Wikipedia's Wales Reverses Decision on Problem Admin

ToiletDuck writes "Wikipedia co-founder Jimbo Wales appears to have changed his mind concerning Essjay, the administrator who was caught lying about his academic credentials. Wales issued a statement today on his User Talk page requesting that EssJay voluntarily step down. Wales defended his earlier comment about EssJay, claiming 'I only learned this morning that EssJay used his false credentials in content disputes ... I want to make it perfectly clear that my past support of EssJay in this matter was fully based on a lack of knowledge about what has been going on.' Wales did not comment on whether EssJay would continue to serve in his paid position at Wikia, the for-profit cousin of Wikipedia."

Comments

Re:Credentials Really Are Meaningless

[nagora]

Bizarrely, Wales appears to think the latter is the most important thing, and that up until he found out about that, was perfectly happy with the deception.

It has to be pointed out that Wales is obviously lying about that; there is no way that he did not know that SJ wasn't using his fake credentials as weight in arguments. People were already talking about that before Wales made his moronic comment about not having a problem with it. Now that he realises that the world is not as uninterested in truth as he is, he has revised history just like he revises his own Wikipedia entry from time to time to suit his egocentric worldview.

TWW

Re:Credentials Really Are Meaningless

[nuzak]

In sum, if there's a lesson to be learned here, it's that credentials (whether real or fabricated) really are meaningless.

If you're ever in need of medical treatment, look me up -- I only charge half what those folks with fancy letters after their names charge. I can also make filings on your behalf if you're ever in legal trouble -- strictly paperwork mind you, since those credentialist bastards won't let me argue in court.