The Berkman Center at Harvard and Science Po have a banner going, inviting some logged-in users to participate in a research project on game theory. An array of people have objected to it as "advertising"; some seem to see it as the first step along a path that will ultimately lead to big T-Mobile popups or something, others as a conflict with the no-advertising promise from the fundraising drive.
I don't see the problem, myself. There's no product, service or commercial interest being advertised. It's for users who are logged in, not all readers. People who choose to participate actually receive money, which can then be donated to the IRC or Wikimedia. Yet other objections are based on privacy concerns (over being redirected to a third party website)... Such concerns are so overblown, I'm tempted to advise those who raise them to switch off their cellphones and disconnect their modems lest the Illuminati (or Fox News) use these signals to remote into their brains. If I'm honest, I think most people are just upset that someone didn't personally ask them first. I'd be interested in hearing a reasonable explanation from the WMF or someone involved in setting the banner up - how was the agreement made, is there a policy for such things, how long will it run, how many people will see it, on which projects, etc. etc. Right now the conversation is being dominated by people who have a really narrow range of views on the subject, and a little flame-retardant PR from Philippe (for example) would do wonders. ~Nathan Selected quotes: "Yuck Advertisement :( So, it took us 11 years; but we do accept them in the end. Anthere (talk) 5:32 am, Today (UTC−5)" "You know my first thought when I saw it? That it was malware. That my browser had been hijacked. Unlikely as that is browsing in Linux. My second thought was that it was being inserted by rogue JavaScript on the site. - David Gerard (talk) 7:53 am, Today (UTC−5)" "I ... might actually be okay with [it] but I'm definitely not okay with it just being slapped in there without my input. [...] Volunteer Marek 2:26 am, Today (UTC−5)" "The banner is spammy and should be removed ASAP. The situation is made even worse due to the close relation Jimbo has with this group. Giving them pride of place like this compromises our integrity and should not be tolerated. The fact that this was snuck in without any en.wiki consensus or discussion is shocking. ThemFromSpace 9:52 pm, Yesterday (UTC−5)" "I think it was certainly a very dick move to impose it on the community - when the first proposal raised clear objections." Tom Morton, wikimediauk-l 12/9 1:51AM UTC-5 [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:ANI#Harvard.2FScience_Po_Adverts [2] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research_talk:Dynamics_of_Online_Interactions_and_Behavior [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard/Archive222#Researchers_requesting_administrators.E2.80.99_advices_to_launch_a_study [4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Village_pump_(technical)#A_quick_note_on_privacy [5] http://markmail.org/message/ejepphd2oqhvrnos?q=wikimediauk _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
