The Wikipedia community fosters a young male zeitgeist.This IS an attitude
problem that causes women to drop out. I have been a long time low level
contributor and thus have had a variety of response to efforts I have made.
Persistence has shown me that what one editor sees as "not credible" may be
that particular editor's world view and a contributor--CANNOT, EVER- change
the mind of most editors. So one needs to give up on that point, even if
you have gone to primary sources and have them on your table in front of
you. You have to move on. However, this resigned way of working w/in
Wikipedia is not going to be the way that many people approach it. Rebuffed
or being called "not credible" will mean we lose many contributors. It
should not be on the contributor to understand the editor. Contributors
come from all ages and societies. There are far fewer women contributing
than men. Why? Women take the harsh rebukes with more hurt. Really.
I am a teacher and suggest that students write for Wikipedia. Invariably
the female students have been made to feel stupid by editors and won't go
back. The male students are more likely to keep at it. This is the culture
that Wikipedia fosters. There are many exceptions….but generally, the tone
could be less harsh in dealing with contributors.
==============
On Sat, Sep 8, 2012 at 11:35 AM, David Gerard <dgerard(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> On 8 September 2012 15:43, Thomas Morton <morton.thomas(a)googlemail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > I haven't had chance to look into this;
>
>
> That statement invalidates this statement:
>
>
> > Rather than whining about him we need to see the problem; it's an
> > attitude problem HERE.
>
>
> -d.
>
>