User:RileyBugz/G11 and drafts

G11 is generally not applied to drafts. There are, although, arguments on why this should not be the case. This essay will analyze arguments for and against not applying G11 to drafts.

For

1. Applying G11 to drafts bites new editors who don't know Wikipedia's policies; besides, isn't it best if they do it in the draftspace rather than in the mainspace?
2. (For notable G11-able drafts only) The draftspace is for improving article with the idea of getting them into the mainspace; thus, we should not delete drafts that can be improved into articles one day. In fact, G11 says "If a subject is notable and the content could plausibly be replaced with text that complies with neutral point of view, this is preferable to deletion."
3. Keeping a promotional article in the draftspace will mean that it isn't in the mainspace; if we delete a promotional article in the mainspace, the creator might just create the article in the mainspace next. If it is kept in the draftspace, on the other hand, the creator will either work to improve it or not try and create it in the mainspace.
4. Most people won't see an article in the draftspace (as they aren't indexed) and those who do won't get drawn in (because they are editors), thus making the advertising ineffective.

Against

1. Such promotion usually involves undisclosed paid editing, which violates Wikipedia's Terms of Use.
2. (For non-notable G11-able drafts only) The draftspace is for improving articles with the idea of getting them into the mainspace one day; non-notable articles will never be able to get in the mainspace, so why should we keep them in the draftspace?
3. We should be tough on paid editing; otherwise, paid editors will think that it is ok to advertise.
4. Advertising in the draftspace is still advertising; it could still benefit the things being advertised.

Conclusion

Argument 1 in the against section does not say why the terms of use is fundamentally good. Also, it does not apply to all articles. Thus, it should be ignored. In reality, the argument that supports the terms of use is argument 3, which states why paid editing is bad. This makes them virtually the same argument. Argument number 2 in the for section might appear to be in the same vein as argument 1 of the against section, but the former is based on the purpose of the draftspace. Thus, while it should not be given as much authority as other arguments, it is better than argument 1 in the against section. Next, argument 2 of the against section. This argument is the flipside of argument 2 of the for section, and thus should be given the same weight. The next argument to consider is argument 3 of the for section. This argument is based on the assumption that a declined draft will consume an editor's time, whereas without a draft to work on, the editor would just move on and create it in the mainspace. This argument overrules argument 2 in the against section, as the former argument says that if it is not in the draftspace, it might be in the mainspace, which is definitely not wanted, as promotional articles in the mainspace would be more visible than if they were in the draftspace. Next, argument 3 in the against section will be analyzed. The essence of this argument is that by deleting a draft, we will be sending a message to the paid editors. The problem is, declining has the same effect. This makes it so that argument 3 of the against section is overruled by argument 3 of the for section, as the latter shows that it is bad to delete promotional drafts, combined with the fact that, as we have shown, argument 3 of the against section has no noticable benefit. The next two arguments are argument 4 of the for section and argument 4 of the against section. The latter says that advertising is still advertising and still draws people in, but the former refutes this. There are exceptions to argument 4 of the for section, although, as discussed in the exceptions section.

Overall, the arguments in favour of not applying G11 to drafts are stronger than those against.

Exceptions

There are some exceptions to this. If the draft is promoting a shock site, where simply going to the home page would likely draw an editor in, then G11 should likely be applied. This is because of the fact that the draft would still draw people in, and if we assume that not all drafts deleted by G11 will be recreated in the mainspace, then we see that deleting these drafts has some noticeable benefit. Thus, these drafts should be deleted.