-----Original Message-----
From: Charlotte Webb [mailto:charlottethewebb@gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, July 3, 2007 01:19 AM
To: 'English Wikipedia'
Subject: Re: [WikiEN-l] FredBauder"clarifies"onattackkkkkkkkkkk site
link policy
On 7/3/07, Fred Bauder <fredbaud(a)waterwiki.info> wrote:
I'll never accept linking to personal attacks
on Wikipedians.
There definitely needs to be a line drawn between attacking and outing them:
One site might say "User:X is an incompetent admin who pushes a
[ideology]ist agenda and is part of a cabal with User:Y and User:Z.
The three of them are a disgrace to Wikipedia". That's definitely an
attack, but it's sticks and stones.
Another site might say "User:X on Wikipedia is [full name] from
[location] who used to work for [company] and is a disgrace to
[real-life occupuation]". That's also an attack, but it's serious
business, particularly if User:X had desired to remain
anon/pseudon-ymous.
That is a constant temptation to irresponsible critics. When the home phone calls and
calls to their employer start, some folks get profoundly upset and we lose them. This
method of attack is quite effective. And a site that encourages it is trying to do damage
or doesn't give a damn. And then there are actual stalkers that any reasonable person
has reason to fear.
Fred