Wikipedia:Does deletion help
This essay contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors on Wikipedia:Deletion policy. Essays are not Wikipedia policies or guidelines. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
On Wikipedia, deletion is used to remove articles which do not fit within our remit. There are a number of types of articles which can be deleted on sight, ranging from attack pages to nonsense. See WP:CSD for more. For articles which don't meet those criteria, articles are deleted through editorial consensus after listing at WP:AFD. The question to be debated is whether or not the article improves Wikipedia. So the argument is whether or not articles add to a reader's knowledge without misleading or biasing them in any way.
Where an article actually does add to a reader's knowledge without misleading or biasing them in any way, it should, in keeping with the editing policy, be kept. Where it is misleading or biased, it should be removed.
However, a large number of policies and guidance sometimes conflict with this approach. For example, guidance on notability states that we need a large number of secondary sources to summarise. This can at times conflict with our purpose, which is to inform. The usual safety valve in this instance is WP:IAR: namely, that we should aim to improve the encyclopedia in whatever we do.