As a party to the arbitration on WebEx and Min Zhu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/WebEx_and_Mi...) I note that FeloniousMonk is criticised for using admin powers in a dispute in which he is involved. It seems to me that Felonious was not involved in an editorial capacity, only in the prevention of reversion of certain content - which he saw (in good faith) as whitewashing, which is vandalism. I happen to disagree - I would always err on the side of removal where living people are concerned - but I have come to trust Felonious' good faith even while disagreeing with him.
Be that as it may, at what point does an admin become "involved" in a dispute to which (s)he has been called to stop an edit war? I'm a bit concerned that use of admin powers in a dispute where one takes a watching brief without actively editing content might still be interpreted as abuse, by extension of this precedent.
Or is it that Felonious' reviewing of the evidence and taking a stand was, in effect, placing himself in the editorial dispute?
My problem here is that once an admin has been called into a firefight, one side or the other will invariably see them as partisan almost immediately, and I am not at all certain that I know when to stop providing administrative support against vandals by request of trusted editors in contentious articles: at what point am I "involved" and needing to step back? Guy (JzG)
It seems to me that if you run into a nasty situation while intervening, we (the arbitrators and the rest of the community) should cut you some slack if a skunk gets some stink on you.
Fred
On Feb 22, 2006, at 5:04 AM, Guy Chapman aka JzG wrote:
As a party to the arbitration on WebEx and Min Zhu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/ WebEx_and_Min_Zhu) I note that FeloniousMonk is criticised for using admin powers in a dispute in which he is involved. It seems to me that Felonious was not involved in an editorial capacity, only in the prevention of reversion of certain content - which he saw (in good faith) as whitewashing, which is vandalism. I happen to disagree - I would always err on the side of removal where living people are concerned - but I have come to trust Felonious' good faith even while disagreeing with him.
Be that as it may, at what point does an admin become "involved" in a dispute to which (s)he has been called to stop an edit war? I'm a bit concerned that use of admin powers in a dispute where one takes a watching brief without actively editing content might still be interpreted as abuse, by extension of this precedent.
Or is it that Felonious' reviewing of the evidence and taking a stand was, in effect, placing himself in the editorial dispute?
My problem here is that once an admin has been called into a firefight, one side or the other will invariably see them as partisan almost immediately, and I am not at all certain that I know when to stop providing administrative support against vandals by request of trusted editors in contentious articles: at what point am I "involved" and needing to step back? Guy (JzG) -- http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:JzG
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"Fred Bauder" wrote
It seems to me that if you run into a nasty situation while intervening, we (the arbitrators and the rest of the community) should cut you some slack if a skunk gets some stink on you.
I agree with Fred. The last thing we should do it is to deter admins from getting involved with most contentious issues, where some sort of tarnishing incident is most likely to happen.
As with the Rajput case, the ArbCom has to note when an admin gets it wrong. That's not the same as saying we have to impose sanctions. That's very much linked to the circumstances, and the way admin powers are being applied.
Charles
Guy Chapman aka JzG wrote
My problem here is that once an admin has been called into a firefight, one side or the other will invariably see them as partisan almost immediately,
Very true.
and I am not at all certain that I know when to stop providing administrative support against vandals by request of trusted editors in contentious articles: at what point am I "involved" and needing to step back?
My view: with 800 admins, you should be able to call in another one, when things get rough. If there are two of you, there is less need to worry about stepping back; just share the load.
Charles
On Wed, 22 Feb 2006 13:25:30 -0000, you wrote:
My view: with 800 admins, you should be able to call in another one, when things get rough. If there are two of you, there is less need to worry about stepping back; just share the load.
This is sound advice, maybe that's where Felonious went wrong. I have done this with Simon Wessely, I probably need to do it with some of the Southern Baptist articles. Guy (JzG)