QUOTE(cyofee @ Sun 25th October 2009, 1:02pm)
Maybe it means that someone who took the time to type a wall of text feels more strongly about the issue than someone who just said "X, per Y".
That's just it - Shankers is a
fellow Wikipedian, whether these people like it or not. He's one of them, and anyone who writes a wall of text - especially to say he's "non-notable" - is likely to suffer for it eventually, possibly in the form of a nasty Encyclopedia Dramatica article, or worse. Whereas, if you just say "per So-and-So," maybe Shankers won't be so vindictive.
Even for those who support the article's existence, a smart person wouldn't want to be quoted on it, because you know that's going to come back to haunt the person the next time Shankers does something really horrible, not to mention the time after that, and the time after that, all while remaining unbanned due to all his "strategic alliances" with other really horrible Wikipedians.
Nobody's going to admit to being intimidated, because that looks pathetic. But the fact is, smart people avoid this guy unless they're going to give him what he wants, which is praise. Don't think for a moment that he won't constantly refer back to the list of "opposers" on this AfD, and spend countless hours dreaming up ways to get revenge on them.