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This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Reward board page.
Archives: 1, 2
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Frequently asked questions
What problem does this solve?
This will help solve the basic problem of Wikipedia: it isn't done yet.

In particular, it could be used to help combat systemic bias. Bounties could be set to encourage work in areas that Wikipedia currently covers poorly: African topics, for example. Another suggestion is that it could provide incentives to reduce the large article maintenance backlog.

It also solves another problem: Wikipedians need money. More to the point, many Wikipedians pay for books and other information resources simply to perform research for Wikipedia. Reimbursing their costs will only make this easier for a large number of Wikipedians. WP:JOB could also be used as an avenue to purchase professional photography of article subjects to be released under GFDL, reducing or perhaps eliminating our reliance upon fair use.
What postings would be allowed?
This is currently under discussion, but soliciting any violation of policy (see the first objection) would of course be disallowed.
How long may challenges remain open?
Challenges may remain open for at most one year. After expiration, the challenge will be moved to expired requests; however, the challenge may be reposted with a new expiration.
How would payment be enforced?
Payment is at the sole discretion of the poster and this should be looked at more as an entry to a contest than a guaranteed trade.
Does this have precedent?
Yes. The German Wikipedia has something exactly like this currently in place at de:Wikipedia:Auftragsarbeiten.
Won't WP:JOB open up Wikipedia for corporate-sponsored POV editing?
The fact is, Wikipedia is already vulnerable to sponsored POV editing. As Wikipedia:Requests for comment/United States Congress shows us, even congressional staffers in the United States federal government have spent time "on the job" trying to skew Wikipedia.

But, supposing that WP:JOB was active, wouldn't it be used by corporations to skew editing? Again, this is unlikely. If someone posted "Make the article Microsoft more favorable to the company" with a bounty of 1,000,ドル the bounty itself would be delisted and countless Wikipedians would take action to protect the article against POV-skewing. If the bounty ever was paid, it would be wasted money, as the "favorable" version would quickly be reverted and the editor who took the bounty would face immediate action—even a block or a ban. It seems so much easier for someone working in Microsoft's PR department to be assigned this task without us ever being the wiser, and this is without doubt the route that our hypothetical Microsoft would take.

There's a related issue: what if the bounty was to "Bring the Microsoft article to featured article status", again with Microsoft overtly or covertly sponsoring the bounty. There's two possibilities: either the paid-for Microsoft article would meet FA standards on its own merits (in which case, the hypothetical Microsoft would have in fact helped us) or the paid-for Microsoft article would be biased. If the article itself is biased, then a large number of Wikipedia editors would oppose its nomination on this basis, and mark the page itself as {{pov}}, again derailing the FA nomination. Even in this case it would be better for Microsoft to hire PR staff instead of posting here.
Shouldn't editors contribute out of altruism, instead of monetary gain?
Wikipedians contribute for a variety of reasons, ranging from pure altruism to logorrhea to enjoyment of the work itself. What's ultimately important is the goal—to write a free, open-content enyclopedia—not the private motivations of the contributors.
Isn't this against the spirit of open source / free content?
Ask the Linux community. Many programmers have been paid to work on the Linux kernel by corporate employers, and the Free Software Foundation has hired full-time employees to work on GNU projects. Bounty boards are also employed in open source software for bug fixes and feature requests[1]. Even Wikipedia has had a paid contributor—our former editor in chief Larry Sanger, who was an employee of Jimmy Wales assigned full-time to Wikipedia until 2002. If, as a matter of principle, we cannot accept paid contributions, then we ought to take a close look at NASA researchers and released into the public domain).
Articles for deletion This Wikipedia project page was nominated for deletion. Please review the prior discussions if you are considering re-nomination:
To help centralize discussions and keep related topics together, Template talk:Rewardboardpages redirects here.

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COI in questions?

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The item Update MRB constant article was added by User:Marburns who is connected to the article MRB constant. He been promoting the article and constant on various websites for quite a few years.

First question. Should we leave the item here, or remove it for WP:COI concerns?

There is a broader question about rewards where there might be a COI. --Salix alba (talk): 17:40, 5 June 2021 (UTC) [reply ]

The COI editor is discouraged from editing the article themselves, so they ask here for help. That sounds okay to me, so long as they are not asking for a particular perspective (ie: promotional) in the article improvements. I've received prizes in editing contests a couple times, and I don't consider that paid editing (COI) because the only condition was the subject matter, not the treatment of the subject. – Reidgreg (talk) 16:11, 9 December 2023 (UTC) [reply ]

Should requests from banned editors be kept?

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May a banned editor keep a request on the reward board? This is relevant for Wikipedia:Reward board#Improve the grammar of Society, for which Equalwidth (talk · contribs) seems currently blocked.Darcyisverycute (talk) 11:07, 9 December 2023 (UTC) [reply ]

I feel that such requests should be removed. If the editor is banned, they can't exactly give anyone a barnstar anyways. – Reidgreg (talk) 16:15, 9 December 2023 (UTC) [reply ]
I agree. (Plus, I finished the task. No barnstar for me) --Of the universe (talk) 12:53, 15 December 2023 (UTC) [reply ]

Improving the History Level 5 Vital Articles List

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@Interstellarity It looks like your request is no longer relevant given that the vital articles list has been edited to no longer include contemporary and late modern history, instead having 20th and 21st century history. Are you still looking for people to improve the list? Of the universe (talk) 13:31, 15 December 2023 (UTC) [reply ]

Hi @Of the universe and thank you for reaching out. I'm in the process of working on the list. I would like it to include Late modern and Contemporary. The reason why I asked for it to be done is because the process is long and tedious. I am looking for some help with the list and would greatly appreciate your efforts with improving it. Interstellarity (talk) 13:32, 15 December 2023 (UTC) [reply ]
Ah, understood! Yes I'm happy to help, I'll get started when I have time this weekend. Of the universe (talk) 15:09, 15 December 2023 (UTC) [reply ]
@Interstellarity, it's done! Of the universe (talk) 20:33, 16 December 2023 (UTC) [reply ]

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