Enough is Enough

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For a considerable length of time, I have been an editor (and later an administrator) of Wikipedia, and have now contributed close to 10,000 edits. In this time, I have checked Wikipedia regularly (including when I've been in foreign countries), scanning through a Watchlist of over 1,600 pages. But now is the time for me to stop - I signed up to contribute to an encyclopedia, but over time I have found that I am being hindered in my efforts. Time to call it a day - I have decided to no longer contribute here. Quite simply, Wikistress is crossing over into my personal life and I no longer get the enjoyment out of contributing here that I should.

Please note that I am not crying out for attention here. I simply do not wish to continue. For anyone who is interested, here are my reasons:

  1. Anonymous editing - I strongly disagree with the ability to edit under anonymous IP addresses. Creating an account is a very quick task, and if having an account was enforced in order to edit Wikipedia, vandalism would be a fraction of what it currently is. I have spent a lot of my time on Wikipedia fighting vandals, and groups like the CVU do a great job that is a benefit to all users. Unfortunately, there should be no need for this. The greatest argument I have seen to allow anonymous editing is so that random browsers of Wikipedia can make quick spelling and/or grammar fixes, however a good editor would have spotted such a mistake already. The page protection rights that administrators have are not the solution to this growing problem.
  2. Arrogant users - Too often I see users wording Talk page comments as if their own opinion is the opinion of the community and of Wikipedia as a whole. Typically this includes using the wording "us" when it should be "I", or "our" when it should be "my". From my observations, it is also not uncommon for such users to break the policies at WP:CIVIL, never back down from a discussion (which they have turned into an argument), and always want to get the last word in. I consider such users to be an embarrassment to the Wikipedia community, and a deterrent to new members signing up. I signed up myself to contribute to an encyclopedia, not to get annoyed by others.
  3. Ignoring rules - Whilst the WP:IAR policy has some benefits; the disadvantages of it often outweigh them. Far too often this is used as a catch-all to allow users to interpret other policies in the way they see fit.
  4. Articles put on WP:AfD with no research - On numerous occasions, I have seen articles placed on AfD without any checks made to see if the person is notable. Usually, the nominator has assumed that as he has never heard of the person, they cannot be notable. Even Bobby George has been on AfD before, and he's a household name to a lot of us. A simple bit of research is all that it takes to realise that not all poor articles are fodder for the AfD process; but in fact should be tagged for cleanup, expansion, referencing, categorization, etc. Far too often, deletionist nominators take the quick way out.
  5. It's no fun anymore - Wikipedia is supposed to be fun. People should be encouraged to contribute in a positive way. Ideas such as Barnstars are very good ideas, but too many valuable contributions are overlooked. In fact, if you look at the Talk page of a random person, I'd lay you 3/1 that there are more disagreements on the page than thanks for positive contributions. Far too often, we create barriers that prevent the growth of Wikipedia - there are far too many policies for someone to grasp in a short space of time, and some streamlining needs to be done.

To those users who fall into some of the categories above, I won't mention who you are (I'm sure you know anyway). You've managed to drive me away from Wikipedia, so congratulations if that was your intent. If it wasn't, then please consider both your actions and tone in the future, or you're likely to drive others away too.

On the flipside, my thanks go to hard-working, positive and confident users such as Josiah Rowe, CTOAGN and Lady Aleena (apologies to the many of you that I have missed).

This is Essexmutant, signing off. Essexmutant 17:35, 12 September 2006 (UTC)

 This editor has decided to leave Wikipedia.