Hello! I'm currently a college student living in the Pacific Northwest! I'm interested in all things pertaining to tabletop games, whether that be Dungeons & Dragons, Warhammer 40k, or Magic: The Gathering. Did you know that one fo the creators of Dungeons & Dragons, Gary Gygax, had created another tabletop game called "Chainmail" that heavily influenced the popular tabletop game we know as "Dungeons & Dragons"^[1]? Another interest of mine is the big (and somewhat of a hot take) conversation of consumerism. Consumerism has been a significant underlying issue, especially in America. For example, between 1945 and 1949, American consumers purchased 20 million refrigerators, 21.4 million cars, and 5.5 million stoves^[2]. Can you imagine what those numbers look like now?

I'm looking forward to learning about my specific interests through Wikipedia and hopefully being to create pages on certain topics that haven't been covered! I'm excited to see if I can improve any pages relating to Dungeons & Dragons or the topic of consumerism. D&D has been a large part of my identity since I was a teenager and has led me to so many new and exciting experiences. I hope to enlighten others with my lengthy knowledge on this tabletop game. More so interested to read about others' facts and opinions on both topics of D&D and consumerism.

"Mekong giant catfish" article

As a self-proclaimed fish nerd, I have a niche fascination with the Mekong Giant Catfish, also known as the Pangasianodon Gigas. These creatures are part of the shark catfish family, which has unfortunately been decreasing in high numbers. Due to habitat losses and overfishing, the data on the population of these creatures is close to unknown. Conservation efforts are being put in place to help with the decline in these animals, but the change has yet to be seen. I visited the Mekong giant catfish article on Wikipedia and looked for policy violations, ways to develop the article, and other issues.

This article contains important information for individuals who may want to know more about this species of catfish, and I appreciate the effort and notability of the author. However, when trying to find the correct citation and reputable sources, I was led down a few rabbit holes and ultimately found essentially nothing. There are a few credible citations, but some sections of this article are missing those credible citations. Within the "conservation" section of the article, I came across critical information about conservation efforts, but there were no sources to support these claims. Another minuscule problem I ran into was how the author came across bias in some parts of the article. When describing the characteristics of the Mekong giant catfish, the author commented on how this species of catfish grows "extremely fast." However, it takes up to six years, possibly longer, for this catfish to reach adulthood. Compared to other species of catfish, this amount of time is much longer and should be noted within the article. It's important to recognize these policy violations to understand the credibility and tone the author is trying to articulate.

The author made a respectable effort to include important information about the Mekong giant catfish and the efforts being put in place to conserve its species. Although there are some topics that the author could have included. The contents of this article are little to none and don't go into detail about the genetics of this species or the evolutionary process. In the description section, the author mainly focuses on the catfish's physical characteristics and how big they can grow compared to other large freshwater and saltwater fish. However, genetics is a large part of how these catfish look in the present day and should be noted by the author. Along with the evolutionary process, it's important to understand how these catfish became substantially large. Additionally, more of an emphasis on the Mekong's giant catfish impact on today's culture and economy could be a respectable addition to the article.

Something I noticed immediately about this article is that the picture used to depict what this species of catfish looks like is not an accurate representation. The photo the author used depicts a smaller species of catfish, more commonly known as the "channel catfish". This could be misleading to an individual who does not know the catfish the author is writing about.  Another issue I kept running into was how the author kept describing this catfish as solely a freshwater fish. This specific species is both a freshwater and a saltwater fish, and it should be noted in the article that the majority of catfish species are exclusively freshwater catfish. On a positive note, I want to point out that this author had a neutral tone within the majority of this article, which is important when it comes to describing factual information about the subject the author is writing about.

While navigating through this article, I noticed some more issues that needed significant attention regarding citations and factual statements created by the author. Under the "Distribution and habitat" tab, the author was stating that there were no recent sightings or catches, while also providing no support for these claims. I decided to change some of these statements while also providing the correct citations to support them in hopes of making the article a bit more factual to future readers. As for positive sides to this article, I appreciate the detail that the author provides about the growth patterns of the Mekong giant catfish and the information they provided for the conservation efforts being made. This article gives a decent insight to readers about this creature and I hope to see the article become more developed in the future as more information is released about the Mekong giant catfish.