Community Wishlist/Wishes/Reconsider the strict adherence to policies that defy common sense
Reconsider the strict adherence to policies that defy common sense
Description
Many casual readers of Wikipedia eventually discover a gap in Wikipedia’s coverage that surprises them. I am not referencing obscure and fleeting topics such as one-album garage bands. There are gaps in the coverage that truly defy common sense, as in: “Why on earth would [obscure topic X] have an article but not *this*??”.
I made an ill-fated attempt to bring this problem to attention by recreating a deleted article on the web animation series “Battle for Dream Island”. I am not emotionally invested into the show — I haven't watched a single entire episode — but it is clear to anyone not involved with Wikipedia editing that it is 100% and incontrovertibly a topic worthy of a Wikipedia article. Please do not focus on this singular example when evaluating this wish, as it is a general systemic problem and not a personal gripe.
The experience of editors wishing to contribute new articles is hostile, unwelcoming and traumatizing. The great majority of new article creations are swiftly deleted as if the author is immediately presumed to be a vandal with destructive intent. Out of the surviving rest, the topic is argued and scrutinized with a rabid zeal to find as many reasons as possible, however arcane, to destroy the contributor’s work.
I am choosing the word “arcane” quite deliberately. Deletions of people’s work occurs with reference to policy pages that are hard to read, make little sense to the uninitiated, and — to circle back to my original point — defy common sense. It makes no sense (to a normal person, a non-Wikipedian) that a topic briefly mentioned in some obscure print medium is “notable” while a widely recognized and celebrated cultural phenomenon is not.
Please understand that my wish does not boil down to “tear down all policies and run Wikipedia entirely on common sense”. That would be madness. The issue is, quite specifically, the strict adherence to a policy even in cases where it is clearly nonsensical and clearly needs to be reconsidered or restructured.
The policies as they are attract trigger-happy zeal. Currently active Wikipedians consider themselves to have “contributed” more when they get to delete something or drive a policy dissenter away, than they do when they welcome contributors and encourage editing. Consequently, everyone I know does not even consider contributing because “it all gets deleted anyway”.
Assigned focus area
Unassigned.
Type of wish
Unknown
Related projects
Wikipedia
Affected users
everybody