--- On Sun, 6/2/11, Brandon Harris bharris@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