User:Ritchie333/Don't waste time on categories
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There are a number of different ways you can improve Wikipedia. Having significantly improved hundreds of articles, and started watching them, I can see the various ways these happen. People fix typos, format references to make them easier to read, and make the content more accessible to the reader. They might also catch sneaky vandalism or disruptive editing before I do, which is appreciated.
And then there are people who change categories - the entries at the bottom of the page that allow you to select articles of a similar topic. People add them, change them, delete them and move them all the time. I don't know exactly how this helps the reader understand an encyclopedic topic, but it seems people lose their heads over these seemingly trivial changes far too often.
Category disputes have caused so many problems (including major arbitration cases), that I wouldn't blame anyone for running full speed in the opposite direction from them.