How I Was Demoted to "Not a Person of Significance" Status

The Internet is a fickle biographer

It’s hard not to take it personally when your Wikipedia page is deleted because you don’t meet the “criteria for notability,” but I discovered this is exactly what happened on September 28, 2025.

There is undoubtedly a certain amount of prestige that comes with having your own entry in Wikipedia, particularly if you were not the instigator of the entry. In fact, back around 2010 or so, I received a Google Alert for my search on “Tom Wark” (yes, I do Google myself). That alert led me to a Wikipedia page that provided a short bio on me. In addition, I was included in a Wikipedia page entitled “List of Wine Professionals”.

I thought that was pretty cool. I never found out who created the page or why they thought I deserved an article in Wikipedia. But I took it nonetheless and occasionally linked to it in bios I’d used or created subsequently. I forgot about and only revisited it as I did regular checks of links I’d created here or there to make sure they were not broken.

When I discovered the page had been deleted, I did some snooping and searching to try to figure out why. I found it using the handy-dandy Wayback Machine. On September 20, a Wikipedia moderator known publicly only as NewJerseyLiz nominated the page for deletion with this explanation:

“It is proposed that this article be deleted because of the following concern: not a person of significance - a minor wine personality.