User:Geo Swan/My version of the en.wiki Dawn Dumont article
My version of the en.wiki Dawn Dumont article[edit]
In 2009 I decided it was time to research en:Connie Walker (journalist), to start an article about her. I found that she grew up in a very small First Nation in Saskatchewan, and, although it was small, she was not the only notable person her age from that reserve. I started an article about her neighbour and contemporary, en:Dawn Dumont, a polymath, who was a lawyer, actor, writer, and stand-up comedian. Most new articles go unillustrated. The article on Ms Walker is still unillustrated, 12 years later. But a fan had taken a photo of Ms Dumont during one of her stand-up gigs, and I was able to use that to illustrate her article.
In 2011 Ms Dumont discovered her article. She didn't like it. In particular, she didn't like the headshot that illustrated it. She uploaded an alternate image she preferred, and edited the article to use her preferred image - but without releasing her image under a free license.
When her non-free image was deleted, I put back the free image. Ms Dumont got frustrated, said if she couldn't control how she was represented on the wikipedia she didn't want to be covered, at all.
My choices were, as I saw it:
- do nothing, let someone else sort out her concerns;
- help her by initiating an AFD, where she could make her case for courtesy deletion, while I remained neutral;
- however, since I remained the sole author of the article's intellectual content I had the option of requesting speedy deletion under G7 - sole author requests deletion.
I basically chose G7. Well, almost.
In the decade since then Ms Dumont has become more notable. She wrote more books. She was recognized by the Governor General. Someone else ended up writing a brand new article about her. I think if she requested courtesy deletion now, the wikipedia would have to turn her request down.
I've put G7 on other material I wrote. I started thousands of articles during my years on the wikipedia. Frankly, I started more than I can remember. Sometimes I'd come across someone in my news reading, and decide they should have a wikipedia article. And sometimes, when I checked, and I found they do have a wikipedia article, and I took a look at it, I wouldn't recognize that it is one I wrote, years earlier.
Sometimes someone will notice an article I wrote, a long time ago, when the wikipedia's inclusion standards were looser. If they place a prod on it, or an AFD, and (1) I think that while the topic measured up to the inclusion standards current, when I wrote it, it could not be improved to measure up to current standards; and (2) I thought I was the sole author of its intellectual content, while then I preferred to place a G7 on it.
I think the G7 saved time. No one else had to consider whether it should be kept or deleted.
I would tell the nominator what I did, and thanked them for drawing it to my attention. Geo Swan (talk) 04:11, 18 March 2022 (UTC)
