User:Larry Sanger
Hi everyone,
I'm baaaaack!
Well, sort of. I co-founded this project and left long ago. But I have paid attention to what's been going on. I do not know how much I will be engaging here, but I will some; I still care about what goes on here.
After much consideration, I have decided to weigh back in on Wikipedia. For most of 2025, I have developed Nine Theses on Wikipedia, which is partly an extended criticism and partly a reform proposal. Unlike much of my previous writing and speaking about Wikipedia over the past 20 years or so, this is not merely negative. It is a realistic plan to make Wikipedia better. I hope you will take it seriously.
All the best,
Larry Sanger (talk) 12:12, 29 September 2025 (UTC)
P.S. Here's what I posted when I left in 2002. Still good advice:
All the best to Wikipedia and Wikipedians. May you continue
- to be open and warmly welcoming, not insular,
- to be focused singlemindedly on writing an encyclopedia, not on Usenet-style debate,
- to recognize and praise the best work, work that is detailed, factual, well-informed, and well-referenced,
- to work to understand what neutrality requires and why it is so essential to and good for this project,
- to treat your fellow productive, well-meaning members of Wikipedia with respect and good will,
- to attract and honor good people who know a lot and can write about it well, and
- to show the door to trolls, vandals, and wiki-anarchists, who if permitted would waste your time and create a poisonous atmosphere here.