User:Greybeard Actual/Gamification Of Wiki Editing

The gamification, or assigning of points, badges, and pseudo-status for raw edits to wiki articles is counter-productive.

For starters, it encourages editors and authors to create gibberish and junk pages. Giving points simply for the creation of a page actually encourages certain types of authors and editors to create pages that have little to no relevance to the wiki, simply to increase their standing in the community. The same goes for points awarded for raw content. That encourages certain types of editors and authors to add fluff and gibberish to pages in order to increase their points and thus their standing in the community.

I call this type of editor a Fluffernutter TM 

Granted, other editors should eventually ( hopefully ) find and remove the fluff and gibberish, but the damage is already done and the "loud" editor has already gained status. Not to mention the amount of work created for editors who have to chase after Fluffernutters TM to fix their work and make it more relevant.

The leaderboard should be done-away-with and a system of barnstars should be implemented, in which admins praise good work that they have read and understood, rather than a reward system based on an un-intelligent algorithm.

Don't be a Fluffernutter TM ! Make pages accurate, concise, and most importantly, relevant and useful!