

Lots of Hackerspaces on Wikipedia are suggested for deletion - rmc
http://www.technomancy.org/hackerspace-wikipedia-delete/

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tptacek
Without repeating the same boring arguments about whether _everything_ should
be covered on Wikipedia, and just stipulating, whether you truly agree with
them or not, that we'll confine ourselves to Wikipedia's policy of requiring
that articles both _assert_ and _document_ notability:

Doesn't it stand to reason that most "hackerspaces" aren't notable?

Wikipedia doesn't even have coverage for every major office building in
Chicago. A typical hackerspace wouldn't even take a single floor in a typical
Chicago high-rise.

~~~
esad
Why is inclusionism so bad? So what if we had a wikipedia article for every
office building in Chicago or every Pokemon out there?

~~~
tptacek
We probably should have a Wikipedia article for every office building in
Chicago.

We probably should not have a Wikipedia article for every hackerspace in the
world.

We may want more articles about hackerspaces on Wikipedia.

If we do, it does not help that almost everybody who has ever gone so far as
to give their planned hackerspace a name has probably also added a (crappy)
page to Wikipedia about their planned project.

~~~
tibbon
Maybe there aren't articles for every building in Chicago... but you can look
up almost every block/building in NYC.

You act as if every hacker space is only in the planning stages. I'm a member
of a functional, and running hackerspace that's doing just fine and in action
today.

~~~
rmc
Me too. Our hackerspace has been involved with national events to promote
science and engineering.

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thwarted
I don't understand the _include everything_ mindset, and I think I'm in the
inclusionist camp. If you encourage other people to put data on Wikipedia, the
value of the data drops to zero from an _economic and reputation exploitation_
standpoint.

For example, if you think there is value in having a comprehensive list of
hacker spaces, set up a site that lists them and maintain it. You'll be known
as the person who maintains that valuable resource, and since you homesteaded
it, you can economically exploit it _by putting ads on it_ , or taking
signups. And no one else can take it down because of some kind requirements
about its appropriateness for the internet.

I appreciate that every Star Trek episode is listed on Wikipedia, but it
seemed more like a labor of love, more comprehensive, and more interesting
(less sterile) when it was some backwater part of the internet where some
hardcore fan personally maintained some massive compendium of Star Trek
information. Now there is less of a reason, and requiries more dedication, to
want to compete with Wikipedia's SEO authority. I mean, there are specialist
sites like Star Trek wikis, LOtR wikis, and Wookipedia, but Wikipedia is
comprehensive just enough to not want me seek more detailed info. (Nevermind
that some of them have taken the economic exploitation to the extreme with the
same shitty online gaming ad, we all know there is a sweet spot of the
content:advertising ratio).

I mean who thought that Wikipedia would be the first place anyone would go for
information on hacker spaces or information about a specific hacker space?
It's a piggyback-on-Wikipedia's-SEO-only play.

~~~
_delirium
Yes! I really wish there were more documentation projects elsewhere on the
internet. I'd even contribute to more if they had some community-contribution
process (whether through a wiki or other thing).

In particular, Wikipedia's an encyclopedia; that means it's a tertiary source,
which means everything it includes should ideally be cited to secondary
sources (books, journal articles, newspaper reports, etc.). There's lots of
interesting information you could document that _doesn't_ work in that
tertiary-source manner, because the secondary sources don't yet exist. So a
project to do original research/compilation/etc. in an area where its
contributors are knowledgeable is great. Know Your Meme is actually a pretty
good example of that. A hackerspace directory would also be useful. Something
like <http://www.killfromtheheart.com/>, also great.

------
Pyrodogg
Wikipedia doesn't have to be the definition of all human knowledge. There is a
perfectly good wiki for documenting hackerspaces at <http://hackerspaces.org>
just waiting for more information on every space past, present, and those
still planning.

------
nivertech
I think, that Wikipedia should have "Donate to prevent deletion" button on
every article ;)

~~~
pangram
Yes, this is brilliant -- and could take care of Wikipedia's funding problems
is one stroke.

~~~
tptacek
Yes! Wikipedia could definitely fund itself by selling links on the top of
every Google SERP! Why didn't they think of that? :)

