On Sat, 18 Feb 2006 07:27:49 -0800, you wrote:
I think to a degree Wikipedia has reached that stage Usenet did, where suddenly the influx of new people is beyond the rate at which they tend to acclimate to the older culture. There are so many newbies that a newbie-culture can develop without having to join the existing one.
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Oh, wait, this is a mailing list, not Usenet, isn't it? ;-)
My thoughts: move all userboxes to user: space, so that they are obviously not official and not part of the encyclopedia project proper. Then ignore them except for awful examples.
But make sure the welcoming committee gently inform people that Trolls Are Evil.
And I really really don't think that the perennial argument between left and right in American politics (which of course is right and far right for the rest of us...) helps build an encyclopaedia, any more than proclaiming yourself a paedophile does. For a while I've been using a flag in my wikisig, this debate has persuaded me to stop. It's also led me to think hard about the real wiki culture, and amending my ways to fit in with it (which can't be bad). But maybe the boxen are good, in that they warn us to look out for bias from that editor.
Anyway, what is needed, I think, is an "official" statement that the war is over, and it's time to move on. People I admire and respect have done things which I think they should not have done, and that has in some cases got them into trouble. These are not evil people, they are just folks like us with strong opinions. I want to get back to normal, whatever normal is.
Guy