--- On Sun, 6/2/11, Brandon Harris <bharris(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:
On 2/6/11 10:10 AM, Fred Bauder wrote:
Cracking down on hasty deleters and new-page
patrolers
is productive of
much heat and little light. It amounts to a lot
of
heavy lifting for very
little outcome.
I think many women have enough patience or insight to
stick around long
enough to get though preliminary unpleasantness,
survive the systemic
problems we have, and make substantial
contributions
to content and
policy, particularly if there is social support.
I don't think this is a wise
perspective.
The treatment that new users receive is
very clearly one of the reasons
why they don't stick around. Simply saying "oh,
they'll get over it in
time" doesn't do anything to help solve the problem, it
only perpetuates it.
I agree with Brandon. These episodes were nearly a year ago, but they left
a lasting, and hurtful impression on my wife (while the guy she tussled
with has probably long forgotten about it). And it sounds like that
impression is one shared by a lot of people who tried to contribute. We
should look at that, as a systemic issue. This doesn't mean that I am
interested in "cracking down" on the hapless hasty deleter or new-page
patroller who rubbed my wife the wrong way. Those guys mean well in what
they do, and they are supported by the culture that has grown around
new-page patrolling. But that culture could do with some tweaks -- not by
punishing offenders, but by trying to develop a bit more sensitivity to what
it's like for a person who has never contributed to Wikipedia before, is
still struggling with the software, has just clicked Save, and is looking
with a mixture of trepidation and pride at their first article-in-the-making.
In my wife's case, on one of her articles she actually clicked "Save" when
she meant to click "Preview". A minute later, the article was speedied.
Also discussed at Jimbo's en:WP talk page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Jimbo_Wales#Female_participation
Andreas