Steve Irwins Guide To Wiki

[Saved from BoogerClubDeletionWar]

How does one maintain controversial content on Wiki without inciting a deletion war? A big part of it lies in your strategic approach. It's not too dissimilar from the way popular animal show host Steve Irwin handles deadly animals as if they were kittens. How does he do that?

Heck, it's easy. First, Irwin doesn't try to contend with the animal. Any direct approach to a cobra is not going to work out well for you. And if you want to get close to a tiger you're going to want a tiger-trap. See CalvinAndHobbes #1 for instructions ;-) Irwin approaches animals from directions and with approaches that don't look like the animal's predator or prey.

(So an Iraqi who actually thought about how to approach an American soldier without getting shot would bleach their hair blonde and scratch an American flag into the paint on their car. We've talked about this elsewhere on wiki) - OnlySayThingsThatCanBeHeard.

Next, Irwin doesn't defend himself. Defensive behavior is literally a red flag to a bull. This is why you must never try to run away from a bear. Bears think running people look very tasty. Deleters think your pages look tasty for the same reasons.

Last, Irwin treats the animal with compassion. If it's hungry, he feeds it. If it's stuck down a well, he pulls it out. He wants the animal to survive, so he thinks about what's good for both himself and it, and acts accordingly.

So the way forward is clear. First, don't get into a deletion war in the first place. If someone deletes a page of yours, you just let 'em. There's lots of other ideas in your noggin - express one of those instead. If the idea that was on your deleted page has merit, someone else will re-express it for you soon enough.

Second, MakeSignalNotNoise and generally be a GoodWikiCitizen. People will give you a lot of latitude then because they'll come to expect you to help their own edits, and return courtesy, and avoid impropriety. Then you won't have to defend your edits; they'll defend you.

Last, contribute stuff that relates to what other people are talking about; you can create pages as dopey as EndOfWiki, VeryGoodSeats, or RulesOfGeelf if you just relate them to your audience.

So BoogerClub (and other similar pages) isn't getting deleted because people here don't recognize merit; it's getting deleted because you don't understand SteveIrwin?. Crikey! --PeterMerel

Good work. Thanks for the rescue