Wikipedia:There are no awards
 | This is an essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
 | This page in a nutshell: No matter how many positions you gain, barnstars you collect, or edits you have, the only award on Wikipedia is the approval of the community. |
Wikipedia prides itself on being "The Free Encyclopedia" that anyone can edit. It's a simple feature that has led to much criticism, and much approval from different people from different places. In fact, we even have these things, which we give out to editors who we believe to be on the right path for the project.
However, the truth is that there are no awards for Wikipedia or for editing it. It's something so simple that a press of a button literally leads you into the editing of an article. Even barnstars do not directly correspond to someone being a good editor, nor does an immediate block translating itself to the aforementioned blocked user force the idea that they are a bad editor. Remember, blocks are preventative, not punitive.
No awards
editYes, that's right: there are no awards on Wikipedia. It does not matter if you are a rollbacker, administrator, or even a bureaucrat, we are all doing the same thing: editing an online encyclopedia for free. No matter how many edits you have (500 or 5 million), you are the same as the next person. And the next. And the next...
There is actually *one* award you may receive:
The ONLY Award
editis the communities' approval. That's it. Nothing more...