User:JJPMaster/Please do not encourage your internet followers to disrupt Wikipedia
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Youtuber Jack Massey Welsh (JackSucksAtLife) was born & grew up in Bishop Auckland. He currently has over 1 million subscribers on Youtube.
These two sentences did a lot more than just stating the facts.
On 5 November 2019, British YouTuber JackSucksAtLife uploaded a video in which he did two things: edit a Fandom page on himself, and edit the Wikipedia page for his hometown, Bishop Auckland, to add himself to the notable people list on said article. Needless to say, this was not a good idea. His fans repeatedly added Jack's name back to the notable people list. Some of the edits made by his fans (such as the "he owns lots of kazoos" one) constitute original research (although it's true), and some edits (such as the "propa mad sesh head" one constitute disruptive editing bordering on vandalism. In addition to that, his fans created several articles on him, all of which were repeatedly recreated and hence G4'd. There were two AfD's on Jack (first, second), and the second one confirmed that he was not notable once and for all. On 7 November, he made a follow-up video where he apologized for the damage caused to Wikipedia, and where he confirmed that he did not meet the general notability guideline at the time. Essentially, the moral of the story is: don't use your position of power to cause any damage to anything, especially Wikipedia. Not only is it a violation of our policies on sockpuppetry, it also is a major hassle to our administrators, as your behavior which you believe is innocent may cause severe collateral damage to Wikipedia. For instance:
1. You could cause severe edit warring, as your fans will follow what you do, which may be contrary to Wikipedia's policies and guidelines.
2. You could cause vandalism. Your fans may think that it is funny to do so, especially if you also demonstrate it.
3. You will waste the time of administrators. This is because they will have to go back and revert every single edit made over a long period of time, and they will also need to institute appropriate blocks.
So essentially, if you're an influencer or anyone in a position of power of any sort, do NOT, under any circumstances, encourage your fans to disrupt Wikipedia.