RationalWiki:Articles for deletion/RationalWiki Smith brothers conspiracy theory

RationalWiki Smith brothers conspiracy theory | Result: deleted as obvious harassment

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Delete

 * 1) Appears to be bullshit promoted by Rome Viharo, originally taken from an Encyclopedia Dramatica article. Has already caused un-needed drama with trolls (probably from ED). Marky (talk) 19:13, 8 October 2017 (UTC)
 * 2) Nuked as a really obvious attempt at harassment. Sysops can extract anything useful if there is anything useful - David Gerard (talk) 22:14, 8 October 2017 (UTC)

Merge/redirect

 * 1) Probably worth extracting something that has citations to confirm it into the Rome Viharo page, otherwise delete. Bongolian (talk) 20:45, 8 October 2017 (UTC)
 * 2) Per Bongolian. At present, the article is just a trollwar sock magnet that has nothing to do with MISSION. Leuders (talk) 21:34, 8 October 2017 (UTC)

Goat

 * Absent clear sourcing, this is useless, and simply the "Smith brothers" version of what happened, down to the same language, i.e., "zero technical evidence," which is just bullshit. It's true that some of those writing about this did not use technical evidence, but there is plenty, with the sock family attempting vigorously to get it deleted as "privacy violation" and "doxxing." As to Wikipedia usage, documenting connections between users, as in sock puppet investigations, is not doxxing, but, yes, giving a real name for an anonymous account is doxxing. So the name of this article contains doxxing, though "Smith" is so common that it is useless. I have avoided, on WMF wikis, even mentioning "Smith," but a link to a Rome Viharo page in my notes on Wikiversity (user space) -- since removed and rev-del'd -- was given and it contained the name in the URL, I had not noticed that. Here, I called the puppet master "Smith," but, that is, again, not very useful for finding information. The identified sock master name -- which is not doxxing -- is Anglo Pyramidologist, that's where most of the relevant wikipedia sock puppet investigations are located. Is Wikipedia engaged in a "conspiracy theory" because it has identified so many accounts -- some of them self-identified as "skeptic," and some who were quite abusive to their targets (Rome Viharo, for an example)? The offense on Wikipedia was not "skepticism," but sock puppetry, disruptive editing, and massive incivility. This puppet master has long solicited support from self-identified skeptics, but is scientifically ignorant and generally a fanatic, not at all a genuine skeptic, which is an honorable and important aspect of science. --Abd (talk) 21:43, 8 October 2017 (UTC)


 * This is not a place to give lectures about skepticism. Abd ul-Rahman Lomax are you a genuine skeptic? Marky (talk) 21:54, 8 October 2017 (UTC)
 * The article has since been deleted, but it was about RationalWiki, not Wikipedia. I also see no evidence for the alleged "Smiths" having Wikipedia involvement, so this is topic derail about another wiki that has no relevance. Even if you could connect a "Smith" to the Wikipedia account(s) mentioned above, so what? The conspiracy theory was about RationalWiki, not Wikipedia. As for "scientifically ignorant" - abd is a guy who admits to having no college/university degree, yet presents himself as an "expert" on cold-fusion (just run a Google search on him). His "institute" is also a mere word-press blog. This is deceptive and fraudulent; its not a real academic/research institute but a one-man crank organisation (in name only). Scientific ignorance at its worse.MrOrganic (talk) 22:23, 8 October 2017 (UTC)