Forum:Supporting charity events through the main page
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This is a closed discussion about a failed proposed change on SmashWiki. It remains for archival purposes. The closing administrator adds: "Lack of consensus. Serpent  King 14:34, June 6, 2021 (EDT)"
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Hi everyone, I'd like to bring an interesting proposal today. Recently, the Smash community has been pretty great in terms of raising money for charity. For example,
- Ludwig Ahgren Championship Series 3 raised $261,668 for Games For Love.
- 5 Days of Melee raised $60,000 towards Direct Relief.
- Melee for Beirut raised $3404.71 (in addition to Leffen's €300 contribution) towards the Lebanese Red Cross
- Netplay for Palestine raised $20,434 towards the Middle East Children's Alliance.
With all this in mind I was wondering what the community would think if we start endorsing these events on the main page. I have created a pretty bad mock up of what I think this could look like. Obviously changes could be made to it such as how it looks and where it's placed, but I'm sure you understand my point.
I think this would be a great way to raise awareness of these events and potentially raise even more money than without wiki endorsement. For the record, we do already endorse these events on Twitter and occasionally Discord, though none of these get nearly as much traffic as the wiki's main page. To simplify which events would get chosen for promotion, it can be up to the discretion of the wiki admins themselves while also taking notability standards into consideration. We would of course technically be endorsing the event's organizers though it's important to note that in most cases, these events are ran through collaboration from many different members of the community. There's not much to gain for the organizers themselves outside of experience running events and a thanks from the community and the organization they supported.
Placing endorsements on the main page of the wiki would also expose the event to non-competitive players who might not be as involved with the competitive community. Ultimately I think more involvement with the community is generally a great idea as it's something I feel the wiki is severely lacking. While the scope of the wiki should always be covered from a neutral point of view, I do feel as though the main page should be exempt from this in particular to highlighting and endorsing charity events. For concerns about advertising policies, I have already confirmed with Porplemontage that these types of endorsements would be acceptable. If you think the concept might be a bit foreign, Nookipedia and Halopedia in particular already do a great job of endorsing their communities.
So yeah that's about it. I personally don't think there'd realistically be any issue with supporting these types of events but of course that's what proposals are for. Thanks. Señor Mexicano (talk) 15:38, May 30, 2021 (EDT)
- Dislike.
- I do not want there to be an onus on staff to decide which events to endorse and which ones to not.
- I do not want to see ads on the main page when I have already disabled them by logging in. (I imagine others would feel the same.)
- I do not believe that endorsing community events would benefit the wiki in any way. (I realize this is not necessarily the point.)
- I am of the perception that the majority of charity events are related to political matters or natural disasters, and I do not want the wiki to popularize or be associated with either.
- Toomai Glittershine
The Pan-Galactic 16:07, May 30, 2021 (EDT)
- If following notability standards, this becomes less about deciding what to endorse and more about what falls under the prerequisites of endorsement. Additionally, you could relegate the matter to specific admins, like how we currently handle the Twitter account.
- I get where you're coming from, but I could also just as easily consider the NIWA template as an advertisement. I don't think there'd really be a difference if we temporarily affiliate with a charity event to bring awareness to it. I also doubt many people would care on the basis of it being intended for charity. As I've also stated in the main proposal, other wikis have also similarly supported the community and they have not received any complaints to my knowledge.
- As you said, that is not the intention. Though it could open up an easy way for the wiki to host it's own charity events in the future.
- This is definitely a valid concern though to be fair I think as long as the charity being supported isn't discriminatory (such as being against a certain group of people) then it should be supported. After all, if the community itself is the one bringing in support then the wiki being in support of it is only a few steps away.
- Señor Mexicano (talk) 16:25, May 30, 2021 (EDT)
Support. It's a nice way to show solidarity with the community, and spread awareness to those who typically might not be aware of things like this. Aidan, the Rurouni 17:17, May 30, 2021 (EDT)
Oppose for several of the same reasons as Toomai. Miles (talk) 18:09, May 30, 2021 (EDT)
Support. I see more good than harm coming from this proposal and i share the same view on the subject as Aidan. LaughinElf (talk) 18:54, May 30, 2021 (EDT)
Oppose: As I've always maintained elsewhere, the wiki is meant to be a neutral arbiter that covers what happens, it is not the place for advertisement and endorsement, no matter what it is for. Additionally I would rather not embroil the wiki in the quagmire of having to decide if a "charity tournament" is "giving enough charity", if it's "big enough" for endorsement, determining the legitimacy of the charity the tourney is donating to, and if it's giving to a "good enough cause". It would be a terrible idea to give carte blanche endorsement to any tournament that comes along with "charity" slapped on it, while there will inevitably be backlash from outside (or within) the wiki for rejecting advertisement of one of these tournies (or even for allowing advertisement to one). As the opposing admins reiterated on the discord, leave the advertising to twitter and reddit where they better belong. Omega Tyrant 
19:52, May 30, 2021 (EDT)
Oppose: As per the points made by Toomai and OT, especially regarding us having the burden of deciding what tournaments are "good enough" (in terms of the cause and how much they actually donate) to be promoted here. VoqéoT 20:33, May 30, 2021 (EDT)
Oppose: As most of the staff had said, this wiki is not the place for advertisements or endorsements of any kind. Additionally, deciding which charities to support and to not would involve a lot subjectitivity based on if it's "big enough", if it's a "good enough cause" or "raising enough charity", plus it could bring in a lot bias or favoritism depending on what the charity is aimed for, which goes against our stand of covering things in a neutral manner. As OT said, not supporting a certain charity could bring in backlash outside and within the wiki. Toomai also mentioned that many charities could be related to political matters or other controversial subjects, which I do not want to see any type of political matters be brought onto the wiki. 
Omegα Toαd, the Toαd Wαrrior. (I'm the best!) 20:58, May 30, 2021 (EDT)
While I don't think this has any chance of taking off anymore due to staff opposition, I would still like to note that "notability standards" would only be referring to if the organizers of the event are notable and if the people supporting it are notable as well. We wouldn't be determining whether a charity is a "good cause" nor if it's "giving enough" charity, we'd merely be endorsing what's already being endorsed by the community. If the proposal were to pass I also think a section dedicated to charity events would fit pretty nicely above or below the "Did you know..." section. Could even be stylized to be similar to the news template. That said, as much as I think this would do more good than harm, can't say I realistically see it passing at this point. Señor Mexicano (talk) 22:26, May 30, 2021 (EDT)