Charlotte Webb wrote:
On 10/12/07, William Pietri william@scissor.com wrote:
So for example, I might get a notice twice a month that I'm in for a four-hour shift on looking at AfDs, or RC patrol. Whatever area is in most need of labor gets the help. Perhaps we could include a way for people to report their shifts completed, so that we could list the virtuous.
I'd use something like this. Would others?
I think as long as we remain volunteers, most of us will edit whatever we want, whenever we want. If you want to work out some sort of brownie point system for those whom you entice to work in the least glamorous areas of the encyclopedia, it might be fun enough for some people to play along with, but Wikipedians generally prefer to be self-directed.
For what it's worth, I like to be self-directed, too. But there's the self-direction of "what do I want to do this instant?" versus "what do I want to do over the next six months?"
This would be an attempt to support people who are trying to think in the latter mode. Personally, I never really want to clean the house. But every Sunday morning, we clean the house. Because I like having the house clean, I have made the commitment to those Sunday morning cleaning sessions, even though it interferes with my moment-to-moment self-direction.
I'd welcome other ways to map that approach onto Wikipedia; I'm more interested in the spirit and the effect than the particular mechanism I proposed.
William