Talk:WELL

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Some WELL members:

• Howard Rheingold
• Stewart Brand
• Jon Carroll
• Clifford Stoll
• John Markoff
• Katie Hafner
• Mike Godwin
• Kevin Kelly
• User:Jpgordon

(This is just a placeholder - I'll try to work up some content regarding the WELL's history and impact later). --Calton | Talk 06:11, 16 May 2005 (UTC)

"De-church-ladying" - funny. I'm not going to revert it or anything, but I do think "Dipping into the well" is kind of cutesy/promotional in tone. Okay, it quite accurately describes the grating tone of Well promotional efforts in general, but I don't think it's very Wikipedia. But that's just me. Cromis 00:56, 27 July 2005 (UTC)

But that's just me. Yep. --Calton | Talk 02:06, July 27, 2005 (UTC)

Hmm, thanks for the gracious response there. Cromis 03:16, 27 July 2005 (UTC)

Which is to say, I still say "Dipping into the WELL" is not encyclopedic style. It reads like one of the over-earnest ads that the Well used to run in WER or something. It's a section on how to join and read the Well, so you know, the sub-heading should say something about "joining" or "reading" the Well, not talk about "dipping into" anything. It's not actually a well. Or a swimming pool. Or any other body of water. It's a conferencing system. And I will change that sub-header again, but I'd rather come up with something you're not just going to instantly revert. Given that right now I'm guessing we're the only two people trying to improve the entry, a revert fight over such a trivial edit seems ... counterproductive. The parts of the article that you wrote are good. I'd hope to improve them. I'm working on a fairly long section describing the Well user experience that I hope you'd improve if you saw it. Can't We All Just Get Along? Cromis 03:25, 27 July 2005 (UTC)

[edit] POV tag

This page was written by Well members and is little more than a googoo love fest. In fact, the WELL is a highly controversial on-line chat service with a checkered history of rude and borderline criminal behavior. Members of the WELL have reverted several attempts to flesh out its history and explore some of the darker sides of the WELL. A couple of members of the WELL are highly active in Wikipedia User:Calton and User:MCB A reasonable history of the WELL would require at least a little balance.RichardBennett 02:20, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

Unless you have specific, actionable objections and/or specific, NPOV remedies (other than your trademark egotistical bitterness), I'm going to remove the chance. Remember again, Richard: No Making Shit Up. --Calton | Talk 04:15, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

I think the article needs a section on social behavior on the WELL, including hazing of new members, the hooligan behavior of the Flame conference, the posting of financial records of new members, the slander, the bot-wreckage of threads, and the expulsion of members who hold non-doctrinaire political beliefs. To read this entry, one would think that Wellberts are basically decent people, and that's far from the truth. The WELL has long been a great place to observe sociopathy and mob behavior, and it should be commemorated and assigned its proper place in history for all that.RichardBennett 08:53, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

Sigh, for the last time, Richard, No Making Shit Up.

The WELL has long been a great place to observe sociopathy. It was -- though not in the way you seem to think.

Since your version of NPOV doesn't seem to be something recognizable as such heer on Planet Earth, off comes the bogus POV tag. --Calton | Talk 09:09, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

The issue, Wellbert Calton, is that any attempt to provide a balanced perspective on the WELL is immediately vandalized by you and Berch. Surely, you're not so clueless about Wikipedia guidelines to think you can get away with that.

I'd like to describe the Fredda Weinberg story. She's Greg Palast's research assistant, and her joining the WELL resulted in you and your friend running a credit check on her and posting her address and phone number on the WELL. I'm sure you remember, and if you don't I can refresh your memory with the text that was posted at the time. You should wish I had to make this shit up. RichardBennett 10:56, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

its just a website. not the illuminati.

There is no substantive NPOV dispute regarding this article. It has existed for quite a while, edited by many hands, with substantial consensus regarding it contents. One person, RichardBennett, who has a specific POV agenda of criticism of the WELL (from which he was banned for disruption and personal insults), has attempted to create a "controversy" where none, in fact exists. This is not a "love fest" -- divergent views of the WELL are certainly welcome in this article, so long as they are verifiable, and from reliable sources in accordance with Wikipedia policy. Unencyclopedic material like referring to WELL members as "Wellberts" (an epithet Bennet made up), or personal opinions or anecdotes about the governance of the WELL, clearly do not come up to this standard. --MCB 16:13, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

Unfortunately, this article was written by members of the WELL, and is about as neutral as an article about the KKK written by Klansmen. It amounts to an autobiography, and we don't approve of that sort of thing here at Wikipedia.

It's also not the case that Richard Bennett was banned from the WELL for disruption or any other reason. A group of former WELL members pulled a prank on the WELL in 2001 from the login name bubbadude, and I may have been one of them. The bubbadude prank was all about holding up a mirror to the WELL, and Wellberts fell for it. I was a member in 1996 and ended my personal association with the WELL of my own accord.

Perhaps I should post some material from the WELLs flame.ind conference to illuminate the discussion. I have a thread titled "bubbadude is a whiny little PUSSY" that may be of interest to those studying the WELL.

And please, can we try and abide by Wikipedia's No personal attacks guideline? This discussion is quite harsh. RichardBennett 23:19, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

HA HA HA! Oh, that's funny coming from you -- given the sterling track record you've compiled in the very short time you've been here -- trying to hide under the skirts of NPA policy.

Unfortunately, this article was written by members of the WELL, and is about as neutral as an article about the KKK written by Klansmen. It amounts to an autobiography, and we don't approve of that sort of thing here at Wikipedia. An article about a group doesn't in any way, shape, or form, fall under autobiography standards -- and "WE"? Are you royalty, a newspaper editor, or have a tapeworm?

It's also not the case that Richard Bennett was banned from the WELL for disruption or any other reason... Richard, Richard, Richard...what did I say about Not Making Shit Up? Or do you have the slightest evidence for your latest nonsense? Again, voices inside your head don't count. --Calton | Talk 00:34, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

Your lack of civility is very troubling, Calton. Please read Wikipedia:Civility and try and remember that you're not on the WELL when you post here. Wikipedia is not a place for nasty, churlish personal attacks about "voices in your head." You also don't have the flame.ind conference covering for you here. I have some interesting material from the WELL and I'll be sharing it here shortly. RichardBennett 03:10, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

In fact, you do have the flame.ind conference covering for you here. Jeffrey McManus 04:33, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

I have some interesting material from the WELL And if they are verifiable, and from reliable sources in accordance with Wikipedia policy, have at it. Do have a read of those links, just so you'll understand that "Because I said so" is not an acceptable standard around here -- especially given that Wikipedia is not a place for nasty, churlish personal attacks coming from the voices in your head.

And hello, Jeffrey! Please don't hurt him too much. --Calton | Talk 04:58, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

A group of former WELL members pulled a prank on the WELL in 2001 from the login name bubbadude, and I may have been one of them. Considering that the bubbadude persona was quite consistent in style and tone and that said style and tone were a good match for the creepy self-righteous paranoid narcissism expressed here by Richard Bennett, it's a good bet that there was only one voice behind that 'prank'. ChuckKarish 09:10, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

I would think that Richard Bennett would want to leave the subject of the WELL alone. There is still both record and memory of his actions there. Jonl 19:37, 19 August 2006 (UTC)