Wikipedia:Vagueness

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This is an essay, a page containing the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. Essays may represent widespread norms or minority viewpoints, and they may be heeded or not based upon your judgement and discretion.

This page in a nutshell: Try to use clear and well defined words in all articles.

This is what someone feels like after reading a vague article. No one should have to feel like that on Wikipedia.

We've all seen it at least once. Some Wikipedian writes a stub or article and knows so little about the subject, they fill it with vague, uncited statements that tell you next to nothing about the subject. Possible examples are: The museum in London Which museum?, The house on Baylee Ave. Which house? He was sent to jail Which jail? State or federal?-the list goes on and on. The purpose of any encyclopedia is to inform people about a topic; these words do not say anything that would inform people about anything, save the lack of knowledge of the page's author on the subject.

1 Misuse of Pronouns
2 Vague Time
3 Vague Words and Incorrect Statements
4 How to Improve Vague Articles
5 See Also

Misuse of Pronouns

Pronouns are neat little words, they allow you write a word only a couple of times and use a short word instead. Unfortunately, sometimes people use pronouns without using a noun first, resulting in utteral confusion for the reader. Imagine an article on Marie Curie simpily called "her", Wouldn't that be confusing? Here's some possible examples:

On Joseph Biden's article:

Wrong: Biden was picked as his running mate Whose?

Better: Biden was picked as Obama's running mate.

On The Salton Sea article

Wrong: For decades they have contaminated the lake. What?

Much Better: For decades pesticides have contaminated the lake.

Vague Time

Phrases such as "in the past", "presently", "soon" and "once was" reduce the clarity of an article when used too often. Worse yet, without citations they can be used to make false claims and statements. Here's some possible examples:

Vague: In a few years, New York City will begin installing parking meters that accept credit cards.

Better: In three years, New York City will begin installing parking meters that accept credit cards.

Vague: In the past, few people opposed slavery.

Better Before the 1800s, few people opposed slavery.

Vague: The Catholic Church was once the single supreme authority in Europe.

Better: During the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church was the single surpeme authority in Europe.

Of course, sometimes an exact date is not known, or disputed. In the case of a disputed historical date, use a question mark or a "c" (for "circa") after the date. For example, The birth of Grace O' Malley's birthdate is belived to be around 1530, so it could be written as: Grace O' Malley was born in 1530?. Or: Grace O' Malley was born c.1530. the latter is generally perferred in an encyclopedia. The use of vague time words is sometimes acceptable when talking about the future, just try to avoid them whenever possible and try to be as specific as you can. Also remember, Wikipedia is not a crystal ball so avoid speculative statements in all articles.

Vague Words and Incorrect Statements

Evil Wikipedians often use vague words and phrases in their incorrect and biased articles. Be on the lookout!

When used by the merely clueless, vague words make an article confusing and cause them to lack possibly important information. In the hands of those with more sinister intents, it can be used to make articles that are readable enough to impart wrong or biased information, but confusing enough to prevent readers from questioning the reliability or factuality of the article. Vandals can also vandlaize an article by replacing specifc information with vague statements. Always use citations, and especially when for whatever reason you must use somewhat vague words. Doing such helps Wikipedia become more reliable and more accurate.

How to Improve Vague Articles

When you come across an article that is very vague, begin by replacing vague statements with clearer facts. If you lack the time or the expertise to do so, use one of the tags below:

Tag

Template that will be shown (and correct usage)

{{cleanup-confusing}}
links talk edit

All or part of this article may be confusing or unclear.
Please help clarify the article. Suggestions may be on the talk page.

Use this when an entire article is vague or confusing

{{Vague Time}}
links talk edit

This article or section contains vague time referencing such as "in the past", "in the future", "currently" or "recently".
Please add specific dates and time periods to improve the detail of this article, and remove this template when finished.