Comments on: Essjay quits Wikipedia

By: Gary Kirk

Gary Kirk — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 13:06:49 +0000

I don’t think “the majority of the people hate [Essjay]“. He made a mistake which then, as his Wikipedia career went on, caught up with him and basically ruined him as he cannot – at the moment – be completely trusted. He isn’t hated by most of the community though, for sure.

By: Cyde Weys

Cyde Weys — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 04:10:41 +0000

Well, it is possible that Essjay might return under a new name, but I don’t see it as so likely. Changing names isn’t going to change the animosity that so much of the community feels at him. If you were Essjay, would you really want to continue on in a hidden identity where the majority of the people hate you? It’s a harsh environment for him. He’ll probably go find some other online community and start over. And hopefully he’s learned his lesson, and won’t lie about himself. Of course, he’ll need to stay anonymous, because his real life identity is now (ironically) tainted from his aborted attempt to “maintain his anonymity”.

By: Adrian Lamo

Adrian Lamo — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 02:11:32 +0000

Now the question is whether J. Wales will really clamp down, and cap Essjay at a strict maximum of 10 or so pseudonymous identities in the aftermath.

… nah, too strict.

By: Cyde Weys

Cyde Weys — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 23:10:05 +0000

I do find it very disappointing that so many Wikipedians are sticking up for him even after the full magnitude of his malfeasance has been revealed, but I can’t say it’s unexpected, either. People tend to run on cliques on Wikipedia. Looking back on my own actions, I see myself sticking up for people when they’ve passed the threshold of what is excusable, but I never went nearly as far as some people are going for Essjay. They just have this mindset that Essjay did all sorts of great work on Wikipedia, and it excuses everything. But it really doesn’t. If not Essjay, someone else would’ve done the work. Maybe two or three other people, but still, it would’ve gotten done. Doing good work doesn’t excuse bad behavior. There are others out there who do lots of good work and they haven’t created a huge liability for the project by lying about their credentials.

By: Internet Esquire

Internet Esquire — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 23:01:03 +0000

While Essjay’s lies about being offered compensation by Stacy Schiff have created a lack of closure, what’s even more of a concern is that Essjay’s apologists — most of whom have administrator privileges at Wikipedia — are still stuck in denial and are censoring all negative commentary regarding Essjay. In a previous blog post, I stated that I would like to see Essjay make a clean break and make a fresh start at Wikipedia under a new anonymous pesudonym. However, given that Essjay still has so many supporters in positions of authority at Wikipedia, he is highly unlikely to retract his statement about Schiff, and a fresh start is also highly unlikely.