Edit counting
Edit counting is a phenomenon experienced by many Wikipedians from time to time, and may be related to inferiority complexes. Some users feel that their (or others') edit counts are either too small, too large, too erratic, or too [insert favorite adjective here].
Generally, edit counting is to be avoided. It is the quality, not quantity of edits that counts. However, due to pages like the ones listed below, many Wikipedians — especially those with less than 1,000 edits — are daunted and discouraged.
- en:Wikipedia:List of Wikipedians by number of edits
- en:Wikipedia:Requests for adminship, where an adequately large edit count is sometimes considered by some a prerequisite to adminship
Users have no good reason to be either daunted or discouraged! We're all members of a massive wiki community with noble goals. This is largely a gift economy, not a political hierarchy.
This phenomenon of worrying about one's edit count is closely related to worries about Slashdot's "karma" system. In fact, the following quotation from the Slashdot FAQ is perfectly relevant here (with a few minor modifications):
- Your edit count is not your IQ, dick length/cup size, value as a human being, or a score in a video game. It does not determine your worth as a Wikipedian. It does not cure cancer or grant you a seat on the secret spaceship that will be traveling to Mars when the Krulls return to destroy the planet in 2012... Don't let it bother you. It's just a number in the database.