Matthew Brown wrote:
On Dec 9, 2007 11:08 PM, Relata Refero refero.relata@gmail.com wrote:
The cyberstalking list saw the !! email, which contained a vast error of judgment, namely the implication that an obvious returning account was a disruptive returning account; that error of judgment was unchecked, in that nobody appeared to correct it prior to an (undiscussed on-list) block; the list appears to contain several respected editors.
The audience of a mailing list is substantially smaller than Wikipedia's noticeboards, so mistakes are less likely to get noticed - I think that's the #1 problem. And everyone I know is swamped by email.
Those may well be the reasons why it happened, but that still doesn't change the fact that it _happened_. The fact that it happened is the problem, and events subsequent to the actual block IMO caused more damage to Wikipedia's credibility and reputation than the actual block itself did.
If something like this were to happen again in six months, what should we do differently? Or better, how can we reduce the possibility of it happening again in six months?