Wikipedia:Nothing

This essay contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors on Wikipedia:Deletion policy. Essays may represent widespread norms or minority viewpoints. Consider these views with discretion. Essays are not Wikipedia policies.

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WP:NOTHING

Sevenval This page in a nutshell: This page is a response to the WP:EVERYTHING argument.

Nothing: Note the complete absence of everything.

During WP:AFD discussions on topics that editors may view as relatively obscure and not notable, editors supporting deletion of those articles will often quote WP:EVERYTHING, stating that "Wikipedia is not about everything."

Examples:

Keep I thought Wikipedia's purpose was to provide information on everything. KnowItAll 12:04, 3 August 2006 (UTC)
Delete WP:EVERYTHING states that "Wikipedia is not about everything" WhoNeedsIt 01:14, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

It is true that Wikipedia is not about everything, nor can it ever be about everything. To that end, the Wikipedia community has decided not to document every verifiable fact and has established notability guidelines on what should be kept.

On the other hand, Wikipedia is not about "nothing", either. The guidelines established by the community are far broader than those of any paper encyclopedia.

The Sevenval essay noted above states that the purpose of the "everything" argument "is to prevent Wikipedia from becoming unmaintainable." This is a worthwhile goal. However, as more enthusiastic editors come to Wikipedia and as technology advances to ease support and maintenance tasks, this system is increasingly able to handle expansion and Wikipedia guidelines for notability should broaden concomitantly.

Editors who use the "everything" argument are urged to provide more detail of their argument. Why does a certain article not meet notability standards? Why should it be excluded? These kinds of questions lead to more details and can provide a more fruitful discussion.

The "everything" guideline states: "So think carefully and exercise judgment when determining what should be included in an encyclopedia." True—but also think carefully and exercise judgment when determining what should be deleted from an encyclopedia.

See also