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&userna…
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=1…
, 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/Me…
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(a)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(a)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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