Wikipedia:Subjective importance
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. |
This page in a nutshell: Some subjects may seem notable because they are perceived as being important. But without meeting Wikipedia's inclusion criteria, they are not notable. |
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Subjective importance is when a subject is perceived as being
A subject may be the biggest, the best, or the most well-known of something. It may be possible on this basis to argue that it should obviously be included. But without a single
For example, a high school basketball player may be the best on their team. A pizza shop may serve the most popular pizza in town. A church may be the oldest place of worship in the region. These facts may be well known to those most familiar with these subjects. But there may be nothing published about any of this that can be used as sources for the basis of an article.
Also, certain factors that are viewed as respectable by society are likewise not automatic grounds for notability. The world has many physicians who have studied hard and save lives. But most of these physicians are relatively unheard of in published sources and are not worthy of articles. Likewise, the principal of a school or the founder of a club do not get automatic articles for their achievements.
Factors that do not automatically render notability
There are many reasons why one may believe something is notable when they are not. In many cases, these have been used in arguments to keep an article proposed for deletion, and they sometimes have worked.
Age
- Keep He is the oldest living person in the country right now – Own A Title, 14:12, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
- Keep This store has been around for 105 years – Hand-me-down, 17:35, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
- Keep This house was built over 1300 years ago – Restored, 21:07, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
Just because it's old, that doesn't mean it's notable.
Age is just a number, and numbers are not used to judge notability on Wikipedia. Everything and everyone has an age, and with each passing day, that age is increased by one day. That age will continue to increase as long as the person is alive, or the object still exists. At what time will that person or object be ready for an article?
If a structure that is still standing is thousands of years old, and there is a name put to it, it is likely that there will be
The older something is, the more difficult published sources can be to locate. Sources for subjects that existed before the days of the internet are more likely to be offline. While there is
Popularity
- Keep It is the best-selling brand – Keeping up with the Joneses, 06:32, 14 September 2009 (UTC)
- Keep It is a game everyone plays – Challenge me, 06:32, 14 September 2009 (UTC)
- Keep It is a favorite recipe – Mmmmmmmmmmmmm, 06:32, 14 September 2009 (UTC)
There are many things that have reached the status of one of the above examples, yet they have never been covered in any published source, and they are nothing more than word-of-mouth. Word-of-mouth is not only insufficient for Wikipedia notability, but it may also be
There are sites, such as
Fame
- Keep He has hundreds of fans – Autograph collector, 09:41, 5 May 2010 (UTC)
- Keep Her picture is in the local newspaper – Instant celebrity, 09:41, 5 May 2010 (UTC)
- Keep They performed at Town Square – Money in the hat, 09:41, 5 May 2010 (UTC)
- Keep He was on a reality TV show – 2000s star, 09:41, 5 May 2010 (UTC)
There are many levels of fame. These include:
- International fame: Refers to those who are known around the world.
- National fame: People who are known within their own country to its own citizens
- Local fame: Where one is an iconic figure within their own city, town, or region, but unheard of beyond. See WP:LOCAL
- Reality TV shows, but otherwise have no coverage.
But
Regardless of the degree of fame, a
Talent
- Keep He is a really great artist – Autograph collector, 04:17, 31 March 2006 (UTC)
- Keep She is a very fast runner – Triathlon, 04:17, 31 March 2006 (UTC)
- Keep They are a tremendous band – CD collector, 04:17, 31 March 2006 (UTC)
It is nice to have such talent. But all too often, one's talent and greatness is a matter of personal taste. Even when measured by statistics (such as the number of home runs one has hit) and recorded, it means nothing in the way of notability unless it gets published. Furthermore, every single person in any occupation at all could always simply claim to have talent, whether they've actually achieved anything encyclopedically noteworthy or not — however, Wikipedia's inclusion standards are not based on what's been claimed about a person or group, but on what can be
And even if a statistic is measurable by numbers, being a great feat is still a point-of-view issue. A high school sports star may not be able to score once at a professional level. A child prodigy may not grow up to be very successful. This is just another reason why sources must continue to rule over so-called "talent."
Rank
- Keep It is the 5th largest Italian restaurant in Bergenshire – StatsKeeper, 12:45, 14 November 2008 (UTC)
- Keep It is the only elementary school on Sunny Drive – No Choice, 12:45, 14 November 2008 (UTC)
- Keep It was the first swim club to open within a 2-mile radius of the only convenience store in the neighborhood of Cedarland Heights – One-of-a-kind, 12:45, 14 November 2008 (UTC)
- Keep Their single reached #98 on the Billboard chart – Chartfanatic, 12:45, 14 November 2008 (UTC)
You see how ridiculous this may sound. Believe it or not, arguments similar to these have been made in
Notability is not about being the biggest, the best, or the only of something. Likewise, not fitting this description does not make something not notable. Notability is about having published, non-trivial information (i.e., more than a mere mention) in multiple sources independent of the subject, and the article itself not being the first place to provide the information. No matter what, you can combine all the variables you would like, and then find something unique about every person, every business, every idea.
Prestigious position
- Keep He has a master's degree – Earn your article, 13:16, 22 December 2004 (UTC)
- Keep She has a Harvard PhD – Erudition, 14:18, 24 December 2004 (UTC)
- Keep She is a physician – CPR, 13:16, 22 December 2004 (UTC)
- Keep He is a priest/minister/rabbi/imam – Blessed, 13:16, 22 December 2004 (UTC)
- Keep She is an attorney – It's the law, 13:16, 22 December 2004 (UTC)
Certain positions and titles in front of a person's name are a sign of having really accomplished something. Being known as "Dr. John Doe" or "The Reverend John Doe" or "John Doe, Attorney at Law" sounds a lot nicer than simply being called "John Doe." It is quite deserving too. Yet, there are plenty of people out there in these positions who have never received the coverage needed to be given a Wikipedia article. In fact, a very small percentage of those in such positions have accomplished just that.
It may seem strange that at the same time, so many people who have not come close to the above achievements qualify for having articles. Some people have articles for writing one short book, acting in one film, or publishing one song. Some people have articles for playing briefly on a professional sports team. Some people have earned themselves articles just for being victims of crime, or even stranger when you come to think of it, committing the crimes themselves.
While this may seem so unfair, this does not mean a person who has achieved a high academic credential in their field is unimportant,
Non-profit/government operated
- Keep The subject is not out there to make money – Seeking donations, 13:16, 22 December 2004 (UTC)
- Keep This is a service provided by a government agency – Your hard-earned dollars, 13:16, 22 December 2004 (UTC)
- Keep This article does not advance the subject's cause – Just informing you, 13:16, 22 December 2004 (UTC)
- Keep This NGO helps cute baby bunnies – Cute'n_cuddly, 13:16, 24 December 2004 (UTC)
It is a given.
For starters, in case you have not noticed, Wikipedia does allow articles about for-profit companies, provided that they meet notability guidelines. Wikipedia has thousands of articles on for-profit companies, ranging from international corporations that are household vocabulary (e.g. Walmart), to some local businesses operating a single location known mostly to those in the region (such as the Hersheypark).
Likewise, an entity that is not out there to make a profit, and is funded by taxes or private donations, or does not operate using money at all, can be excluded if it fails to meet Wikipedia's
One thing to be aware of is that many services operated by a national, state/provincial, or municipal government are not 100% tax-funded and do indeed solicit income via advertising, just like a for-profit corporation. For example, the
You also cannot forget that the purpose of many non-profit organizations is to support some partisan, often controversial cause (e.g.
Dictionary definitions
Wikipedia is not a dictionary. There are many subjects that are commonplace in our lives. But the most that can be said about them is a simple definition, nothing more, no matter how hard you search. In such a case, rather than creating an article, it is preferable to link from articles that give important mention on the subject with the following: [[wikt:subject name]]. If the subject is the title of a disambiguation page, a link to the wiktionary entry can be obtained by adding {{wiktionary|subjectname}} to the top. If there is only one other use, this can be accomplished through a hatnote of {{see wiktionary|subjectname}}.
For example, the title "nice" is used for the French city Nice. On the page Nice (disambiguation), there is such a link to the word "nice," which includes the English adjective.
Entry of
If one more piece of sourceable information besides the very basic definition can be included, even if the article is still a stub, it is worthy of inclusion.
See also
- Wikipedia:Bare notability
- Wikipedia:But it's true!
- Wikipedia:Inclusion is not an indicator of notability
- Wikipedia:Obscure does not mean not notable
- Wikipedia:Run-of-the-mill
- Wikipedia:Arguments to avoid in deletion discussions § Subjective importance
- Wikipedia:Arguments to avoid on discussion pages § Subjective importance
- Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not
- Wikipedia:Wikipedia is not here to tell the world about your noble cause
- Wikipedia:An article about yourself is nothing to be proud of
- Wikipedia:Existence ≠ Notability
- Wikipedia:Existence does not prove notability
- Wikipedia:Why is BFDI not allowed on Wikipedia?– a case study