On 3/31/06, Steve Bennett stevage@gmail.com wrote:
Personally I'm a bit puzzled that there seems to be a bias in favour of people who have edited high profile articles and thus have "handled conflict" well. The trouble is then that those admins will obviously want to continue editing the same types of articles, only they have "admin" attached to their name now, and aren't treated or perceived the same way.
Speaking for myself, I treat an "admin" differently when he has a difference of opinion on content on a certain page. Perhaps we need a non-empowered "respected user" flag for oldbies with common sense that don't actually want to do any vandal fighting?
There are admin tasks beside vandal figting.
Would it be possible to make such a body purely an advisory panel? Ie, 3 people review a user, and present their findings to the community, who then votes? Is that feasible for the volume of RfAs?
No.
The "social experiement" type users are the most likely to react violently against a "cabal", right? Whereas the "get the encyclopaedia written" ones are theoretically more like to support such fascism. Does that help at all as a starting point?
Steve
Not really the pure "get the encyclopaedia written" group never get involved in wikipolitics. Every other group tries to claim it as a title which can lead to some amuseing sitations.
The anti-"cabal" bunch are very divirse. Losers in the game of wikipedia politics who are looking for people to blame. People with trust issues. Conservatives who don't want the structures to change. Idealists. People who have seen too many power mad admins on other parts of the internet. People who geniunly belive that is the best way to give power to the people who get the encyclopaedia written.
The pro centeralisation of power seem to consist of Losers in the game of wikipedia politics who are looking for people to blame. People with trust issues. Conservatives who don't want the balance of power to change (ie they want the same longtimer admins in power forever). People who have seen too many internet communities wrecked by trolls. People who geniunly belive that is the best way to help the people who get the encyclopaedia written.
Seems bad huh? It is even more depressing. The only thing worse than the battle would be either side "winning".
-- geni