User talk:Opencontent

Welcome

Hello Opencontent, and welcome to Wikipedia. Thank you for your recent edit to an article that is part of the Latter Day Saint movement WikiProject. We welcome your contributions and hope that you will stay and contribute more. Here are some links that I found helpful:

If you run into a dispute, please use the Talk pages and the Latter Day Saint movement project talk page to discuss subjects (especially controversial ones) to help reach consensus. But don't be afraid to be bold!! Also, as new Mormonism-related articles are created, please make sure to add them to List of articles about Mormonism.

Remember to sign your comments with four tildes. This will automatically add your name and the time after your comments.

And finally, if you have any questions or doubts, don't hesitate to contact me. Once again, welcome! -- 208.81.184.4 (talk) 22:08, 18 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

"We"

Hi, Opencontent. I (and others) have noticed that you've been using the word "we" to talk about the edits you and the other accounts made recently. The impression I get is that you and the individuals behind the other accounts have been editing with a common purpose or plan in mind. Outside of Wikipedia that can be a positive thing—teamwork, collaboration, synergy—but for an online collaboration like this, it can undermine an important aspect of on-wiki collaboration: the assumption that editors whom we engage in discussion or write alongside are independent actors; that when opinions and ideas are voiced and supported, it reflects the true makeup of the interested Wikipedia community and not a manipulated or falsified consensus. The policy page about sockpuppetry and meatpuppetry puts it better than I can: "It is considered inappropriate to advertise Wikipedia articles to your friends, family members, or communities of people who agree with you for the purpose of coming to Wikipedia and supporting your side of a debate." It's not just debates though; it encompasses article edits too.

If you have coordinated with the other accounts, then please disclose this and discontinue the effort. By all means continue to contribute to the encyclopedia, but please make sure you help reinforce the consensus model by speaking only for yourself and only through your one editing account.

I hope you feel welcome here and will enjoy contributing to Wikipedia going forward. Happy editing, alanyst ^/talk/ 07:48, 19 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Given the the "we" comments, and the BYU connection discussed elsewhere, I thought you might find Wikipedia:School and university projects useful; it includes "best practices guidelines to support educational and academic projects" involving Wikipedia. -- 208.81.184.4 (talk) 23:43, 19 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Class project

I think it's fantastic that you are encouraging your students to participate in improving Wikipedia. You and your students can ask for my help anytime by editing my talk page. I usually check Wikipedia at least once a day. As I am currently a student at BYU, I can also coordinate to meet with you and/or your students in person. There's a lot you can learn in order to get comfortable editing at Wikpedia and making sure your edits stick, and I'd be happy to "show you the ropes", online or in person. You can email me via Special:EmailUser/B Fizz; email would be preferred to coordinate meeting in person, since I do enjoy at least some level of anonymity at Wikipedia. ...comments? ~BF izz 03:36, 26 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]