Wikipedia and Davis Square LJ

[ron_newman]

In the last day, someone has twice removed the long-standing link to this LJ community from the Davis Square Wikipedia page. I put it back, and someone took it out again. I really don't want to get into an edit war. Would someone else like to restore it this time?

Comments

[queue.livejournal.com]

Well, according to the discussion on the page, linking to the LJ violates the Wikipedia external links policy.

(And on an unrelated note, I'm amused that the person writing up Davis Square is apparently British: "the neighbourhood which centres on the square.")

[georgy.livejournal.com]

That's a curious policy -- why is it in place?

[myselftheliar.livejournal.com]

there was a problem with people using wikipedia to promote their fan-based LJ's (Orlando Bloom fans, various anime fans, LJ's about sports teams) so they made it a universal rule, no LJ's.

[queue.livejournal.com]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:EL

All social-networking sites and blogs are restricted from being external links.

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

This is neither a blog nor a social-networking site. Not even close.

Though, it is kind of a pointless thing to link to. Wikipedia also needs to stop using so many awful photos.

(I'm very cranky today, apparently)

[spatch]

So, in other words: Forget it, Jake, it's Chinatown Wikipedia.

[prog.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. This isn't really either of those, though... it's more like a community forum that happens to be hosted on a bloggy website.

[ron_newman]

To me, this community is an essential part of Davis Square. And the link was on the Wiki page for a year.

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

I'm also amused by the debate over whether Davis is walkable to Haravrd or not. I just moved to Harvard 2 months ago and I've walked to Davis at least 5 times. It's not that far. People are lazy :p

[spatch]

Seriously, do we really want those goofballs taking up shop in this community? Leave 'em in Wikipedia Land, I say. We have our own goofballs already!

[ron_newman]

It's a 25-minute walk for me. I like the walk, but I think most people consider "walking distance" to be about a half mile (10 minutes).

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

Heh, well, I technically live 5 minutes toward Porter from the Harvard T, so yes 25 minutes :)

My walk to work is 35 minutes and I consider it very walkable. Walking distance is any distance you can walk without dying!

[skate97.livejournal.com]

hm, it takes me about 12 minutes to walk a mile, so maybe it's all in how you walk?

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Oh, please. Of course it is. But I have also walked from Davis to Kendall.

[dmcgettrick.livejournal.com]

I walked from Arlington to ParkStreet.

[nowalmart.livejournal.com]

I was walking from Davis to the Washington Street stop (on the B line) a couple of times a week for a month or so.

Of course I consider myself a bit of a "professional walker", so...

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

Depends on what the purpose is. I mean, if a realtor said "this apartment is within walking distance of the T!" and it was the distance from Davis to Harvard, I would be wroth. But if the purpose is "a commute" or "a nice walk", it's totally reasonable. I quite like that stretch of Mass Ave myself :).

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

well yes, I walk to and from my work which is out past Central (it's only 35 minutes) and I think it very walkable. At the same time, my 5-minute walk to the T irritates me :)

[rikchik.livejournal.com]

At any rate, discussing it here won't change the minds of the people who are removing the link. If you can make the case that this community is notable on the discussion page of the article, the watchers of the page will back you up in the future. (I'm not sure the case can be made, myself, but that's clearly what the next step would be.)

[ron_newman]

I'll think about that. To me, this community is a source of local news, often reporting it more quickly and accurately than any newspaper. I bet a link to the Somerville News would not be removed ...

[jadelennox]

Yeah, what rikchik says. A well reasoned argument on the talk page will work wonders on most noncontroversial Wikipedia pages. I would make it, but sadly I am still a recovering wikiholic, and I dare not login for fear of relapse.

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

it's also a lot more biased though ;0

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

It's (likely) going to fail [[WP:EL]] based on
"Links to blogs and personal web pages, except those written by a recognized authority."

even though this is a community page on LJ, it is still a blog about a community, and it is not written by a sole recognized authority.

[amethystmoon.livejournal.com]

here's an idea - someone could edit the article to mention that there is a davis_square livejournal community rather than actually linking to it, perhaps in doing so describing its use to the community. More informative, still at least technically within the rules, still puts it out there.

Or, Ron, if you are going to appeal to the powers that be to allow the link, fuel for your argument is that it is a "livejournal COMMUNITY", not an individual's, band's, or organization's blog.

[syntheticnature.livejournal.com]

Nah, it would still be fall under "Links to social networking sites (such as MySpace), discussion forums or USENET." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:EL#Links_normally_to_be_avoided), as a type of discussion forum. If you put a description into the article proper, it would likely be removed unless you could include a Reliable Independent Source demonstrating the significance of this LJ community.