User:Gnorthup\Essay

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I still believe this junk about making "autoconfirmed users" is a bunch of bull.

Contents


[edit] The Process

When you first sign on to wikipedia, you have to wait a delay period, which is usually about four days, before you transition from an "anonymous user" to an "autoconfirmed user" (In any case, this always links to the class of users known as registered users). I attempted to do an upload, which requires no more than registration, about one minute after signing up for wikipedia. It failed, giving me a permissions error. (Yes, I was logged in.) I didn't measure exactly, since I had a week sabatical, but, somewhere in this encyclopedia, I found some time limit of 4 days. This really needs citation.

HERE IT IS: This is the whole debate I am talking about. Look at Autoconfirmed Users and New Users.

[edit] The Most Probable Reason

This instant registry prevention was probably used to ward off vandals that would sign on to obscure their IP (this makes no sense; hasn't any computer-legitimate black-hat hacker figured out what proxies are yet?). The delay in this registration still meant that, for a while, no vandal could deface a semi-protected site. It is only really effective because the delay caused is an annoyance.

Hold on, lets look over this again:

  • Q.Autoconfirmation delay was (probably) created to prevent vandals from immediately defacing semi-protected sites.
  • A.Good enough reason, but what about AFTER the delay (the key word is immediately)?
  • Q.It obscures the IP of a vandal.
  • A.Users can be blocked too.
  • A2.Most people with a school/work network know what a proxy is.
  • Q.The delay is effective because it causes a hacker/vandal to lose interest.
  • A.This needs the appendage, for a while, because all it is is a minor inconvenience for any determined user.
  • A2.OK, this is slightly effective for one of those Forum Fuckwads (the Fuckwad theory, "User+Anonymity+Audience=Fuckwad").

How strong is this policy looking?

[edit] Total Backfire

Any legitimate Wikipedia user that has signed on must have experienced this:

  1. You go to a page and find a discrepancy.
  2. You check the edit tab and, whoops, access denied, this is a semi-protected page.
  3. OK, not a problem, you register for Wikipedia. It takes a meager minute.
  4. You back-navigate to your semi-protected page and click edit again. Access denied. WTF?

Is that really what people want to happen? Meanwhile, potentially thousands of people get the wrong information from this grade-A page all because you had to stand back and watch. All it takes is one sneaky vandal that had a user a couple days older than yours at the least.

[edit] The Fix

Here's the meat:

WIKIPEDIA, GET RID OF THIS POLICY!

It's not doing anything good for your users. In fact, it sometimes does the exact opposite.

[edit] Your opinion

Feel free to right your voice anywhere below this double line. This is where your feedback matters. (Treat this as a talk page, please, and sign your name if you feel it reasonable.)

Thank you, Graham Northup

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