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On the subject of dispute as a distraction; I've observed this almost every day for the last 4 years as a Wikipedia contributor. You jump into article looking
by ErrantX 16y ago
On the subject of dispute as a distraction; I've observed this almost every day for the last 4 years as a Wikipedia contributor.
You jump into article looking to improve them - add content, format, tweak, source and so on.
But within hours someone disputes the use of a word or the reliability of a source. Which usually gets sorted in a quick discussion - but often takes ages, drags in other editors and winds up with a month long discussion on various noticeboards and talk pages and edit wars on articles.
And you can see four or five of them start a week.
All over a single sentence. :)
So, yeh, I can relate a lot to what Newton was saying.
- philwelch 16y agoThat's why I quit Wikipedia three years ago after three years as a contributor.
- JoeAltmaier 16y agoI see it in Hacker News contributing. I fire off a quick (careless) remark and find a day later, a chain of comments which in my mind misinterpreted my intent. I feel bad about it; I want to clear it up but its far too late (too much water under the bridge; nobody paying attention any more).