User talk:JannaMc

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Welcome![edit]

Hello, JannaMc, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions.

I noticed that one of the first articles you edited was Janna McMahan, which appears to be dealing with a topic with which you may have a conflict of interest. In other words, you may find it difficult to write about that topic in a neutral and objective way, because you are, work for, or represent, the subject of that article. Your recent contributions may have already been undone for this very reason.

To reduce the chances of your contributions being undone, you might like to draft your revised article before submission, and then ask me or another editor to proofread it. See our help page on userspace drafts for more details. If the page you created has already been deleted from Wikipedia, but you want to save the content from it to use for that draft, don't hesitate to ask anyone from this list and they will copy it to your user page.

One rule we do have in connection with conflicts of interest is that accounts used by more than one person will unfortunately be blocked from editing. Wikipedia generally does not allow editors to have usernames which imply that the account belongs to a company or corporation. If you have a username like this, you should request a change of username or create a new account. (A name that identifies the user as an individual within a given organization may be OK.)

In addition, you must disclose your employer, client, and affiliation with respect to any contribution for which you receive, or expect to receive, compensation (see WP:PAID).

Here are some pages that you might find helpful:

I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your messages on talk pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically insert your username and the date. If you need help, check out Wikipedia:Questions, ask me on my talk page, or ask your question on this page and then place {{Help me}} before the question. Again, welcome! John from Idegon (talk) 03:52, 19 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Don't edit your own biography and don't recruit shills to do it for you. John from Idegon (talk) 03:53, 19 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]
@Janna McMahan
Talk page stalker here (User:Neonorange): I happened to drop in on John's user page and saw this gathering storm. Perhaps, since I haven't looked at the article since 2014, I thought I could be fairly fresh to this discussion. I can give a short answer now—you can take this up further at my talk page if you wish.
After reading your message above, I would like to clear up some misconceptions for which I must take some responsibility. Back on November 25, 2014 I made severe cuts to the article to bring it into compliance with Wikipedia guidelines for biographies; this was shortly after User:JannaMcMahan had made a number of changes. At this time I also left posts on the user talk page for User:JannaMcMahan on the assumption that this was you. These posts were a welcome to Wikipedia, a list of links to policies on Wikipedia, and an explanation of content of interest. After this long period, is it possible you forgot you first User name here and created a new account?
Wikipedia is a huge undertaking: a free, online encyclopedia with content generated and maintained entirely by unpaid volunteers. The English language alone has more the 5,400,000 articles and is the fourth most accessed website on the Internet. Much of our work now is maintaining the integrity of the encyclopedia by improving articles to meet our guidelines. Our usability depends on content integrity: verifiability and avoidance of conflicts of interests. Yes, changes to articles by persons with conflicts of interest can hurt. For this reason there are always problems when the subject of an article contributes to that article—for the subject and for Wikipedia. If there are factual errors in the article, then please bring it to our attention. But any content changes should ideally be made by an editor with no conflicts of interest. Not the subject nor fans. And most certainly anything that might be considered promotional. Acceptable content in Wikipedia is based on verifiability, not truth. This means the citation to reliable third-party sources must be provided to support any assertion that might be challenged. Not all sources meet the requirement. We are every bit as jealous of Wikipedia's integrity as are any publishers of for-profit encyclopedias; and perhaps more successful. User:Neonorange (Phil) 05:20, 19 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Requesting edits[edit]

At 16:48, July 19, 2017, JannaMc wrote:

Hello Neonorange,

You are correct in assuming that I forgot that I had a previous Wikipedia ID and created a new one. When the librarian created my page she asked me to check some entries she'd made and it is true that I made changes. At the time, I was unaware that people were not supposed to make changes to their own pages. When I found that out, I never did it again. That's why it lingered with incomplete information for so long. That is also why I never tried to hide my identity by creating some fake ID. But the larger question here is, why does this John person have the right to block perfectly legitimate entries by perfectly legitimate people? JannaMc

I usually like to keep a discussion sequentially, all on one talk page. Just to make sure you see my replies, I am moving to your user talk page here.
It is quite all right—even customary—for a Wikipedia editor to use a pseudonym.
  • A pseudonym protects identity better than a bare IP address that reveals the general location from which an user edits.
  • Some editors wish to protect their real-life identity for work or other reasons.
  • Content in Wikipedia articles is justified by quality of expression and strength of supporting references, not by subject expertise, so a name isn't important.
  • Even if an editor begins to edit with a pseudonym, it is always possible, at their choice, to link to their real-life identity (though the reverse is rarely possible). I am, after three or four years of activity, beginning to my real name given name in addition to my pseudonym.
It is quite easy for a user to contribute to a Wikipedia article in a way that avoids conflict of interest. For you, in the particular case of this article, just make a request for an edit on the article's talk page, being as specific as possible—even pointing out reference material and citations.
Wikipedia has a huge kettle of policies and guidelines that seem to be necessary for an all volunteer organization producing the world's most accessed encyclopedia. I think the best way I can help is by example at first and then by pointing to the most useful policies and guide lines if necessary. I will read the recent activity on the article and then place on your first talk page and your second talk page an example of a requested edit that you can use either as is or as a guide for your own request.
I'd like to make a suggestion—having two or more Wikipedia user accounts is permissible, but cross-linking the accounts is a good idea. All that is necessary is to place User:JannaMc is a legitimate alternative account of User:JannaMcMahan on the user page for JannaMcMahan and User:JannaMcMahan is a legitimate alternative account of User:JannaMc on the user page for JannaMc. Some editors may hide multiple accounts so as to weigh in on discussions as if more than one editor were supporting a position. As you can see, since Wikipedia has tens of thousands of editors who rarely meet face-to-face, some guidelines and policies are necessary that are not immediately obvious. I've tried to make this reply as straightforward as possible. I'm sure I've failed—concision wars with unambiguity. I hope that I've eased your concerns, and that you might even contribute material on other subjects.
Suggestions:
  • When you post on a talk page please sign the message with a space followed by four tildes ~~~~ (or you can click on the box, in the tool bar below the message editing window, containing four tildes).
  • You might wish to place a short "who I am" sentence on your user pages (which do not exist at the moment—that's why the links are red rather than blue. It is best, for now, to use a sentence or two that in plain words describe yourself as a novelist. The purpose of an editor's user page is to further their work as an editor here. On my user page I've included the countries where I've worked plus some useful tools. It is up to the editor to create their own page. Neonorange (Phil) 19:11, 20 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Requested edits and how to make a request for a conflict of interest edit on the talk page of a Wikipedia article: {{request edit}}
Additional information:
I agree with you that the article Janna McMahan has problems, but those problems may not be those you think. Wikipedia articles are based on verifiability, not truth. This makes it possible for Wikipedia users to check sources for, ideally, every statement in the encyclopedia likely to be challenged. Inclusion in Wikipedia requires that the subject conform to certain guidelines that may not be intuitive. The Wikipedia notability guidelines for articles on people include basic criteria, and creative professionals. User:John from Idegon is just like any other editor working on Wikipedia. Any editor may delete material that they judge to fail guidelines and policies here (though I notice that John has made no edits on the article). When disagreements arise, discussions on the article talk page are used to reach consensus. As you might guess, conflicts of interest make this difficult. Wikipedia works by consensus. The downside of this method is that resolution may take a deal of time. The upside is that that resolution is in conformance with guidelines and policy.. and the only way we have of reaching a fair result. You can reach me at my talk page— (by the way, Campbellsville may not be far from the path of the sun's total eclipse around 1:30 CDT on August 21—my family are going to Cleveland, Tennessee to watch) — User:Neonorange (Phil) 22:49, 20 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]