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WP:AUTO
editNo reason was given be the original adder of the tag, but the page seem to have been created by Estep himself. --84.178.102.179 12:43, 14 October 2007 (UTC)
An examination of the edit history of the page indicates that the page was created autobiographically by Pwestep, and that the majority of the edits to the page have come from Pwestep (6 edits, 24 Jan 2007), 65.96.214.19 (13 edits, 24 Jan 2007 through 6 June 2007), 24.91.198.210 (15 edits, 6 Sep 2007 thourgh 25 Jan 2008), 98.216.171.46 (4 edits, 2 Apr 2008 through 8 Apr 2008), and 98.216.184.157 (7 edits, 7 Aug 2008 to 2 Apr 2009, seven days ago as of this writing).
The autobiographical tag was added and removed twice from this page; the first time the tag was removed was by 24.91.198.210, an action that was reverted by another editor, and the second time by an IP in a similar range, on the same day as an edit by 24.91.198.210, and after the editor reverting the removal of the autobiographical tag pointed out that the IP that removed the tag had an edit history focused almost entirely on this page. Finally, the latest IP in this series of anonymous editors to take a strong interest in Preston Estep's Wikipedia article then edited Mind uploading, which Pwestep himself was editing aggressively just two hours earlier -- and used an edit summary written the same way as Pwestep's were.
The point of this lengthy examination is to demonstrate the overwhelming evidence that this page has been created by and primarily maintained by Preston Estep and/or people close to him that have a vested interest in maintaining a positive point of view. Note that these may indeed not all be Preston Estep, but the evidence that the first and last IPs to edit this page are him is particularly convincing.
I'm not interested in a witch hunt, or in embarrassing the subject of this article, but the repeated removal of the autobiographical tag in the past makes me concerned with the necessity of presenting strong evidence. Because this is a well-written page, and these editors have shown a willingness to compromise somewhat on the tone of the article, I will not be submitting this page for deletion. It is, after all, not absolutely prohibited to edit your own Wikipedia page, just strongly discouraged, and I am personally persuaded that the person covered is of minor but sufficient notability.
What I will do is add the autobiographical tag to the article -- and this will be the third time it is added to this page. I ask that as a measure of good faith, the autobiographical tag not be removed from the article this time, regardless of whether the person removing it is connected to Preston Estep or not. I understand that the tag is not the most glamorous thing to have on your Wikipedia article, but as a researcher that places value on good scholarship, I'm sure that Preston Estep can appreciate the tremendous importance of permitting people to remain informed as to the source of their information.