On 3/6/07, Erik Moeller erik@wikimedia.org wrote:
I'm sick and tired of people misunderstanding what an "administrator" of Wikipedia is. It was a misnomer to begin with, and we've had nothing but trouble with this name ever since. Users misunderstand it (and ask admins to make editorial decisions). Media misunderstand it (and either do not explain it, or connect it to power and influence). And it's no wonder. "Administrator" could refer to a manager, or someone appointed by a court; it typically describes someone in an important official position.
People who ask admins/sysops to make editorial decisions are simply unaware of their role. Instead of causing loads of work by renaming the position, it would IMO be more effective to educate the others. People who make editorial decisions about writing are usually called editors. Should we rename that term too?
Also, the fact people misunderstand is partly caused by admins messing up. We shouldn't be afraid to keep an eye on each other's work and make sure fellow admins follow the rules.
When the role of "bureaucrat" was created, the name was chosen
specifically so that people would not treat it as a status symbol. It should be something nobody really _wants_ -- something people do because it needs doing, not because it gains them credibility and influence. This seems to have worked reasonably well for the most part.
Seeing as how the word "bureaucrat" appears to be connected with "bureaucracy" I can't see how it could have been carefully chosen.
Why don't we do the same thing with administrators? No need to do a
global search & replace, just change the key pages and MediaWiki messages and leave old mentions of "adminship" on talk pages and such around. But change it to something like "janitor". Or at least something less formidable than "administrator", like "trusted user."
Seriously, people.
Peace & Love, Erik
DISCLAIMER: This message does not represent an official position of the Wikimedia Foundation or its Board of Trustees.
"An old, rigid civilization is reluctantly dying. Something new, open, free and exciting is waking up." -- Ming the Mechanic
WikiEN-l mailing list WikiEN-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit: http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l