User talk:72.129.88.30: Difference between revisions

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Videotape

Please do not add inappropriate external links to Wikipedia, as you did in Videotape. Wikipedia is not a mere directory of links nor should it be used for advertising or promotion. Inappropriate links include (but are not limited to) links to personal web sites, links to web sites with which you are affiliated, and links that exist to attract visitors to a web site or promote a product. See the external links guideline and spam policies for further explanations of links that are considered appropriate. If you feel the link should be added to the article, then please discuss it on the article's talk page rather than re-adding it. See the welcome page to learn more about Wikipedia. Thank you. -- Jmax- 23:19, 28 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Is there where I can respond to the above comment?

I have an informational page on a website of mine that discusses the issue of archiving tape. Very few webites are educating people that their tape and film masters cannot be realistically archived digitally at this time. I explain this at length on my website. The information is important to share so people don't mistakenly throw away their original 8mm films and home videos because they have transferred them to DVD and think they have properly archived them when they have not. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 72.129.88.30 (talk • contribs).

January 2007

Please do not add inappropriate external links to Wikipedia. Wikipedia is not a mere directory of links nor should it be used for advertising or promotion. Inappropriate links include (but are not limited to) links to personal web sites, links to web sites with which you are affiliated, and links that exist to attract visitors to a web site or promote a product. See the external links guideline and spam policies for further explanations of links that are considered appropriate. Since Wikipedia uses Nofollow tags, additions of links to Wikipedia will not alter search engine rankings. If you feel the link should be added to the article, then please discuss it on the article's talk page rather than re-adding it. See the welcome page to learn more about Wikipedia. Thank you. --Imroy 06:05, 28 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Response to the above comment. There are certain industries that are perceived to be "dying", such as the film and analog videotape industries, that are actually still active but in a much more subdued way than before. If on the Velvia page, wiki mentions that some companies are loading Velvia into Super-8 cartridges, why not mention who those companies are since there are only four in the whole world? If on the Kodachrome page, the replacement stocks are mentioned (of which velvia is one of them) why not mention who is handling the stock, once again, because there are only four small companies in the entire world doing it. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 72.129.88.30 (talk • contribs).

I was just on the "time-lapse" wiki site and there somebody created a category for "commercial links", this confuses me because the links I have provided were a combination of informational and commercial. Are commercial links allowed if a commercial links heading is created? Either way, extremely small cottage industries can actually be harmed by information that is posted here if external links are not provided to round out the information that is posted here, no? ```` —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 72.129.88.30 (talk • contribs).

Sorry if I seem a little harsh. It's just that people are constantly trying to add their own links to Wikipedia articles. For that reason Wikipedia has rules about external links, specifically Wikipedia is not a directory. We have to be careful about adding too many links to articles, because it doesn't look good and detracts from the idea of an encyclopaedia being a store of knowledge.

As to adding links to a few companies, I guess that's fine. As you said, the Kodachrome article has done this and as long as the number remains small it should be acceptable. You just have to be careful to keep the linking informative, this is an encyclopaedia after all. If something looks or sounds like an ad, people like myself well tend to pounce on it.

I suggest you consider contributing links to the Open Directory Project (http://dmoz.org) or even become an editor for a section. I see that the Super 8 category has a 'Volunteer to edit this category' link at the bottom. Links to directories like Dmoz are preferred by Wikipedia because it shifts the load of dealing with lots of links to a separate entity and greatly shortens the list of external links in an article.

What is this time-lapse wiki? Wikipedia is just one wiki, there are other wiki sites that each have their own rules and policies. --Imroy 12:27, 28 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia has a "time-lapse" page, at the bottom someone started a new header that says "Commercial links". There is one link under it.

I'll look into the links you suggested. It would take me forever to do editing, I don't know if I could handle a whole section such as Super-8. Super-8 is a "filmmaking craft" that was supposed to die in the early 80's, in the early 90's, the mid 90's, and then anytime thereafter. Super-8 keeps surviving even though virtually no new cameras have been made in over 25 years. Ever since eBay appeared, and then digital editing, Super-8 experienced a resurgence. But with no new camera production to excite younger filmmakers, it's harder for the newer generation to learn about why these old cameras are really neat to experiment with. I like the idea of making it easy for anyone who is curious about super-8 to learn, but I understand that that is not Wikipedia's concern. Little cottage industries such as Super-8 are only surving because of the internet and if information is given on wikipedia that might convince someone to not research the topic anymore it can have the unfortunate effect of subverting people who might have otherwise clicked on a Super-8 companies link directly. Where it gets sticky is if someone writes on the Wiki Kodachrome page that Ektachrome 64T (the replacement to Kodachrome 40) does not work in many Super-8 cameras. This "statement/opinion" could lead someone to think that the Super-8 format is no longer viable. The External links allow the both Wiki and the Reader to balance out what has been stated on the wiki page with what is currently going on with that particular industry.

Maybe Wiki could have a "cloaking feature" where the external links only become visible if the viewer voluntarily clicks on a link that would "decloak" the invisible external links. 72.129.88.30 05:46, 30 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You're right that it is not Wikipedia's concern. It is not Wikipedia's goal to encourage or discourage anyone to pursue a hobby. And it's not Wikipedia's goal to put people in contact with commercial outfits to provide equipment or other materials for pursuing that hobby. It is however, Wikipedia's goal to provide accurate information on any topic. If you have a problem with the information in an article, like "Ektachrome 64T not working in many Super-8 cameras", you should either correct it or bring it up on the articles' discussion page. And if you know of a website that is a good source of information on a topic, linking to it is ok. But linking to largely commercial sites just because the craft is "dying" cannot be justified. It sets a bad precedent. Wikipedia is supposed to be an impartial by-stander and should avoid taking part in the issues it is trying to cover. Doing otherwise risks the impartiality of Wikipedia. I sympathise with your motivations, but understand that we have to have standards. --Imroy 10:21, 5 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

But don't you see it as a conflict if a person does a google search on a particular super-8 or 8mm topic and Wikki is at the top of the google list while the very small group of super-8 goods and service providers that serve that industry are below? Isn't Wikki then actually competing and perhaps taking away potential hits from websites that can further educate and teach the viewer more about a super-8 product or service? My websites offer super-8 information and at this point in time I don't sell anything on the site. I do however provide some links to super-8 goods and services. If I have a goal, it is to provide as much useful information to anyone interested to help fill in information that may not be found anywhere else on the internet.

What about the cloaking idea for external links? Hide the links that are borderline ok but leave it up to the reader to click on it if they want to be able to view them. I guess what also makes sense is to never put an external link on the actual page but rather put it on the discussion page and see if an editor agrees to put it on the main page.

July 2007

Hello, and thank you for your contributions to Wikipedia! I noticed that you recently added commentary to an article, Velvia. While Wikipedia welcomes editors' opinions on an article and how it could be changed, these comments are more appropriate for the article's accompanying talk page. If you post your comments there, other editors working on the same article will notice and respond to them and your comments will not disrupt the flow of the article. Thank you. --Imroy 17:12, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]