[WikiEN-l] Scott McCloud on Wikipedia

[Michael Snow]

Philip Sandifer wrote:

> Yes, the system is succeptible to the clueless and the crazy.

and

> If we do not assume that our userbase is primarily comprised of  
> reasonably competent people who will follow the principles described  
> we are screwed.

I find these two statements to be in considerable tension with each 
other. The latter is not something I'm willing to assume, although it is 
certainly something we should strive toward. In fact, most of the 
community's social problems arise because people are too "clueless" or 
"crazy" to recognize the limits of their competence. We need to figure 
out how we can better push for more competent contributors.

Wikipedia's best contributors are those wise enough to know their own 
limitations. They hardly ever cause a stir because they don't overreach 
these limitations, or else they put the necessary effort into overcoming 
them. Unfortunately, far too many people lack either the self-awareness 
or self-control to respect their own limitations. That means we have to 
apply external controls. This may range from deleting content that is 
not helpful at all, to mercilessly editing poor-quality but salvageable 
content, to evicting contributors who are an overall detriment to the 
project. The proper uses of such remedies are tricky issues that require 
an abundance of good judgment. The community's ability to cope with that 
problem, the constant need for good and careful judgment, has not scaled 
very well.

--Michael Snow