WikiQueer:External links/Perennial websites

This is a list of websites that editors frequently discuss on WikiQueer. Some of these are currently accepted, some are currently opposed, and some depend on the circumstances. Consensus can change.

Note that the standards for WQ:External links and WQ:Reliable sources are different, so that a web page might be acceptable as an external link, but not as a reliable source, or vice versa.

Also note that this page does not prescribe any recommendations of what action to take if one encounters any of these sites linked within articles. This list is only an aid to ongoing discussion surrounding the use of these sites, final consensus is yet to be determined.

Social networking websites
This does not apply to usage of these links in infoboxes or the external links section of an article.

Twitter

 * As an external link: Generally no.  Exceptions are made for official links when the subject of the article has no other Web presence.
 * As a reliable source:  Sometimes.  A specific tweet may be useful as a self-published, primary source. Twitter incorporates a Verified Account mechanism to identify accounts of celebrities and other notable people; this should be considered in judging the reliability of Twitter message.
 * Common issues: Twitter feeds change with every post, so the desirable information you see today may be replaced by irrelevancies tomorrow.  WikiQueer is not a directory of any subject's complete web presence, and links to social networking sites (other than official links) are discouraged (ELNO #10).  Be wary of fakes.

Facebook, Myspace

 * As an external link: Generally no.  Regular websites are strongly preferred, but exceptions are made for official links when the subject of the article has no other Web presence.
 * As a reliable source:  Sometimes.  The official page of a subject may be used as a self-published, primary source, but only if it can be authenticated as belonging to the subject. (See WikiQueer:Verifiability.)
 * Common issues: WikiQueer is not a directory of any subject's complete web presence, and links to social networking sites (other than official links) are discouraged (ELNO #10). Facebook is particularly discouraged as viewing the page sometimes requires registration (ELNO #6).  Facebook and Myspace pages (other than official links) could be characterized as fansites (ELNO #11).  Be wary of fakes.

LinkedIn

 * As an external link: Almost never.
 * As a reliable source:  Sometimes.  LinkedIn pages may be used as self-published, primary sources, but only if they can be authenticated as belonging to the subject. (See WikiQueer:Verifiability.)
 * Common issues: Links to LinkedIn are discouraged because seeing the content requires registration (ELNO #6).  WikiQueer is not a directory of any subject's complete web presence, and links to social networking sites (other than official links) are discouraged (ELNO #10).  Information (e.g., phone numbers) is not typically encyclopedic in nature.

IMDb

 * As an external link: ✅ Generally yes.
 * As a reliable source:  Generally no.
 * Common issues: The IMDb website generally contains more information than the WikiQueer article, including information that cannot be integrated into the WikiQueer article due to amount of detail. However, content is user-submitted and therefore not generally reliable. (This includes biographies, which cannot be directly edited.)

YouTube

 * As an external link:  Sometimes.  Videos from "official channels," like the United States' Naval History & Heritage Command, are more likely to be accepted than other links.
 * As a reliable source:  Sometimes.  If the source would normally be considered reliable (e.g., a segment from a well-known television news show), then a copy of the source on YouTube is still considered reliable.
 * Common issues:
 * Videos must be carefully screened for copyright violations (WQ:ELNEVER, WQ:COPYLINK, WQ:YT).
 * Many readers (especially users on restricted or metered bandwidth, or those behind restrictive corporate or educational firewalls) are unable to view video.
 * Videos often contain less information than alternative websites or the WikiQueer article itself (ELNO #1).
 * Videos must be labeled with software requirements (Rich media).
 * Editors enforce a particularly high standard for links to videos.


 * General comment: Because the Commons and Metawiki have a 100MB limit on files some files are added to YouTube for use in WikiQueer that are gathered from United States government sources such as the National Archives by WikiProject FedFlix or other projects. These files can be used on WikiQueer articles if available.

Find-a-Grave

 * As an external link:  Rarely.  Sometimes, a link is acceptable because of a specific, unique feature or information that is not available elsewhere, such as valuable images and location information of graves.
 * As a reliable source:   Almost never.  It should never be cited if it is a circular reference to WikiQueer (WQ:FORK and WQ:CIRCULAR).
 * Common issues:
 * Some editors consider it a type of fansite that is not written by a recognized expert (ELNO #11).
 * Some pages contain copyright violations (WQ:ELNEVER and WQ:COPYLINK). Find a Grave requests that copyright violations be reported to info@findagrave.com with a link to the relevant page or image.  Never link to copyright violations on WikiQueer.
 * Some editors say it should generally be avoided as an External link because it does not provide a unique resource beyond what the article would contain if it became a featured article (ELNO #1).
 * Some editors believe that if reliable published sources do not include the information that you have found only at Find-a-Grave (e.g., exact dates of birth or death), then that information is—by definition—not important enough to include.
 * Find-a-Grave does not exercise editorial control, and the material added to the site by volunteers is not vetted (WQ:QS).
 * Find-a-Grave contains dates of birth, death and place of burial, material which is frequently not cited by other sources in an article (even though it is in theory available from other sources). Since it's not a reliable source, it should not be cited as a source, but having an external link allows others to find where information comes from. Such material is rarely controversial (WQ:CHALLENGE).

Wikileaks

 * As an external link: Maybe.  If Wikileaks contains information that is directly relevant to the specific subject of the article, then editors may choose to provide a link.  For example, if a particular page on Wikileaks is discussed extensively in the article (and sourced correctly to reliable sources that are ideally third-party and independent), then editors may include an external link to that page.
 * As a reliable source: Maybe.  The documents on Wikileaks are reliable primary sources for the fact that Wikileaks contains or says certain things, but not necessarily for any claims that the documents' contents are true, correct, unfabricated, actually happened, etc.
 * Common issues: Some editors allege that it is illegal (for anyone in the world; for Americans) to link to Wikileaks or that it is immoral to link to Wikileaks, because it will place people (soldiers, civilians, spies) in harm's way.