[WikiEN-l] Freedom of Speech in WP

[Ray Saintonge]

Stan Shebs wrote:

>I suppose if someone had a note on their user page - "no need to be 
>civil here", then it could be an exception to the general rule. I don't 
>think there are very many people in that category though. One of the 
>interesting aspects of online communication is that body language and 
>nonverbal cues seem to be more important than anybody ever realized - 
>misunderstandings in online interaction happen far more, and are more 
>likely to spiral out of control. For instance, somebody could be saying 
>something nasty-sounding in person, but they're smiling and relaxed 
>while saying it, so you know they're probably leading up to a sardonic 
>joke. 
>
The smile is very important when presnting awards for meretricious 
service to the community.

>Satire without a smiley face is routinely taken seriously, no 
>matter how well-written. People who are good editors, but take other 
>people's statement to heart, can get so upset that they no longer want 
>to work in WP, and that's certainly a loss to the project. So the 
>civility rule is partly about backing down to a level that reduces hurt 
>and misunderstandings across a broad range of individuals.
>
The smiley face is often ignored by those determined to be offended.  
The obvious hyperbole of statements like, "You ought to be shot for 
saying that," tends to be ignored in favour of an impossible litersal 
interpretation. 

There is also on the net a frequent tendency toward one-dimensionality.  
Thus "LOL" is most frequently taken to mean "Lots of Laughs", and in 
some circumstances readers will read it as some kind of insult by 
laughing at their work.  For others it can mean, "Lots of Luck," in the 
same way that one would say, "Break a leg," to someone about to go on 
stage.  No-one would seriously take that expression literally.  "Lots of 
Luck," can also be used ironically meaning, "I don't believe you can 
accomplish that without luck."  When I first encountered the 
abbreviation it meant, "Little Old Lady."  Cf [[The Little Old Lady from 
Pasadena]].

It's also important to recognize that the same event can have quite a 
different cultural impact in different societies.  The now infamous 
super-bowl "wardrobe malfunction" outraged some people, but for others 
of us it was hilarious that such a trivial event should get such an 
overblown reaction.  Here along the border it frequently happens that 
the same movie shown with full dialogue on Canadian television will have 
offensive words bleeped on US television.  As more countries mix more 
different vegetables into the soup the flavours become more nuanced.  
Those of us who don't like olives on pizza need to find an accomodation 
with those that do, and bulldozing all the olive trees in the world is 
not an option.  Things do mean exactly what the user intends.  Alice 
understood this, both in Wonderland and in Her Restaurant.  Great works 
of art, literature and music will say entirely different things to each 
person who experiences them.  We need to guard against obligatory 
equation of meanings between the artist and his audience.

Yes, we have lost good editors who got upset with our form of social 
darwinism.  I can imagine that this has been especially difficult from 
some of our American Wikipedians who have now found a raven or coyote 
sitting on the pulpit of their values.  I say this with the utmost 
sympathy, for I know that some have adapted well.  In the present world 
climate it can't be easy to be an American.

I think we have barely touched the surface of the paradigm shift 
implicit in the developments of communications technology.  I've been 
reading the book, "Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes 
Everything," by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams.  The authors 
mention Wikipedia extensively, along with many of the other well-known 
on-line initiatives.  In a paradign shift the shakedown of the old ways 
can be brutal.  Intellectual property and economics are only the first 
areas to feel the heat.  In the United States Lou Dobbs of CNN is 
constantly carrying-on about incompetent politicians, many of whom leave 
the impression that the primary duty of an elected politician is to get 
re-elected.  Even if you remove the understandably nationalistic tone of 
his statements, they remain applicable.  It's only a matter of time 
until the denizens of the blogosphere discover that maybe they should 
suggest alternatives that are more people friendly than the 
constitutional brick that was proposed for the European Union.  Maybe we 
don't need countries at all.

>The civility rule is also for one's own self-protection - everything you 
>say online is publicly visible and recorded forever.
>
That application is not limited to WP.  Many are there who never learn it.