Change Details

This task was proposed in the [[ https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/2016_Community_Wishlist_Survey | Community Wishlist Survey 2016 ]]. This proposal received 47 support votes and was ranked #24 out of 265 proposals. [[ https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/2016_Community_Wishlist_Survey/Categories/Miscellaneous#Ask_new_users_to_disclose_paid_editing | View full proposal with discussion and votes here. ]] -------- === Problem === In [[ https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_use#4._Refraining_from_Certain_Activities | Terms of use#4. Refraining from Certain Activities ]], we have a section about the prohibition against "Paid contributions without disclosure". As more and more persons around the world come to regard the Wikimedia projects as opportunities to gain free advertising or advocacy, we encounter more and more users who violate these terms of use, sometimes due to good-faith lack of awareness. Such activity severely degrades our content, and can present a very time-consuming need for other editors to correct inappropriate content. Uncorrected promotional content reflects poorly on Wikimedia projects in the eyes of the public. This problem is very likely to get larger in the coming years === Who would benefit === New editors who are first registering an account would get helpful guidance, and everyone would benefit from wider awareness of, and compliance with, the terms of use. The proposal may not work for bad-faith users who will ignore it, or unregistered users, but there are many good-faith but unaware users who would benefit. === Proposed solution === During the process of registering a new account, a single new question would be added to the registration process: "Do you expect to edit Wikipedia for business or promotional purposes?" (The name of the applicable project would be substituted for "Wikipedia".) There would be a "yes"/"no" radio button to answer. An answer of "no" would have no effect. An answer of "yes" would result in the automatic placement of an informational message on the new user talk page, with information about and links to the applicable policies. At the English Wikipedia, this talk page message would be [[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Register-COI | en:Template:Register-COI ]]. The new user could read the message and follow its advice. More comments: This idea grew out of the discussion at [[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Harassment/Archive_10#A_process_at_account_registration | en:Wikipedia talk:Harassment/Archive 10#A process at account registration ]], where there was strong support in the English Wikipedia community. === Technical details === -- === Time, expertise and skills required === -- e.g. 2-3 weeks, advanced contributor, javascript, css, etc === Suitable for === -- e.g. Hackathon, GSOC, Outreachy, etc. === Proposer === [[ https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Tryptofish | Tryptofish ]] === Related links === -

This task was proposed in the [[ https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/2016_Community_Wishlist_Survey | Community Wishlist Survey 2016 ]]. This proposal received 47 support votes and was ranked #24 out of 265 proposals. [[ https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/2016_Community_Wishlist_Survey/Categories/Miscellaneous#Ask_new_users_to_disclose_paid_editing | View full proposal with discussion and votes here. ]] -------- === Problem === In [[ https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_use#4._Refraining_from_Certain_Activities | Terms of use#4. Refraining from Certain Activities ]], we have a section about the prohibition against "Paid contributions without disclosure". As more and more persons around the world come to regard the Wikimedia projects as opportunities to gain free advertising or advocacy, we encounter more and more users who violate these terms of use, sometimes due to good-faith lack of awareness. Such activity severely degrades our content, and can present a very time-consuming need for other editors to correct inappropriate content. Uncorrected promotional content reflects poorly on Wikimedia projects in the eyes of the public. This problem is very likely to get larger in the coming years === Who would benefit === New editors who are first registering an account would get helpful guidance, and everyone would benefit from wider awareness of, and compliance with, the terms of use. The proposal may not work for bad-faith users who will ignore it, or unregistered users, but there are many good-faith but unaware users who would benefit. === Proposed solution === During the process of registering a new account, a single new question would be added to the registration process: "Do you expect to edit Wikipedia for business or promotional purposes?" (The name of the applicable project would be substituted for "Wikipedia".) There would be a "yes"/"no" radio button to answer. An answer of "no" would have no effect. An answer of "yes" would result in the automatic placement of an informational message on the new user talk page, with information about and links to the applicable policies. At the English Wikipedia, this talk page message would be [[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Register-COI | en:Template:Register-COI ]]. The new user could read the message and follow its advice. More comments: This idea grew out of the discussion at [[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Harassment/Archive_10#A_process_at_account_registration | en:Wikipedia talk:Harassment/Archive 10#A process at account registration ]], where there was strong support in the English Wikipedia community. === Time, expertise and skills required === -- e.g. 2-3 weeks, advanced contributor, javascript, css, etc === Suitable for === -- e.g. Hackathon, GSOC, Outreachy, etc. === Proposer === [[ https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Tryptofish | Tryptofish ]]