User:UtherSRG/Bring back Articles for Discussion
 | This is an essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
Recently I've been participating in the WP:AfD process. Although I'm mostly on the elevation from CSD side of things, I'm strongly reminded of "the good old days" of AfD, when the "D" stood for "Discussion", not "Deletion".
Why "Discussion"
[edit]- Purpose - Deletion is not a forgone conclusion of nominating an article for AfD. The point is to discuss the article to determine what should be done. "Deletion" is a possibility, but so are "keep", "merge", and "incubate".
- Perception - Users being told for the first time that their article has been nominated for deletion, especially those who do not know what the process is, often have the viewpoint that they (or their articles) are being targeted, that they are being persecuted, and various other negative emotions. Whether this is based on truth or just perception depends on the article and the user, but an article nominated for discussion will likely have a much smaller negative perception factor. This goes towards building WP:AGF on both sides of the issue.