User:Johnleemk/Autobiography dispute

This page covers some facts and statistics of a long-running dispute over Autobiography (album); I have no desire to restate what has been hashed out again and again, so this is all I can give: facts and statistics. Other users are welcome to edit this page since I don't think I will be maintaining it much; just don't delete what has already been put on this page unless it has been proven to be factually inaccurate. Statements of the dispute would probably be better off elsewhere, since this page is for facts, not opinions. Those interested in the history of this dispute can always see Wikipedia talk:Requests for arbitration/Everyking, Talk:Autobiography (album) and assorted talk pages for the main article's spawned children.

Edit counts (from peer review)

As of 03:08, 13 Dec 2004, there have been 554 edits (counting the original creation of the article), inflating the article to 38K in size. The article was created on 26 Jul 2004, 140 days ago, giving an average of just under 4 edits per day, though that was not spread out evenly:

July: 3
August: 16
September: 13
October: 40
November: 356
December: 125

Of the 554 edits, 496 (or 89.5%) have been by Everyking.

Thirty-two users performed the remaining 58 edits -- although since two of each were the leveling and then lifting of protection, I'll discount those, making 30 users performing 56 edits. Reene had the highest single number at 13 edits.

Of those 56 other edits, 29 were reverted by Everyking (25 completely and 4 partially) -- over half of non-Everyking edits. This includes the removal of at least 4 tags (peerreview and clean-up), and involved at least four violations of the 3-revert rule (including an astonishing 8 reversions in 2 hours on 26 November).

These are the numbers as best as I could reconstruct them: I leave out the details concerning bad faith, insults, refusals to engage in discussons, professions of injured innocence, and lack of perspective regarding the notability -- or non-notability -- of this article and the details Everyking choses to insert. I assert that Everyking needs to step back and let go, because his behavior regarding this article and anything connected demonstrates his complete lack of perspective on this issue and on the general purpose of Wikipedia. --Calton 12:40, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)

All right, well, we disagree, Calton. Have you considered that the reason that I have made the vast majority of the edits is because, well, I'm really the only one here who knows much of anything about the subject, or at least the only one who has bothered to contribute his knowledge? Virtually all of my reversions were of content removal. I have left alone, and in fact welcomed, the content additions, which mainly occurred early in the article history with the addition of the infobox and then later on the table formats. Everyking 07:14, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)

The users involved

The following explicitly refuse to edit Autobiography (album) except for reverting vandalism:

The following edited Autobiography (album) making constructive edits at one point or another, and discussed certain issues on the talk page, but have since stopped editing the article without stating a reason:

In addition, the following discussed certain issues on the talk, including but not limited to critiquing rewrites of the article:

The following users took a wikibreak or vacation shortly after halting editing of the article:

The following user was nearly driven away from Wikipedia:

Everyking

All editors listed above disagreed with Everyking on certain matters, most commonly the article's content and Everyking's reversions, except Everyking himself (of course) and Shard.

Selected quotes from the talk and archives

None are provided by me, Johnleemk | Talk, but others are welcome to add their favourites. Having reviewed the discussions, I find too much of salient importance to fit on this page. I will provide a couple of my favourites which are the most recent ones, though:

Your decision to go to subarticles is a symptom of your apparent inability to edit this piece properly or permit anybody else to do so. As I've got plenty of other things that I can edit more productively, and people who are far more cooperative that you are, I am abandoning my attempts to edit Autobiography. It isn't worth the bother. This article will never make it to FA until you are prepared to show some maturity and let other people edit. --Tony Sidaway|Talk 23:51, 25 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Then why is your solution to the problems reverting? You err on the side of keeping your edits; I err on the side of deferring to others. That's why I haven't bothered to revert you and I don't revert edits I don't like to articles I had a heavy hand in writing just because I don't like them. Jgm in particular trimmed A Day in the Life and The Long and Winding Road, something I was not very happy about but did not revert. I had a vigorous argument with Drbalaji md on Coca-Cola, but reverted only edits without anything of value in them which were quite rare from him. Instead, I tried to incorporate his changes into the article. You seem more interested in preserving your work, assuming that just because it's been there for so long, it's better to err on its side than on the side of someone else's edit. I repeat: Blanket reverting an edit with good changes in it instead of fixing the bad changes is not a solution to any dispute. Johnleemk | Talk 04:42, 1 Jan 2005 (UTC)

If an edit decreases the quality of an article, then you absolutely should revert. It's not some badge of pride to wear that you let bad edits stand. Everyking 04:53, 1 Jan 2005 (UTC)

If an edit isn't outright vandalism or utterly destroys an article's formatting, reversion should be the last resort. Jimbo calls a revert "a slap in the face". I didn't make any drastic fuck-ups (although perhaps another editor would be a better judge), but thanks for the slap anyway. Johnleemk | Talk 05:13, 1 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Yeah, well, I incorporated what I thought was useful in the edit. It wasn't a blanket revert as you claim. Everyking 05:20, 1 Jan 2005 (UTC)

It is a blanket revert. More than 90% of my changes were reverted, and if anything, I find your version less informative. People who don't know much about the record industry might wonder how "Pieces of Me" was a hit before the album's release; calling it a hit single clarifies that. And just what was the error with the vocal backing track on SNL? Johnleemk | Talk 06:33, 1 Jan 2005 (UTC)

I can't believe this. "A paragraph placement got moved and therefore a whole bunch of paragraphs were red, making it difficult for me to determine what was changed. So I erred on the side of caution and restored my version" That is the most pathetic excuse for almost wholesale reversion of another person's edits that I have ever seen. If you can't be bothered to proof an edit, how dare you revert it. --Tony Sidaway Talk 10:17, 5 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Christ almighty, I'm sorry I didn't spend quite as much time on it as I should have. You act like a revert is the crime of the century. Everyking 10:56, 5 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Your use of wholesale reverts on articles relating to Ashlee Simpson is damaging, in my opinion. I think you should step back for a few weeks and see what happens without your constantly squatting over the pot like this. You might be surprised at the quality of the work. Don't you ever want to see this article make FA? --Tony Sidaway|Talk 11:26, 5 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Sure I do, Tony, and I'm confident it soon will be. It could get there sooner with your help, I believe. But what good would it do to exclude me from the editing? You said you hadn't even heard of Ashlee before, didn't you? I think we're better off working cooperatively. Everyking 11:38, 5 Jan 2005 (UTC)

I won't edit this article again because it would be, as before, a complete and utter waste of time to try even a fraction of the kind of reformatting this article would need to bring it up to Wikipedia standard. You just revert it all. That is not cooperation. --Tony Sidaway|Talk 11:57, 5 Jan 2005 (UTC)

In what way do you feel it falls short of Wikipedia standards? If you're not willing to edit yourself, if you'd explain your complaints to me perhaps I could fix them for you. Everyking 12:21, 5 Jan 2005 (UTC)

All facts, quotes and statistics on this page are valid to the best of my, Johnleemk's knowledge, as of 13:25, 5 Jan 2005 (UTC).