How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love WikiFur

"I used to be weary of WikiFur's contradictory and mercurial standards, but then I realized nothing is going to be done to remedy them. These days I think WikiFur is akin to watching a TV network dedicated to running over watermelons on an expressway. It's so much easier to deal with and makes so much more sense if you look at it as entertainment instead of information."

So I was thinking the other night (a dangerous thing, I know): Maybe my critics are right; maybe I do take things too seriously sometimes. I mean, back when GreenReaper announced he was creating an encyclopedia by and for the Furry fandom, that was an idea I wholeheartedly supported. Why wouldn't I take something like that seriously? True, GreenReaper did have a tendency to lend credence to the less-than-credible in the name of "neutrality" but I (perhaps at my own peril) didn't pay much attention to it because I felt at least his heart was in the right place, y'know?

But WikiFur was started in July 2005, and the cracks are definitely starting to show¹. Over the years WikiFur has suffered from scope creep and a particularly insidious definition of what qualifies as a reliable source. To wit: If you believe it, it's true as far as WikiFur is concerned. To say that this harms WikiFur's credibility is an understatement. People can (and have) added patent lunacy to WikiFur, and the position of the Admins there is that said lunacy is a content dispute and not vandalism.

This wouldn't be so bad if it were just GreenReaper, who over the years has gained a reputation for giving soapboxes and megaphones to kooks. What's really disappointing is that there doesn't seem to be a single Admin on WikiFur today willing to stand up to that nonsense. Unlike Wikipedia, WikiFur doesn't have a dispute resolution process (and they seem in no great hurry to implement one).

And so it goes. If the powers that be over on WikiFur aren't going to take their site seriously, why should I? I've gotta admit, laughing at the hypocrisy is a lot less stressful that wasting endless months trying to change it... but that's because it's the path of least resistance. And it's an understandable choice considering the low return on investment attempts to improve WikiFur have garnered at this point.

—Xydexx

Edit (2/19/12): Good Help Must Be Hard To Find Dept.:

A little birdie told me that GreenReaper (founder of WikiFur and editor of the Furry blog Flayrah) has nominated Equivamp (noted cyberstalker, Encyclopedia Dramatica editor, and former Burned Fur) to become a curator of the alleged Furry encyclopedia due to her "lasting positive contribution to this community"

Yes, you read right: GreenReaper thinks the mentally-disturbed girl who makes homophobic snipes over on Encyclopedia Dramatica and engages in RL harassment of other WikiFur users is a model example of the behavior WikiFur is looking for.

This comes as no surprise to me, considering GreenReaper's long history of giving soapboxes and megaphones to kooks. It's disappointing to see what had once been an optimistic project for the Furry community devolve over the years into... whatever it is GreenReaper is turning it into.



We need a new Furry encyclopedia. Seriously.

---

¹ "And while you're at it, make sure your anthropomorphic animal fandom encylopedia [sic] has articles about, you know, anthropomorphic animals." —Kellie Gator, in her WikiFur Rant