Hi all
We
are very proud of the fruitful discussions that are held on this Public Policy
list. Surely most of you will agree that we regularly see very
productive conversations and great contributions, including from outside
the Wikimedia movement. We are very happy about the level and substance
of conversation on this email list, which many consider one of
the best within Wikimedia and maybe even beyond.
However, Listservs are a complicated thing. We are all humans (right? :) and so we
wanted to send out this gentle reminder to please keep the conversation
friendly, productive, and focused on the goals that we share. In order
to continue the valuable discussions and make them open for everyone who
wants to contribute, including participants from other organizations,
we would like to encourage everybody on this list to apply a couple of principles that
we recently developed during a discussion at Wikimania:
- Give constructive criticism. Offer options.
- Treat people as you would like to be treated. No personal attacks. Be empathetic.
- Re-read your contributions. Be patient. Think: this is how xyz makes me feel.
- See something, say something.
- Rewind. Connect on human level. Apologize. Get off-list for a second.
- And finally: let others speak. Don't send too many messages. Give recipients room to breathe.
Even
though we use email and not letters as a medium of conversation here,
please also try to stick to basic formalities and acts of courtesy when
addressing the group or individuals.
We are not trying to
over-regulate this listserv. But we feel this is a good time to talk
about this in order to make sure we can continue to successfully work
together towards free knowledge. If you have comments or questions, feel
free to send them directly to me.
Thanks a lot and keep up the good work!