Directory:Wikiversity/Wikimedia Ethics/The Ethics of Breaching Experiment - Revision history

MyWikiBiz: /* related studies, non 'breaching' */ AntVenture

2010-03-30T20:04:19Z

related studies, non 'breaching': AntVenture

MyWikiBiz: /* What is a breaching experiment? */ AntVenture

2010-03-30T20:03:45Z

What is a breaching experiment?: AntVenture

Jon Awbrey: /* 'On Wikipedia' Documents the Dr. Handel debacle */ fix links

2010-03-20T15:25:58Z

'On Wikipedia' Documents the Dr. Handel debacle: fix links

Jon Awbrey: cleanup

2010-03-20T15:24:29Z

cleanup

Jon Awbrey: cleanup

2010-03-20T15:20:18Z

cleanup

MyWikiBiz: Copied from Wikiversity, available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

2010-03-20T12:17:34Z

Copied from Wikiversity, available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

New page

Why do people execute '''breaching experiments'''? How do they do it? On
this page we discuss, analyze, explore, and study why and how people
execute '''breaching experiments''' - in particular whether it's
possible to conduct one ethically, and if so, how they might be designed
and executed to best inform policy and practice on WMF projects. People
who have formally executed breaching experiments may be asked to provide
some insight as to why and how they did it for the purpose of better
understanding what motivates people to do it.

==Participants==
''please do sign up below''
* [[User:Privatemusings|

Privatemusings]] 00:47, 18 January 2010 (UTC)

== What is a breaching experiment? ==
Please have a go at your own definition below;
# '''ethical breaching experiment''': An experiment which causes no harm in its execution, whilst yielding results useful for the greater good, or which inspire positive change, but which uses methods which may violate the letter or spirit of the guideline [[w:Wikipedia:Do_not_disrupt_Wikipedia_to_illustrate_a_point#State_your_point.3B_do_not_prove_it_experimentally|'Do not disrupt Wikipedia to illustrate a point']]
[[User:Privatemusings|Privatemusings]] 00:57, 18 January 2010 (UTC)

== Wikimedia examples ==
* [[w:Wikipedia:Newbie_treatment_at_Criteria_for_speedy_deletion|'WP:NEWT']]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:MZMcBride&oldid=338464991#Vandalizing_BLPs Provision of a list of unwatched biographical articles with the intention of some sort of experiment occurring] see [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:MZMcBride&oldid=338641888#Request here] for list of biographies, many of which feature 'breaching' edits in their history. The project appears to have been halted by admin. and arbcom involvement.

==='On Wikipedia' Documents the Dr. Handel debacle===
[http://onwikipedia.blogspot.com/2010/03/dr-handel-or-how-i-learned-to-stop.html
The Dr. Handel debacle]

[[/Mike Handel breach/|Wikiversity case study on the Mike Handel
situation.]]

===Report from Limey ([http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=28227&view=findpost&p=216251 link])===
''I have two lovely fake biographies on Wikipedia that have been there
over 6 months. They've both been edited by other people, and contain
fairly outlandish statements that anyone with an internet connection
should know to be false. If they ever get removed, I'll write it all up
at [http://onwikipedia.blogspot.com/ On Wikipedia], but they may perhaps
remain forever and gradually become a part of history.''

===Report from Herschelkrustofsky ([http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=28227&view=findpost&p=216255 link])===
''Plausible-sounding but fictitious references exist in
[[w:Little_Roger_and_the_Goosebumps|Little Roger and the Goosebumps]],
but no effort has been made to remove them''

===Report from Tarantino ([http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=28227&view=findpost&p=216258 link])===
''[http://webcitation.org/5fpmjrc7T This article] on the Himalayan Panda
was created on April Fools Day and lasted nearly 6 months before it was
[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Log&page=Himalayan_Panda
deleted]. The reference and external link seemed to support it if you
didn't read them carefully.

It still lives on in a similar form on
[http://www.webcitation.org/5mrbgqDo2 Persianne's user page].
''

==Hoaxes not apparently related to 'breaching experiments'==
* [http://wikipediareview.com/blog/20091211/its-the-casting-director-lee-dennison-story/ The Lee Dennison story]

==Suggestions / Ideas from others==
===Suggestions from Gomi ([http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=28227&view=findpost&p=216250 link])===

# Add citations to plausible-sounding but fictitious references to BLPs
and/or health/medical articles. Inserting no actual defamation or
misinformation, but supporting statements with fake references will show
how open to abuse the Wiki model is;
# Create articles on non-existent people and companies. This will be
difficult, but if carefully checked to be non-existent, the harm done
here is minimal;
# Create fake articles on (non-existent) latin-named plants and animals,
similar to #2, above;

==related studies, non 'breaching'==
* [http://www.mywikibiz.com/Wikipedia_Vandalism_Study Wikipedia Vandalism Study] - concerning US Senator articles on the english
wikipedia.

==Possible areas of research==
'''''Feel free to make suggestions below - you may even be able to make
a point while you're at it! (see no.s 5 and 6 below ;-)'''''
# Comparing classes of articles - eg. how is unsourced information
treated when added by editors of similar reputation in different classes
of articles
# Copyright concerns
# Academic honesty / plagiarism
#"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent." -Isaac Asimov
##from [[w:Larry Sanger|Larry Sanger]] to [[User:Moulton|Moulton]]:
Wikimedia's war against academic scholars
##the destruction of content by Wikimedia's deletionists
##censorship, bad blocks and bad bans imposed by Wikimedia's abusive
administrators
#Studying the effect on Wikiversity/Wikipedia relations - are
experimental pursuits into Wikipedia space, amid possible claims that
this workshop encouraged, which it certainly did for some time in its
initial months, going to result in a polaristation from which
participants in Wikiversity are seen as experimental saboteurs, sneaking
into the encyclopaedia to damage? Will Wikiversity seem as a hideaway
which cannot be reached in which disruptions are plotted and recruits
employed? Will Wikipedia editors find themselves imposed upon as
unwilling test subjects by this workshop?
# Egregious [[:w:Begging the question|question-begging]] in Wikiversity
projects

==Questions==
'''''Feel free to answer (please sign with four tildas) below;'''''
*If an organization is so dysfunctional in correcting its defects that
people are driven to perform "breaching experiments", then is there
really any reason to hope that "breaching experiments" could lead to
positive outcomes? If an organization cannot correct its problems
through conventional means, then won't attempts to use unconventional
means simply be crushed/ignored by the people in the organization who
already prevent conventional methods from correcting existing problems?
::Hopefully not - the understanding gained from considering such
approaches may be valuable regardless, I think.
[[User:Privatemusings|Privatemusings]] 00:20, 15 March 2010 (UTC)
*Should any Wikimedia website be permitted to examine, and thereby
provide a staging ground, for testing anothers rules by breaking them?
::A difficult one - probably worth looking deeper into [[w:Quality
control]] and things like that to see how other organisations deal with
such things. Short answer from me is I don't know.
[[User:Privatemusings|Privatemusings]] 00:20, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

*Is this a matter of a playful grey area?
::It does seem grey, and it's probably possible to learn from play (as a
principle) but I don't feel this is ''just'' a playful grey area, no.
[[User:Privatemusings|Privatemusings]] 00:20, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

*Are the links to previous hoaxers etc. a hall of fame, intentionally or
not?
::They don't seem to me to have that efect.
[[User:Privatemusings|Privatemusings]] 00:20, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

==Reactions==
* I have seen your posts on Wikipedia Review and Wikiversity regarding
the subject of "ethical breaching experiments." These generally are not
permissible, and your involvement would be particularly unhelpful in
light of prior history. Please refrain from engaging in, or inducing
others to engage in, this practice. [[w:User:Newyorkbrad|Newyorkbrad]]
([[w:User talk:Newyorkbrad|talk]]) 15:58, 18 January 2010 (UTC)
(newyorkbrad is a member of the english wikipedia's 'arbcom')
* The only thing I'd personally like to see regarding "breaching
experiments", especially that those that deliberately insert bad/false
information into articles is: "Don't do them.", personally. They violate
WP:POINT in a way that cannot easily be reconciled with further editing.
[[w:User:SirFozzie|SirFozzie]] ([[w:User talk:SirFozzie|talk]]) 01:47,
19 January 2010 (UTC) (sirfozzie is a member of the english wikipedia's
'arbcom')
* The Dept of Fatherland Security runs deliberate tests of the airport
security system, by having agents see if they can get stuff past the
screeners, who are (supposedly) left out of the loop. It's very
important QC instrument. But suppose they were total doofuses who
weren't doing this AT ALL. And suppose some citizens decided to take it
upon themselves, using harmless toy mockups and so forth. Can you
imagine the shitstorm? That's rather what we have at Wikipedia. They
won't do it themselves, and they won't let anybody else do it, either. -
'Milton Roe'
([http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=28227&view=findpost&p=216244
link])
* This page was deleted, and undeleted, leading to
[[Wikiversity:Community_Review/Wikimedia_Ethics:Ethical_Breaching_Experiments|this]]
review.

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:04, 30 March 2010
Line 76:		Line 76:

	* [http://www.mywikibiz.com/Wikipedia_Vandalism_Study Wikipedia Vandalism Study] — concerning U.S. Senator articles on the English Wikipedia.		* [http://www.mywikibiz.com/Wikipedia_Vandalism_Study Wikipedia Vandalism Study] — concerning U.S. Senator articles on the English Wikipedia.
		+	{{GKAnt}}
		+	<br>

	==Possible areas of research==		==Possible areas of research==

@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 # '''ethical breaching experiment''':  An experiment which causes no harm in its execution, whilst yielding results useful for the greater good, or which inspire  positive change, but which uses methods which may violate the letter  or spirit of the guideline [[w:Wikipedia:Do_not_disrupt_Wikipedia_to_illustrate_a_point#State_your_point.3B_do_not_prove_it_experimentally|'Do not disrupt Wikipedia to illustrate a point']]
 [[User:Privatemusings|Privatemusings]]  00:57, 18 January 2010 (UTC)
 ==Wikimedia examples==

@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 * [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:MZMcBride&oldid=338464991#Vandalizing_BLPs Provision of a list of unwatched biographical articles with the intention of some sort of experiment occurring] see [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:MZMcBride&oldid=338641888#Request here] for list of biographies, many of which feature 'breaching' edits in  their history. The project appears to have been halted by admin. and arbcom   involvement.
-==='On Wikipedia' Documents the Dr. Handel  debacle===
+===''On Wikipedia'' Documents the Dr. Handel debacle===
-[http://onwikipedia.blogspot.com/2010/03/dr-handel-or-how-i-learned-to-stop.html
+* [http://onwikipedia.blogspot.com/2010/03/dr-handel-or-how-i-learned-to-stop.html The Dr. Handel debacle]
-[[/Mike Handel breach/|Wikiversity case  study on the Mike Handel
+[[/Mike Handel breach/|Wikiversity case  study on the Mike Handel situation.]]
 ===Report from Limey ([http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=28227&view=findpost&p=216251 link])===

@@ Line 139: / Line 139: @@
 ==Reactions==
-* I have seen your posts on Wikipedia  Review and Wikiversity regarding
-the subject of "ethical breaching  experiments." These generally are not
+* I have seen your posts on Wikipedia Review and Wikiversity regarding the subject of "ethical breaching  experiments".  These generally are not permissible, and your involvement would be particularly unhelpful in light of prior history.  Please refrain from engaging in, or inducing others to engage in, this practice. [[w:User:Newyorkbrad|Newyorkbrad]] ([[w:User   talk:Newyorkbrad|talk]]) 15:58, 18 January 2010 (UTC)
-permissible, and your  involvement would be particularly unhelpful in
 (newyorkbrad  is a member of the english wikipedia's 'arbcom')
 * The only thing I'd  personally like to see regarding "breaching
-experiments", especially  that those that deliberately insert bad/false
+* The only thing I'd  personally like to see regarding "breaching experiments", especially that those that deliberately insert bad/false information into  articles is: "Don't do them.", personally. They violate WP:POINT in a way that cannot easily be reconciled with further editing.  [[w:User:SirFozzie|SirFozzie]]   ([[w:User talk:SirFozzie|talk]]) 01:47, 19 January 2010 (UTC)
 information into  articles is: "Don't do them.", personally. They violate
-WP:POINT in a  way that cannot easily be reconciled with further editing.
+(sirfozzie is a member of the english wikipedia's 'arbcom')
 [[w:User:SirFozzie|SirFozzie]]   ([[w:User talk:SirFozzie|talk]]) 01:47,
-January 2010 (UTC)  (sirfozzie is a member of the english wikipedia's
+* The  Dept of Fatherland Security runs deliberate tests of the airport security system, by having agents see if they can get stuff past the screeners, who are (supposedly) left out of the loop. It's very important QC instrument. But suppose they were total doofuses who weren't doing  this AT ALL. And suppose some citizens decided to take it upon  themselves, using harmless toy mockups and so forth. Can you imagine the shitstorm?  That's rather what we have at Wikipedia. They won't do  it themselves, and they won't let anybody else do it, either. &mdash; "Milton Roe" ([http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=28227&view=findpost&p=216244 link])
 'arbcom')
-* The  Dept of Fatherland Security runs deliberate tests of the airport
+* This page was deleted, and undeleted, leading to [[Wikiversity:Community_Review/Wikimedia_Ethics:Ethical_Breaching_Experiments|this]] review.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-Why do people execute '''breaching experiments'''? How do they do it? On
+Why do people execute '''breaching experiments'''?  How do they do it?  On this page we discuss, analyze, explore, and study why and how people execute '''breaching experiments''' &mdash; in particular whether it's possible to conduct one ethically, and if so, how they might be designed and executed to best inform policy and practice on WMF projects.  People who have formally executed breaching experiments may be asked to provide some insight as to why and how they did it for the purpose of better understanding what motivates people to do it.
 ==Participants==
 ''please do  sign up below''
 * [[User:Privatemusings|
@@ Line 14: / Line 8: @@
 Privatemusings]] 00:47,  18  January 2010 (UTC)
-== What is a breaching experiment? ==
+==What is a breaching experiment?==
-Please   have a go at your own definition below;
-# '''ethical breaching  experiment''': An experiment which causes no harm in its execution,  whilst yielding results useful for the greater good, or which inspire  positive change, but which uses methods which may violate the letter  or spirit of the guideline [[w:Wikipedia:Do_not_disrupt_Wikipedia_to_illustrate_a_point#State_your_point.3B_do_not_prove_it_experimentally|'Do not disrupt Wikipedia to illustrate a point']]
+Please have a go at your own definition below;
 [[User:Privatemusings|Privatemusings]]  00:57, 18 January 2010 (UTC)
-== Wikimedia examples ==
+==Wikimedia examples==
 * [[w:Wikipedia:Newbie_treatment_at_Criteria_for_speedy_deletion|'WP:NEWT']]
 * [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:MZMcBride&oldid=338464991#Vandalizing_BLPs Provision of a list of unwatched biographical articles with the intention of some sort of experiment occurring] see [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:MZMcBride&oldid=338641888#Request here] for list of biographies, many of which feature 'breaching' edits in  their history. The project appears to have been halted by admin. and arbcom   involvement.
 ==='On Wikipedia' Documents the Dr. Handel  debacle===
 [http://onwikipedia.blogspot.com/2010/03/dr-handel-or-how-i-learned-to-stop.html
-The   Dr. Handel debacle]
+The Dr. Handel debacle]
 [[/Mike Handel breach/|Wikiversity case  study on the Mike Handel
@@ Line 31: / Line 29: @@
 ===Report from Limey ([http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=28227&view=findpost&p=216251 link])===
 ''I   have two lovely fake biographies on Wikipedia that have been there
 over   6 months. They've both been edited by other people, and contain
@@ Line 39: / Line 38: @@
 ===Report from Herschelkrustofsky ([http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=28227&view=findpost&p=216255 link])===
 ''Plausible-sounding   but fictitious references exist in
 [[w:Little_Roger_and_the_Goosebumps|Little   Roger and the Goosebumps]],
@@ Line 44: / Line 44: @@
 ===Report from Tarantino ([http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=28227&view=findpost&p=216258 link])===
 ''[http://webcitation.org/5fpmjrc7T  This article] on the Himalayan Panda
 was created on April  Fools Day and  lasted nearly 6 months before it was
@@ Line 50: / Line 51: @@
 didn't  read them carefully.
-It still lives on in a similar form on
+It still lives on in a similar form on [http://www.webcitation.org/5mrbgqDo2 Persianne's user page].''
-[http://www.webcitation.org/5mrbgqDo2  Persianne's user page].
-''
+==Hoaxes not apparently related to "breaching experiments"==
 * [http://wikipediareview.com/blog/20091211/its-the-casting-director-lee-dennison-story/ The Lee Dennison story]
 ==Suggestions / Ideas from others==
-===Suggestions   from Gomi ([http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=28227&view=findpost&p=216250 link])===
 #  Add citations to plausible-sounding but fictitious references to BLPs
@@ Line 64: / Line 65: @@
 misinformation,   but supporting statements with fake references will show
 how open to  abuse the Wiki model is;
 # Create articles on non-existent people  and companies. This will be
 difficult, but if carefully checked to be  non-existent, the harm done
 here is minimal;
 # Create fake  articles on (non-existent) latin-named plants and animals,
 similar to  #2, above;
 ==related studies, non 'breaching'==
-* [http://www.mywikibiz.com/Wikipedia_Vandalism_Study  Wikipedia Vandalism Study] - concerning US Senator articles on the english
-wikipedia.
+* [http://www.mywikibiz.com/Wikipedia_Vandalism_Study Wikipedia Vandalism Study] &mdash; concerning U.S. Senator articles on the English Wikipedia.
 ==Possible areas of research==
 '''''Feel free to make suggestions below - you  may even be able to make
 a point while you're at it! (see no.s 5 and 6  below ;-)'''''
 # Comparing classes of articles - eg. how is  unsourced information
 treated when added by editors of similar  reputation in different classes
 of articles
 # Copyright concerns
 #  Academic honesty / plagiarism
 #"Violence is the last refuge of the  incompetent." -Isaac  Asimov
 ##from [[w:Larry Sanger|Larry Sanger]] to  [[User:Moulton|Moulton]]:
@@ Line 88: / Line 96: @@
 ##censorship, bad  blocks and bad bans imposed by Wikimedia's abusive
 administrators
 #Studying   the effect on Wikiversity/Wikipedia relations - are
 experimental  pursuits into Wikipedia space, amid possible claims that