Wikipedia:Inclusion is not an indicator of notability
This is an essay on notability. 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. |
This page in a nutshell: Anyone can edit Wikipedia. Inclusion on Wikipedia has no effect on a subject's notability. Non-inclusion does not indicate a lack of notability. |
A common argument used against the deletion of certain articles is that
Examining
An editor nominating one article for deletion is under no obligation to search for and nominate related articles of a similar level of notability (though they often do). Inconsistent enforcement of the deletion policy is a problem which is not the responsibility of any single editor. If you think another article is of equal non-notability to one being considered for deletion, you are welcome to nominate that article as well, but please
Conversely, non-inclusion is not an indication of non-notability. Since Wikipedia is continuously growing and expanding, new subjects and types of articles get included all the time. To suggest that a particular article is non-notable because no other similar articles exist would stunt the growth of Wikipedia, and do more harm than good.
On the other hand, if a similar article was nominated for deletion in the past, but kept, this does suggest the topic is notable, since notability is one of many factors evaluated when deciding whether to delete an article. However, consider that there may be essential differences between the two topics, or that inclusion standards may have shifted over time, such that the article would not be kept today.
Relatedly, mention of a subject in another article, or inclusion as a list entry in a
A better argument at WP:AfD
If editors fear that an article is being
An alternative view: Sometimes inclusion might indicate an emerging consensus for notability
The participants at AfD and the talk pages of notability guidelines might conceivably be a small minority of editors who are unrepresentative of the community as a whole, in that they are significantly more deletionist than the average editor. If this is the case, creation of articles on a particular type of subject might, in certain cases, indicate notability for that type of subject.
Illustrative example:
See also
- Wikipedia:Notability covers notability more generally.
- Wikipedia:Not every single thing Donald Trump does deserves an article
- Wikipedia:Existence ≠ Notability
- WP:OTHERSTUFFEXISTS
Notes
- ^ This number has been chosen as an arbitrary convenient round number may need to be revised up or down, to reflect the actual level of participation at AfD etc.