happiness, that the dog that ran away found a home, that the Republican party found a candidate, the wiki will continue to turn. Sad, but true – your departure (or, for that matter, that of somebody you think is in the right, while all others who (quite coincidentally) oppose them are in the wrong) won't cause copyvio to spike through the roof, your favourite WikiProject to collapse, or a green multi-tentacled blobby thing to take over the captaincy of the USS ''Wikipedia''.
-So if things are too stressful - take a break. Or leave. The latter would be especially sad, but Wikipedia will still be here tomorrow. It's bigger than me, bigger than you, possibly bigger than Jimbo (but unlikely to be bigger than [[Captain Kirk]]'s ego (or libido)). So if you start to think you're [[The Untouchables (1959 TV series)|untouchable]] because you're indispensible to the project, just remember: you're not. However, it's likely that [[WP:TEA|a deep breath and a cup of tea]] will resolve the problem that has you stressed, and both you ''and'' the Wiki can enjoyably spend more time together.
+So if things are too stressful – take a break. Or leave. The latter would be especially sad, but Wikipedia will still be here tomorrow. It's bigger than me, bigger than you, possibly bigger than Jimbo (but unlikely to be bigger than [[Captain Kirk]]'s ego (or libido)). So if you start to think you're [[The Untouchables (1959 TV series)|untouchable]] because you're indispensable to the project, just remember: you're not. However, it's likely that [[WP:TEA|a deep breath and a cup of tea]] will resolve the problem that has you stressed, and both you ''and'' the Wiki can enjoyably spend more time together.