I had meant to revisit this discussion after my thinking on the subject had come together a little better, unfortunately that isn't happening, so I will just express my concerns.
Perhaps this is only anecdotal, but it has been my observation that a good many admins are students and either stop editing or cut back their participation drastically in their junior year. So if they start at age 12, which I think has happened a lot, they are basically editing for about ten years. I find it hard to believe there are that many older admins, the photos from events certainly don't bear this out.
The link from enwiki is interesting, I do recognize names of a few professionals but even more who fit the 'advanced student' pattern. The pattern on Meta seems similar. https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special%3AListUsers&usernam...
So the problem I am trying to solve is basically the "endless September" one that Sue pointed out in her 2011 editor retention talk to WMUK. I know this information is dated, but the concept still might be a useful starting point. I have not spent a lot of time on Meta, but a while back I was quite startled to have an individual on Meta demand I engage with him in a discussion about vulgar words for reproductive organs https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Ajraddatz&diff=15... , and even more startled to find out this was a functionary. Not only that, it is someone who appears to be deeply opposed to the concept of safe space https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Grants_talk:IdeaLab/Inspire/Met... and whose name appears on a key committee for Wikimania, which as I understand it, will be under a safe space policy. So my original question was how can we get newcomers up to speed on the social norms, but considering the number of past privacy violations by functionaries, both on WP and on WP criticism sites, now the question seems to be who has access to PII, especially for in-person events. I know of no policy for this. Perhaps it is time to restrict all access to PII to WMF staff and contractors.
On 2/20/17, WereSpielChequers werespielchequers@gmail.com wrote:
*Re "** young men from 11-19", which if you think about it, is pretty much the demographic of Wikimedia's admins and functionaries."* That's an old joke, but nowadays a joke that looks a tad out of touch. Yes a significant proportion of people were that age when they became admins in 2004-2008. But if there is one thing we know about the people who became admins ten years ago, it is that they are ten years older today. I couldn't guarantee that none of our current admins were that young now, but I'd be surprised if more than one or two were. Only twenty of our current admins created their accounts in the last six years https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special%3AListUsers&username=&group=sysop&creationSort=1&desc=1&limit=2000. RFA has been difficult for teenagers to pass for several years now, If any have got through in the last six years they have been unusually mature in behaviour. As for Functionaries, Functionaries other than crats have to prove they are 18 or over when they become Functionaries. So it is theoretically possible that any new functionaries who first became so in the last two years could be 18 or 19, but it isn't exactly likely.
The template bombers who tag lots of articles for admins to delete probably do include some people in that age group, but admins? If 1% of the 1200 admins on English Wikipedia were still under 21 I would be stunned. Far more admins are over 60 than could possibly be 11-19.
On 20 February 2017 at 18:53, Neotarf neotarf@gmail.com wrote:
"A Call to Men UK has 55 coaches working in schools, youth justice departments and youth centres across Worcestershire. The organisation has one principal aim, explains development manager Michael Conroy: to spark a 'cultural shift in the way boys relate to girls', and through this to prevent violence against women and girls.... 'As a culture it’s time that we gave our young men permission to be complex, sensitive and happy human beings who transmit positivity and respect to others'.” [1]
They have a program "for young men from 11-19", which if you think about it, is pretty much the demographic of Wikimedia's admins and functionaries. [2]
This is all the more interesting right now because of the recent Newmark Foundation grant to combat harassment, which it seems is to be used for developing more forceful blocking tools for admins and functionaries "with the participation and support of the volunteers who will be using the tools". If anyone has not seen the Susan J Fowler / Uber piece on harassment that has started going viral in the last 24 hours, it is here. "...they didn't do anything because the manager who threatened me was a 'high performer.'" [3] Sound familiar? This happened in a company with HR oversight; Wikimedia admins and functionaries have no oversight at all.
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/2017/feb/ 20/teaching-boys-about-healthy-relationships-they-need-it-from-birth [2] http://acalltomenuk.org.uk/ [3] https://www.susanjfowler.com/blog/2017/2/19/reflecting-on- one-very-strange-year-at-uber
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