Wikipedia:Be Afraid

This page is intended as humor. It is not, has never been, nor will ever be, a Wikipedia policy or guideline.
Rather, it illustrates standards or conduct that are generally not accepted by the Wikipedia community.

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WP:AFRAID

This page in a nutshell: If it's broken, 80% of the time you're probably the worst person to fix it. Put ideas through the committee first. If it's worth doing, it's worth letting someone else do it.

“

Never suspect a conspiracy when incompetence will do.

”

Be AFRAID!

The Wikipedia community actively discourages you from

Being Bold!^TM

. Don't believe it? Just do any (or all) of the following:

category
template
rename a misnamed article
Be Bold!^TM and create a new project
without permission

Be Bold!^TM and create a task force
for an existing project without asking

Be Bold!^TM and submit an article about something other than a state flag as a featured article

spoiler tag

to your favorite fiction series

Be Bold!^TM and update a somewhat controversial article^[1]

You need to learn Wikipedia's underlying Bureaucracy before attempting anything so reckless as creating a new category, stub, template, or editing an existing one. Though these items are worded only as mere recommendations, it is best to think of Wikipedia recommendations as stronger than a mere suggestion, but still slightly less serious than a threat from Tony Soprano.

You should also learn that Wikipedia users often display

ownership of articles they've edited, and jealously guard the fiefdoms and cliques they've developed or have been recruited into. Should you step on a Wiktator's

toes, you can expect to see something like the following on your talk page, post-haste:

“

I see you have recently created a new xyz. As it states at xyz and in many other places on Wikipedia, it is recommended that new xyz are proposed prior to creation... And please, in future, consider proposing new xyz first!

”

Thus indicating that a Wikipedia recommendation is slightly stronger than a normal recommendation, in much the same way that hydrogen is slightly more flammable than concrete. If your first thought at reading the above quote is "WTF do I care about all that crap?" then you'd better think again, my friend.

As shown at the

Be Bold!^TM official Wikipedia guideline, what you shouldn't do far outstrips what you should do by about 4 to 1 on Wikipedia.^[2]

Welcome to the Free Encyclopedia that anyone can edit (just follow the guidelines below).

Some Edits Are OK

So long as you don't violate the recommendations listed above, it is considered acceptable to update articles, so long as you

Be Bold!^TM

In all other cases, Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid.

If you do happen to be a subject matter expert, feel free to

Be Bold!^TM—correct all the spelling and punctuation errors you like! They might not even be rolled back. However, if you lack the intimate knowledge of Wikipedia bureaucracy and all of the projects and people

that need to bless your actions, it is probably in your best interest not to take the initiative and step on anyone's toes by going above and beyond.

Want to create a category and help organize articles in your area of expertise? Not so fast... read the entire Manual of Style first. See something wrong with an article on a slightly controversial topic? Careful... do not upset the fragile consensus around it. Want to create a project to attract attention to the neglected nether-regions of Wikipedia? Hold up... Not until the committee approves your changes. After all, a camel is nothing but a "horse designed by committee".^[3]

Notes

^ This list is slowly growing to encompass pretty much everything on Wikipedia.
^ Maybe 5 to 1? Or 20 to 1? Whatever it is, it's a helluva big percentage.
^ And who doesn't love camels?

Be AFRAID!

Some Edits Are OK

Notes

See also