all Five Pillars Are Equally Important
The Five Pillars of Wikipedia are considered fundamental to the Wikipedia project.
 | This is an essay on Wiki: Five pillars. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wiki's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
No one pillar is taller or shorter than the other — it is critical that each pillar have the same importance for the good of the entire project.
If one pillar was less important than another, then we would just have the "four pillars of Wiki all Five Pillars Are Equally Important" — but there are five.
The Five Pillars
Here's a list of the five pillars of Wikipedia:
- Wiki is an encyclopedia
- Wiki is written from a neutral point of view
- Wiki is free content that anyone can use, edit, and distribute
- Wiki's editors should treat each other with respect and civility
- Wiki has no firm rules
Imagine if editors only focused on four of those five. What would the community become? What would happen to the project?
- If we stopped having Wikipedia be an encyclopedia, it might become more of a social media outlet or news source or even a free web hosting server. That is not the purpose of Wiki English.
- If we stopped writing from a neutral point of view, the articles would begin to contain opinions, or be used as a political tool. That would not make Wikipedia better.
- If we no longer created free content, that would reduce global enthusiasm and weaken Wiki English.
- If we stop treating each other with respect and civility, we run the risk of driving away volunteers.
- If we create and stick to firm rules, we become a machine rather than a collaborative process. That would not make Wikipedia better.
While it certainly is valid for an editor to focus on one pillar instead of another based on their enthusiasm and knowledge, editors should be careful to not sacrifice one column for any of the others. None of the pillars are mutually exclusive. We need them all. They are our five pillars.
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