On Jan 1, 2008 9:33 AM, Marc Riddell michaeldavid86@comcast.net wrote:
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Also, there could be something similar to a Barnstar that we place on our User Pages ourselves saying something like "I am a proud Member of the Wikipedia Community" with a design such as a globe similar to the WP Globe, but with a figure of a person at the N, S, E & W locations.
I would like to see placed at the top of the Wikipedia Main Page, a banner that says something like, "Be honest - be fair - be assertive - be civil."
I would be opposed to these purely for utilitarian reasons. There is no evidence to suggest that these foster the culture we desire. We *feel* they would accomplish something, but all evidence points in the opposite direction. Templated nice messages don't foster good feelings amongst anyone other than the most naive or new. Esperanza did pretty much exactly what you propose, and unsurprisingly, died an agonising death. They were creepy from the start - I never bought into this idea that hurling templates of politeness and barnstars of civility would actually accomplish anything, and indeed, this was acknowledged by the community when Esperanza finally closed down.
I see civility and a sense of community as desirable ends in themselves, but not something you can approach directly. Being too direct only makes it too easy to game the system (see: Esperanza), and forcing civility upon us is perhaps the epitome of incivility itself. These things have to be fostered by indirect means. They are not something you can easily create by slapping a few stickers on someone's talk page or exhorting people to be nice.
Johnleemk