From: wikien-l-bounces@Wikipedia.org [mailto:wikien-l-bounces@Wikipedia.org] On Behalf Of Carbonite
On 1/5/06, Peter Mackay peter.mackay@bigpond.com wrote:
From: wikien-l-bounces@Wikipedia.org [mailto:wikien-l-bounces@Wikipedia.org] On Behalf Of Carbonite
On 1/4/06, Peter Mackay peter.mackay@bigpond.com wrote:
What I'm concerned about is the attitude that seems to
be taken by
some in this discussion is that userbox users are somehow
less worthy
than other Wikipedians.
Have you taken a look at the article space edits of some of the loudest defenders of userboxes? Would you like getting lectured about consensus and Wikipedia policy by someone with 20 article edits? If someone isn't here to actually contribute to the encyclopedia, then I suppose they would be less worthy.
That's *some* userboxers, not *all* userboxers, wouldn't you agree?
Of course. Any userbox that focuses on a user's skills (Babel boxes) or expertise should be encouraged.
A "userboxer" being someone who uses a userbox.
As for being lectured by people who don't know what they
are talking
about, I usually find this an excuse for a good guffaw, rather than something to grump about.
They'd be more guffaws if a good portion of these users weren't trying to burn valuable contributors at the stake.
I'm not sure why you are treating them seriously.
May I suggest that 20 edits from an unpaid volunteer is 20
edits that
we wouldn't have had otherwise, and that encouraging them
to do more
might be a more productive avenue than lambasting them. But then again, you've been around longer than I have, and who am I
to lecture you?
If they only made those 20 edits, then I'd agree, but many are making 10x that many edits complaining about their toys being taken away.
Again, why not encourage them to be more productive instead of lambasting them?
My comment wasn't about having an attitude of "I've been here longer, I know better!", it's about users who view Wikipedia primarily as a social club where they occasionally edit an article. In my opinion, someone who makes a vast majority of their edits to their user space probably is less worthy than those who actually work to improve the encyclopedia.
There are better social clubs available on the net. If socialising is truly their main interest, then they'll go elsewhere soon enough. But so long as they aren't actually doing any harm, then why not praise their constructive efforts, instead of trying to chase them away? The more we make Wikipedia a cheerful co-operative community instead of a battleground, the better for all concerned.
Peter (Skyring)