All I can say is that lately, this list has been going the same way as Foundation-l in my mind: it's becoming a place where there's no way in hell I'm posting, because people are going to scream at me, abuse me, and attack my every word. There are a couple people here who seem to really, really not buy into the necessity of CIVIL, and I for one would very much like to see some moderation to enforce civility. Disagree with people, fine. Call them nasty names, send email after email attacking everything they say long after the argument has been belabored to death, accuse them of lying or stupidity? You lose me, my attention, and my respect. I think this is a reflection of the problem on both Wikipedia and Wikipedia mailing lists: some people love to attack, and some people love to keep beating a dead horse, and the people who love those things inevitably drown out the saner, calm people who would otherwise speak up as the voice of reason. I had hoped that this mailing list could be a safe haven from that sort of thing, but it's turning into just another place to avoid.
-Fluff
On Mon, Oct 3, 2011 at 5:59 PM, Fred Bauder fredbaud@fairpoint.net wrote:
I know that it is not typically stringently enforced on mailing lists, but I think that enforcing [[WP:CIVIL]] would be a good idea on this list. I can understand concerns over any form of moderation, but believe that for this list the benefits far outweigh the costs. An open atmosphere where everyone feels comfortable participating is necessary for this list to have any purpose - and [[WP:CIVIL]] enforcement would be a good first step towards establishing that.
I'm not, to be clear, suggesting the moderation of dissenting viewpoints. I’m just suggesting that because of the nature of this list it would be especially, extraordinarily, unusually counterproductive to allow a combative or uncivil environment to take root here.
I'm also tempted to just say that we should broadly defer to Sarah in moderation. I trust her judgment, and I cannot imagine her trying to censor viewpoints just because she disagrees with them.
Kevin Gorman
Enforcement of our civility rules on this list is inappropriate as it may be applied to women posters who may have grievances. Not that venting is appropriate.
Fred
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