Wikipedia: what a bunch of jerks

I initially intended this to be a rather heated rant, but I have delayed my posting on this so I have had time to cool off.

Before I begin, I will stipulate that managing a site like Wikipedia, with all of the raw user input and the obvious tendency for abuse, has got to be an extremely difficult and perhaps even tedious job. I wouldn't do it unless you paid me, and I doubt those guys get paid.

Nevertheless...

I went to the ORM page on Wikipedia because it showed up in a Google search I was investigating. I noticed that dOOdads was listed on the page, but did not have it's own subject page (now I know why). So I added EasyObjects to the list of ORM providers and proceeded to create a subject page for it.

I knew that adding something entirely self-promotional was going to get rejected, so I tried to take some text off the home page and trim the "marketing" fluff out of it, leaving only the related features. Apparently that wasn't good enough.

The next day my page was flagged for deletion, according to their policy (note: I am not asserting the anyone at Wikipedia has violated their own policies), which gave me a 3-day notice. I went to look at the feedback, and I was shall we say, put off.

Everything from "spamvertisement" to "self-promotion" to disparaging my relevance due to this site's Alexa ranking (and a few other childish remarks as well). All of which is, of course, true to some extent. I am trying to promote EasyObjects through their site. This site is less than six months old, so my ranking in Alexa is not very high.

All of this I could probably forgive (in time), if I hadn't visited some of the other pages that apparently were allowed. One in particular, and I think most of you can probably guess which one, was filled with self-promotional language touting the features of the product. Was it better and more informational than mine? Yes, it was. I wish I had looked at it first to get some ideas. Was it a dry and encyclopedia-like page, offering no "spamvertisement"? No, it sure as hell was not.

So I'm left with the conclusion that the primary reason mine was rejected was because I am a "little fish" compared to the others. Again, this is true, but it's also not equal treatment, either. And I thought that was a hallmark of Wikipedia.

I guess I was wrong...

There was no constructive feedback, and the comments were occasionally childish (one might say unprofessional, if there were paid staff involved). I haven't gone back to the site since, and I won't be returning to the site anytime soon. I assume my page is now deleted, though the link on the ORM page seems to still be active. We'll see for how long.

All in all, I'm just left with the impression that the editors of the site are more like Caesar, waiting to give the gladiator in the Coliseum the thumbs up or down, with no chance for redemption for the latter.

What a bunch of jerks...