Katie
"Once again, clean up time is responsible for the end of the world."
Hi, I'm Katie. I'm just a normal Wikipedian. I am an admin (and probably not a bureaucrat) on Uncyclopedia. If you care about edit counting, I don't. I've been here since February 2006, but I stopped coming at some point after that. Editor at Large and I have somewhat a long time ago begun Wikipedia:WikiProject Ballet, so check that out if you're so inclined. For ballet articles needing vast improvement, see Wikipedia:WikiProject Ballet/Article improvement.
I'm a native speaker of English and quite anal about grammar. I enjoy languages and am proficient in French. I'm in the process of learning both German and Japanese. I love to read, but I spend most of my time not on wikis. My health is sort of sporadic, so if you notice I haven't edited recently, you probably checked my edit history.
I spend practically no time online. If you'd like to contact me, I am probably unavailable, sorry. You could contact me through my talk page, but I don't really check it.
I am female, but I don't know if that amounts to anything online.
I try my best to be unbiased and to look at any and every matter objectively. Whether I am for or against, viewing without bias will only confirm the truth, and if I don't have the truth, I would like to learn it. I also try to keep myself from spreading bias. Of course I am only human, but I do strive to be fair and balanced. If you would like to know my personal opinions, I might share them, but I do not feel I need to proclaim them to the world and I don't really have the time to.
If there's anything else you'd like to see here, feel free to add it.
:]
Wikipedia:Babel | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||
Search user languages |
X | This user hates the internet. |
; | This user is in a meaningful relationship with punctuation. |
ß | This woman believes that Latinate words shame the English tongue and should not be said. |
expand and improve
Many attempts have been made recently to "build the community" here at Wikipedia, many of which have failed spectacularly. They have attempted to increase a sense of community, unite editors, and make others realize that every editor here is also a human being. However, they have resulted in cordoned groups of editors uniting against the Wikipedia as a whole and communing amongst themselves. Clearly this cannot be the Wikipedia community, for the Wikipedia community would be unable to exclude itself as such. Therefore, I believe that we must attain a better understanding of who the community is, how it works, and how best to let it live.
The Wikipedia community is Wikipedians. Wikipedians are all who have decided to be recognized as an editor and not just by their edits. This is intentionally vague as we welcome anyone who wants to join, regardless of who they are, where they are, how old they are, what they are, or whether they're the same person as another Wikipedian. Any further subcommunities should be viewed as subcommunities. Any one WikiProject does not claim to be Wikipedia's community; they are merely a small facet of the larger whole. WikiProjects, therefore, are successful at promoting community feeling as their communities do not detract from the community as a whole. Groups claiming to be representative or working for the entire community will not work as they are not the entire community. Concerted efforts to build community will not result in the Wikipedia community. Wikipedia's community already exists. It does not need to formed: it is already here. Furthermore, groups claiming themselves as above the community in as much as they are able to tell the community where it is, how it is, and such will not achieve any success, as the community defines itself.
Wikipedia's community works on an individual level. Do what you can and through your actions, you will encourage others to do the same. |
fix it up
These are the Seven Sacred Sacraments of the Blessed Wikipedia. They mark the way in which one receives the Eternal Truth of the Wiki Way and replenishes their soul in the continual pursuit of Wikiholism.
|
add your opinions
I ascribe to a belief of making only good edits. I edit pages because I want to build an encyclopedia. I believe that each edit should benefit the project or its contributors in some way that is significant. I do not personally believe in making automated edits, especially if the value of the edits is low. I disagree with making edits solely to raise one's edit count. I think that automated edits are best done with bot accounts which may reap the benefits of many contributions, while remaining hidden in recent changes, while a user should be more concerned with quality edits that only a human can make. The faculty of reason is something which can never be automated fully, and as such, those who have it should use it instead of removing whitespace and making basic spelling error fixes. I read Wikipedia for years and never created an account because I didn't think I had anything I could contribute. However, having been here the short while I have, I've found that everyone has something they can contribute, that is unique to them. I think that if users concentrated on things they were interested in and/or wanted to see expanded on Wikipedia, the project would expand in breadth of subjects enormously. It takes users who are committed to innovation and the increase of knowledge to build a good encyclopedia. I just don't think those users should be wasting their time worrying about edit counts. I think that finding and reverting vandalism is a good thing to do. However, I don't agree with labelling oneself as a "Vandal Fighter." I've done extensive vandalism reversion on several wikis (not so much on English Wikipedia, though) and I have never once thought of what I was doing as fighting vandals. I think that being aware of vandalism is a good thing, recent changes patrolling is a good thing, but I don't think it should be the brunt of one's effort. I personally revert vandalism when I see it. If a bot reports it on IRC and I'm around, I'll look and revert. I do not exist to revert vandalism though. I want a good encyclopedia, and I will revert vandalism, but I am not on the prowl looking for vandals to fight. I do not believe that voting or expressing opinions on AfD (xfD), RfA, or Wikipedia talk pages is an indicator of a user's interest or involvement in the project. It is very easy to edit/vote without completely reading a policy or article beforehand, and probably quite common to read thoroughly and refrain from editing. I think it is inane that those who throw their opinions everywhere without a thought to the opinions of others could be thought more involved than those who read, understand, and do not feel the need to comment, by virtue of edit count. I personally do not believe consistent and frequent insertions of one's opinions wherever someone will listen constitutes good edits. I personally refrain from asserting my opinions and potentially creating division unless it is necessary or beneficial. I recognize that many people become very upset over wiki politics as they would in real life and I try to respect that. If I am potentially going to ruin someone's day and I don't have to, I'm not inclined to want to. I do not oppose the use of userpages or the editing of said pages. I also do not oppose the formatting and coloring of userpages. However, I don't agree with the main use of one's time and energy being directed at one's userpage. There are homepages and free web hosting for that. User pages are, however, a matter of good judgement, and I don't think there should be some threshold of edits for the User namespace which defines a good editor. I do not believe userboxes are a good use of time or edits. They separate Wikipedians into easily browsed categories and divide the community. They serve networking purposes it would seem, and that is not central, nor relevant, to the purpose of an encyclopedia. I personally do not think arguments are a good use of my time. I try to stay out of them as much as possible. Likewise, I stay away from revert wars, edit wars, and other such warring. Bickering is not a constructive use of time I personally put a great deal of effort into each of my edits. I try to preview and do a thorough job when copyediting. I do not aim to do the least amount of work possible, but merely what's needed. If an article needs an extensive rewrite of tone, I won't call fixing spelling errors a copyedit. I think that laziness (and hiding it) only hinders the project. I do procrastinate a lot, and I am lazy, too, but I won't call a half-arsed job a finished one. In conclusion, I understand that my edit count will be low. I understand by not editing every talk page I visit, by not getting into arguments or disputes, by not vandal fighting, by not welcoming users, my edit count will be low. I understand this means that it will take me longer to attain an edit count that is substantial enough that I will be widely esteemed. However, my duty is to the project and I can live with being a lower class of user in the eyes of some. I do not think it is right that wiki social status is determined this way, but I prefer to make good edits. If you see me around, do say hi. I don't comment everywhere, but I do care. :] |
As both a Wikipedian and an Uncyclopedian, I'm asked a lot why I waste so much time at Uncyclopedia. "None of it is true" and "there's no point."
First off, I resent the idea that it's a "waste." Secondly, you, my friend, merely fail to see the point! As a satirical wiki, it is our duty to make fun of everything in a subtle manner.
The point of Uncyclopedia is to make light of things most people get hung up on. Humor is a coping mechanism that can be crucial to our thriving as a species. At Uncyclopedia, we try to take things that get people tied up in a knot, that make them angry, frustrated, upset, and lightly jab at it. We make fun of the idea of the thing, the response of people to the thing, and the response of people to our making fun. Over the past year, it has evolved into more of a general humor wiki, but it is my opinion that satire should be first and foremost. Uncyclopedians have more freedom to invoke their right to humor. Wikipedians are restrained by "No Personal Attacks", but Uncyclopedians are allowed to be dicks as long as they are funny. Being funny and not just stupid is above all else. Ideally, treading on another's toes in a funny manner allows all of us to laugh, including the one who's being treaded on. Of course there are many people who do not understand this. Our advice to them is to find somewhere else to play. If they find it offensive or unfunny, they are under no obligation to be there. "Just close your browser: world peace is a few clicks away." By making fun of things that are so emotionally charged, we are able to get everyone to loosen up a bit (hopefully). People become so involved in what they are doing, offline and online. We just hope to provide a bit of variety, a way to step back and realize it's not so bad. Satire is supposed to provoke change. I don't know if we at Uncyclopedia do that, or even if we aim to do that. We're just a bunch of people having a bit of fun to break up the monotony. It's easy to lose sight of the wiki-ness of it all, the fact that it's online and it's not entirely "real", even at a wiki that's meant to break that idea up. However, due to our almost lack of constraints, we're able to keep going. Admins and users alike at Uncyclopedia have been campaigning for rules and policy. I, on the other hand, think that is counter to the spirit of the wiki. We're meant to be making fun of the rules, not implementing them. Are we experimenting with anarchy? I don't think so. We have rules, but they aren't written in stone. We want to encourage the proliferation of humor, not stop people from mucking up our almighty wiki. Humor never conforms to the rules. We don't have a standard, except to "be funny." People cite the fact that "humor is so subjective" as a reason why Uncyclopedia "will never work." We've been going at this for over a year, so I beg to differ. Humor being subjective is why we grow. We don't claim any humor to be greater than any other. We have our random nonsense, our political satire, our country specific jokes, our age specific jokes, our widely appreciated jokes, our off-color bad taste jokes, our "what the heck?" jokes. We have all sorts, and we're open to more. Of course there are some things we won't suffer to live: uninspired material which has no future, lists of randomly generated items, "unfunny crap," and one-liners.
Uncyclopedia was originally meant to parody Wikipedia. As it has grown, however, it has attracted a different crowd. As much as we try to enforce the "do things the way that Wikipedia does them" rule, we've got a different audience now, and Wikipedia based humor is no longer the focus, but a facet. We do mourn the loss of a general encyclopedic feel to the place, but we must do as the fanbase wants. Gimmicks are in, intelligence is out. Isn't that how it is everywhere? |
- To do list
- Make things not suck
- The Moorchild
- Catwings
- Bob the Builder
- Risks of classical ballet
- Rewrite ballet
- Happy links
- Category:Wikipedia articles needing copy edit
- Wikipedia:Mediation Cabal/Cases
- Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard
- Wikipedia:Reference desk/Language
- See also