I don't
know how best this can be done. Do we create a WikiCommittee
whose job it is to track users and drop comments on their user page? Do
we ask a codejunkie to write a script to autogenerate certificate
messages? Help me out here, allies. Whatever we do, if anything, I offer
my assistance, because the more welcome we make good writers feel, the
longer they stay, and the more welcome we make weak writers feel, the
stronger they get.
What we need, quite simply, is for people to drop notes on other users
talk pages saying "hey, that's some great work you've been doing there!"
I've been doing some of that myself, _I_ enjoy doing it, and I'm sure that
the recipients are happy too. So my advice: more of that. Less talking on
mailing lists about awards and certificates, less organising of
committees, just get out there and leave the personal message saying "well
done!"
I'll admit, my editing tends to go in spurts: I'll spend a day or two
creating swathes of new text (creating or greatly expanding articles) --
then I'll spend another three to ten days doing "housecleaning" - typo
patrols, Cleanup pages, disambiguation, lately the Orphaned Categories
page. Why? Because I hope against hope that the major contributions I
made will be at least be noticed to the extent that someone fixes a typo or
adds an external link, and I wait, patiently checking my watchlist, for a
few days before I'm convinced (and discouraged) that a new article has
vanished into the ether. It certainly feels like the housework gets more
credit; at least, I'm more likely to get feedback when I clean up someone
else's article. (I know, I know about article ownership.) I'm not
exemplary about complimenting people either (and it's always easier to do
so via the edit summary than actually going to their user page), but I'll
make more of an effort. I just wanted to add my two cents -- I've been a
steady editor for a year and a half, and I know exactly what others are
saying about feeling like giving up sometimes because no one notices what
you do unless you're a troll, or deliberately seek out controversial areas,
or participate in every policy discussion.
the quiet one in the back,
Catherine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:CatherineMunro