New subject: Offensive Names - a Suggested Solution

29 Jan 2003

Some people have suggested using real names for user names. I would oppose 
that as many people would feel uneasy using their real names and it might 
lead to some people deciding not to contribute anymore.  But there is a 
solution.

«WHEN SOMEONE SIGNS UP, THEY ARE GREETED WITH THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE:«

In using Wikipedia, you are requested to use a User ID. In chosing that ID, 
remember, people from many different cultures, traditions, faiths and 
countries use Wikipedia, as readers, contributors, or both. In an effort to 
avoid causing offence (however inadvertent) to people from diverse 
backgrounds you are asked in chosing your user ID to follow one simple rule:

1. No user ID is to be used that has a
a) sexual
b) religious
c) cultural
d) political
meaning that could cause offence to other users of, and/or contributors to, 
Wikipedia.

Options for User IDs include
* any set of initials, eg RHK
* numbers, eg 115, 8724
* words or a combination of all three, eg, Mangus099, RHK115.
It is up to you. Once you follow the simple rule of avoiding terms that 
might cause offence, you have absolute freedom to choose whatever 
combination you want.

2. If however, perhaps inadvertently, you choose a User ID that does cause 
offence, Wiki will notify you and ask you to change it to a different 
option.

3. Remember, in those circumstances, you 'have' to change, within 48 hours. 
Members who persist in using terms that could be offensive to others will be 
banned from Wikipedia and all contributions made by them WILL BE REVERTED, 
irrespective of content or quality.

(The last line is to act as a double deterent. Some may think that if banned 
they can simply sign on as a different user and continue on where they left 
off. However the threat that all their hard work would automatically, 
irrespective of contribution or quality, be undone, may well make users who 
want to be on Wikipedia think twice before endangering their work by using a 
potentially offensive name.)

Any observations?

JT

...
 From: Tom Parmenter &lt;tompar(a)world.std.com&gt;
Reply-To: wikien-l(a)wikipedia.org
To: wikien-l(a)wikipedia.org
CC: wikien-l(a)wikipedia.org
Subject: Re: [WikiEN-l] Re: Why is 'CrucifiedChrist' less offensive than a 
pun on oral sex?
Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 20:43:12 -0500

What Brion said.  In the policy we put together, we stated that
offense was to be in the eyes of the offended, not in the inoffensive
motives of the creator of the name.  Certainly there are all kinds of
religious belief and practice, sincerely followed, that may be
offensive to others, even to co-religionists.

Tom Parmenter

|From: Sheldon Rampton &lt;sheldon.rampton(a)verizon.net&gt;
|Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 18:19:36 -0600
|
|Brion Vibber wrote:
|
|>Offense is only taken, not given. There is no objective measure of
|>offensiveness that I can perform; actual reactions and quanitifable
|>results as to how the project is affected are much more convincing to
|>me.
|
|This is a good point. There's no way of knowing simply from the
|phrase "Crucified Christ" whether the speaker means it as a joke or
|as some sort of actual statement of religious belief.
|
|Mormons actually regard the crucifix itself as offensive. They argue
|that using it as a religious symbol is tantamount to worshipping the
|weapon used to murder Christ. Obviously, most traditional Christian
|religions don't share this attitude, but it has a certain logic to it.
|
|I remember taking a Japanese Buddhist on a visit to a Catholic church
|once. She walked around the chapel, looking at the depictions of the
|stations of the cross, with Jesus dragging the crucifix and being
|tortured with his crown of thorns and blood dripping down his
|forehead. I don't know if she was "offended," exactly, but she
|certainly found it scary.
|--
|--------------------------------
||  Sheldon Rampton
||  Editor, PR Watch (www.prwatch.org)
||  Author of books including:
||     Friends In Deed: The Story of US-Nicaragua Sister Cities
||     Toxic Sludge Is Good For You
||     Mad Cow USA
||     Trust Us, We're Experts
|--------------------------------
|_______________________________________________
|WikiEN-l mailing list
|WikiEN-l(a)wikipedia.org
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|

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Re: [WikiEN-l] Offensive Names - a Suggested Solution