# Jimmy Wales, I Am Sick Of Your Face **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 17, 2010, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-wales-i-am-sick-of-your-face/560933 "2010-11-17T00:46:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-wales-i-am-sick-of-your-face/560933/1 "2010-11-17T00:46:53Z")
I love Wikipedia and think everything should toss a few bucks at it. But Jimmy Wales, please. I know Wikipedia needs money, but there’s an old advertising slogan: don’t put the client in the ad. I am sick of seeing your goddamn face every time I use Wikipedia. It makes me want my money back. If you insist on having a face there, how about someone I at least find attractive, like Jessica Alba, or Laetitia Casta, or Christina Hendicks, or George Clooney? And if you absolutely must make it YOUR face, take a step closer to the fucking razor. ---
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-wales-i-am-sick-of-your-face/560933/2 "2010-11-17T00:50:55Z")
I agree. That banner at the top is annoying. I prefer their donation banners that have quotes of Wikipedia users and a bar that shows how much money has been collected. Fortunately, you can click the x on the top right on the banner, and it goes away, even the next time you open the browser. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-wales-i-am-sick-of-your-face/560933/3 "2010-11-17T00:51:02Z")
Damn straight. Also, Yahoo needs to fire whomever came up with the idea that anybody wants to look at some huge honking picture of some random person when they’re logging into email. Sheesh. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-wales-i-am-sick-of-your-face/560933/4 "2010-11-17T00:57:24Z")
> [@An\_Arky](#): > > Damn straight. Also, Yahoo needs to fire whomever came up with the idea that anybody wants to look at some huge honking picture of some random person when they’re logging into email. Sheesh. I hate the one with that woman who has a Yahoo emoticon tattooed on her arm. Wtf? Who would do that? ---
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-wales-i-am-sick-of-your-face/560933/5 "2010-11-17T00:59:40Z")
> [@An\_Arky](#): > > Damn straight. Also, Yahoo needs to fire whomever came up with the idea that anybody wants to look at some huge honking picture of some random person when they’re logging into email. Sheesh. What does Yahoo have to do with the gmail login page? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-wales-i-am-sick-of-your-face/560933/6 "2010-11-17T01:33:10Z")
According to [this story](http://www.geekosystem.com/wikipedia-appeal-jimmy-wales/), while the sight of Wales’ face might be annoying some people (like the OP and me), it has actually been more successful at soliciting donations than other appeals on the Wikipedia site. > [@](#): > > In fact, open data provided by the Wikimedia Foundation reveals that the giant Jimmy Wales ad is not just a monument to the founder’s egomania, but that it’s emerged at the top in a process of natural selection, testing much better than other appeals. > > Appeals like “thanks for the brain massage” (cutesy) and “Admit it – without Wikipedia you never could have finished that report” (too close to home?) had lower click-through rates and far lower eventual donation rates on a per-day basis than giant Jimmy. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-wales-i-am-sick-of-your-face/560933/7 "2010-11-17T01:49:41Z")
So they came up with an idea less terrible than the previous ones. ---
**Author:** ![Khan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3ab097/32.png) [@Khan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khan)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-wales-i-am-sick-of-your-face/560933/8 "2010-11-17T02:18:25Z")
\m/!!! Guy exudes so much douchebag I bet you’d hear water splashing off in the distance every time he opens his mouth. I admit, I am somewhat disinclined to donate since I’ve been forced to endure looking upon his countenance every time I open the site. P.S. Extra \m/ for the Laetitia Casta namedrop. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-wales-i-am-sick-of-your-face/560933/9 "2010-11-17T02:27:27Z")
Funny, after I saw the banner I donated to Wikipedia for the first time. Let’s be honest, it may have shortcomings, but Wikipedia is one of the greatest achievements of the Internet. I say, way to go, Jimmy! ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-wales-i-am-sick-of-your-face/560933/10 "2010-11-17T03:00:48Z")
> [@Khan](#): > > Guy exudes so much douchebag I bet you’d hear water splashing off in the distance every time he opens his mouth. But he’s a self-proclaimed Randian objectivist, so you just know that he’s a really great guy. ---
**Author:** ![Timchik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@Timchik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timchik)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-wales-i-am-sick-of-your-face/560933/11 "2010-11-17T03:09:54Z")
> [@Strinka](#): > > I agree. That banner at the top is annoying. I prefer their donation banners that have quotes of Wikipedia users and a bar that shows how much money has been collected. > > Fortunately, you can click the x on the top right on the banner, and it goes away, even the next time you open the browser. Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou This has been annoying me for the past week or so. I use Wikipedia a dozen times a day or more, and I was getting really tired of his ugly mug (though not enough to start a thread on it), but never noticed the go-away x. Maybe I’ll even make a donation now… ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-wales-i-am-sick-of-your-face/560933/12 "2010-11-17T03:25:11Z")
Holy shit, it does. Yay **Strinka**! ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-wales-i-am-sick-of-your-face/560933/13 "2010-11-17T03:46:02Z")
It’s WP – we ought to be able to edit Jimbo’s photo. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-wales-i-am-sick-of-your-face/560933/14 "2010-11-17T04:15:19Z")
Or at least demand a citation. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-wales-i-am-sick-of-your-face/560933/15 "2010-11-17T04:55:56Z")
I guess the other thing I don’t like about it, apart from Wales’s smarmy face, is the deceitfully desperate nature of the banner: “Please Read - A Personal Appeal.” It sounds like someone’s dying. Or more precisely it gives the viewer the impression Wikipedia is dying and that Wales is pretty much down to his last blue Oxford shirt and that unless you donate immediately Wikipedia’s doomed. But if you read the “Appeal,” you’ll note there’s not actually any reference to a desperate situation. But in fact the company’s finances aren’t at all desperate. Wikimedia Foundation made money - quite a lot of money - in the last fiscal year. Of course it’s all donations, but if they get just as much as they did in FY 2009-2010 they’ll be up a lot of money once again. If they were to get way more… well, I guess the Foundation wants to do other stuff besides Wikipedia. But if I want to just support and use Wikipedia and Wiktionary, that’s not an option. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-wales-i-am-sick-of-your-face/560933/16 "2010-11-17T07:15:07Z")
If he would charge users $1 per year, I’d certainly pay it and so would many millions of others I’ll wager and he’d never have to ask for money again. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-wales-i-am-sick-of-your-face/560933/17 "2010-11-17T07:32:23Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > If he would charge users $1 per year, I’d certainly pay it and so would many millions of others I’ll wager and he’d never have to ask for money again. I absolutely agree. There’s one shot of Jimmy Wales where he looks particularly psychotic. I have therefore been amusing myself (mildly) by pretending that he is the subject of the article below - particularly effective when looking up serial killers and the like. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-wales-i-am-sick-of-your-face/560933/18 "2010-11-17T07:38:01Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > I absolutely agree. > > There’s one shot of Jimmy Wales where he looks particularly psychotic. Hells yeah - he’s only a few years older than me but he looks like he’s been rode hard and put away wet. He looks like he could be a poster boy for the “climbing back from rock bottom, one rung at a time” foundation. > **[Major depressive disorder](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_depressive_disorder)** > > Major depressive disorder (MDD), also known as clinical depression, is a mental disorder characterized by at least two weeks of pervasive low mood, low self-esteem, and loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities. Introduced by a group of US clinicians in the mid-1970s, the term was adopted by the American Psychiatric Association for this symptom cluster under mood disorders in the 1980 version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III), and h T... ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-wales-i-am-sick-of-your-face/560933/19 "2010-11-17T13:48:42Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I guess the other thing I don’t like about it, apart from Wales’s smarmy face, is the deceitfully desperate nature of the banner: “Please Read - A Personal Appeal.” It sounds like someone’s dying. > > Or more precisely it gives the viewer the impression Wikipedia is dying and that Wales is pretty much down to his last blue Oxford shirt and that unless you donate immediately Wikipedia’s doomed. But if you read the “Appeal,” you’ll note there’s not actually any reference to a desperate situation. > > But in fact the company’s finances aren’t at all desperate. Wikimedia Foundation made money - quite a lot of money - in the last fiscal year. Of course it’s all donations, but if they get just as much as they did in FY 2009-2010 they’ll be up a lot of money once again. If they were to get way more… well, I guess the Foundation wants to do other stuff besides Wikipedia. But if I want to just support and use Wikipedia and Wiktionary, that’s not an option. You don’t listen to public radio, do you? This is a million times better than that which it emulates, the now 3-times-a-year pledge drives that cut 20 minutes of every news hour out entirely and seamlessly integrate into the broadcast so you can never turn them off before they start begging like they’re down to their last dollar. And when do you turn it back on to duck the unwanted solicitation and cajoling? God only knows. So for 2 weeks I realistically can’t listen to the news to and from work, and that is a tragedy, far more so than making Jimbo Wales’ image go away by simply closing the ad box. See the little X in the corner? Click it and it all goes away. And thank God it’s that easy. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-wales-i-am-sick-of-your-face/560933/20 "2010-11-17T14:32:07Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > You don’t listen to public radio, do you? This is a million times better than that which it emulates, the now 3-times-a-year pledge drives that cut 20 minutes of every news hour out entirely and seamlessly integrate into the broadcast so you can never turn them off before they start begging like they’re down to their last dollar. Living in Canada I don’t get to listen to NPR as much as I’d like. I’m sure they’re irritating, but at least I don’t have to see some NPR idiot’s ugly mug every time I want to look something up. Oh, and I’ve tried the X thing. I still see his face when I start Wikipedia up, the smarmy fuck. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-wales-i-am-sick-of-your-face/560933.md?page=2)