Hey! I'm new here! Just joined today!
I'm known as "I dream of horses" on Wikipedia. My real name is Emily, but a lot of people call me Em for short. I am 19 years old. I like music, particularly rock, and instrumental music. I also like to exercise, and to fidget. I am a lacto-ovo vegetarian.
I am in the uncategorized and stub sorting wikiproject. i have also recent changes and new pages patrolled. However, I am becoming more interested in the "social" aspect of wikipedia, which is why I joined the list!
Would anyone like to introduce themselves? Is there any kind of "mailing list etiquette" I should be aware of?
Emily
On Wed, Jun 17, 2009 at 7:10 PM, Emily Monroe bluecaliocean@me.com wrote:
Hey! I'm new here! Just joined today! I'm known as "I dream of horses" on Wikipedia. My real name is Emily, but a lot of people call me Em for short. I am 19 years old. I like music, particularly rock, and instrumental music. I also like to exercise, and to fidget. I am a lacto-ovo vegetarian. I am in the uncategorized and stub sorting wikiproject. i have also recent changes and new pages patrolled. However, I am becoming more interested in the "social" aspect of wikipedia, which is why I joined the list! Would anyone like to introduce themselves? Is there any kind of "mailing list etiquette" I should be aware of?
Welcome, Emily.
There's not much to speak of in terms of mailing list "etiquette," and there are no wrong questions here, though people may want to keep discussions here high-level (sitewide/policy issues) and thus may politely direct you to pages on en.wikipedia that more directly relate to any *specific or topical issues you may be interested in.
And before you hear anyone mention "MySpace," it should be stated that the "social aspect of Wikipedia" has traditionally been a lower priority for the basic reasons that almost all discussion be about improving the project, and because there is a nagging concern that an exceedingly "social" Wikipedia would stop being an "encyclopedia." (Also, note that very few of us are actual social butterflies, real-life or otherwise). ;-]
But you will interact with people who have common interests, and make some friends as well. Happy editing. :-)
- Stevertigo
I didn't mean to be overly social. Sorry about that.
Emily On Jun 18, 2009, at 5:01 AM, stevertigo wrote:
On Wed, Jun 17, 2009 at 7:10 PM, Emily Monroe bluecaliocean@me.com wrote:
Hey! I'm new here! Just joined today! I'm known as "I dream of horses" on Wikipedia. My real name is Emily, but a lot of people call me Em for short. I am 19 years old. I like music, particularly rock, and instrumental music. I also like to exercise, and to fidget. I am a lacto-ovo vegetarian. I am in the uncategorized and stub sorting wikiproject. i have also recent changes and new pages patrolled. However, I am becoming more interested in the "social" aspect of wikipedia, which is why I joined the list! Would anyone like to introduce themselves? Is there any kind of "mailing list etiquette" I should be aware of?
Welcome, Emily.
There's not much to speak of in terms of mailing list "etiquette," and there are no wrong questions here, though people may want to keep discussions here high-level (sitewide/policy issues) and thus may politely direct you to pages on en.wikipedia that more directly relate to any *specific or topical issues you may be interested in.
And before you hear anyone mention "MySpace," it should be stated that the "social aspect of Wikipedia" has traditionally been a lower priority for the basic reasons that almost all discussion be about improving the project, and because there is a nagging concern that an exceedingly "social" Wikipedia would stop being an "encyclopedia." (Also, note that very few of us are actual social butterflies, real-life or otherwise). ;-]
But you will interact with people who have common interests, and make some friends as well. Happy editing. :-)
- Stevertigo
WikiEN-l mailing list WikiEN-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l
2009/6/18 Emily Monroe bluecaliocean@me.com:
I'm known as "I dream of horses" on Wikipedia. My real name is Emily, but a lot of people call me Em for short. I am 19 years old. I like music, particularly rock, and instrumental music. I also like to exercise, and to fidget. I am a lacto-ovo vegetarian. I am in the uncategorized and stub sorting wikiproject. i have also recent changes and new pages patrolled. However, I am becoming more interested in the "social" aspect of wikipedia, which is why I joined the list! Would anyone like to introduce themselves? Is there any kind of "mailing list etiquette" I should be aware of?
The idea is "we're here to write an encyclopedia;" anything broadly related to Wikipedia and stuff relating to it is probably on-topic. If it'd be of interest to a bunch of encyclopedia nerds, it's probably relevant.
Civility and politeness is the rule. Some fail at this, we encourage them to do better.
(Those who are particularly offensive, nonsensical or persistently irrelevant may end up moderated - they are not blocked from the list, but their messages are checked before forwarding to the list.)
Important decisions about stuff concerning Wikipedia are made on the wiki. But there's a lot of Wikipedia old hands on this list, and it's a good place to discuss ideas and current matters of concern.
If you're interested in why people got into Wikipedia, a thread about this started just a few days ago:
http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2009-June/thread.html#101189
- d.
Hey! I'm new here! Just joined today!
I'm known as "I dream of horses" on Wikipedia. My real name is Emily, but a lot of people call me Em for short. I am 19 years old. I like music, particularly rock, and instrumental music. I also like to exercise, and to fidget. I am a lacto-ovo vegetarian.
I am in the uncategorized and stub sorting wikiproject. i have also recent changes and new pages patrolled. However, I am becoming more interested in the "social" aspect of wikipedia, which is why I joined the list!
Would anyone like to introduce themselves? Is there any kind of "mailing list etiquette" I should be aware of?
Emily
Welcome to the list, Emily!
AGK
Hey! I'm new here! Just joined today!
I'm known as "I dream of horses" on Wikipedia. My real name is Emily, but a lot of people call me Em for short. I am 19 years old. I like music, particularly rock, and instrumental music. I also like to exercise, and to fidget. I am a lacto-ovo vegetarian.
I am in the uncategorized and stub sorting wikiproject. i have also recent changes and new pages patrolled. However, I am becoming more interested in the "social" aspect of wikipedia, which is why I joined the list!
Would anyone like to introduce themselves? Is there any kind of "mailing list etiquette" I should be aware of?
Emily
Emily,
You sound like a wonderful addition to our community. One of the problems we might have (others may disagree) is that the social side of Wikipedia is somewhat underdeveloped. That is certainly a legitimate topic of discussion on this list: how we might make Wikipedia a friendlier, more welcoming place.
I first found Wikipedia in 2002, back in the days when articles like "Colorado" had not even been started. There was this guy, Larry Sanger, who while not in charge, had a lot of clout. And Jimmy Wales, was very hands on, following developments closely.
I've posted on the mailing lists quite a lot, nasty habit, takes up way too much time. I still edit a little bit, although most of my Wikipedia work these days is on a list unblock-en-l which tries to handle requests to bypass blocks.
It sounds like you are off to a good start.
Fred
That is certainly a legitimate topic of discussion on this list: how we might make Wikipedia a friendlier, more welcoming place.
So, not a place to socialize, but nonetheless a welcoming place to be?
Emily On Jun 18, 2009, at 9:02 AM, Fred Bauder wrote:
Hey! I'm new here! Just joined today!
I'm known as "I dream of horses" on Wikipedia. My real name is Emily, but a lot of people call me Em for short. I am 19 years old. I like music, particularly rock, and instrumental music. I also like to exercise, and to fidget. I am a lacto-ovo vegetarian.
I am in the uncategorized and stub sorting wikiproject. i have also recent changes and new pages patrolled. However, I am becoming more interested in the "social" aspect of wikipedia, which is why I joined the list!
Would anyone like to introduce themselves? Is there any kind of "mailing list etiquette" I should be aware of?
Emily
Emily,
You sound like a wonderful addition to our community. One of the problems we might have (others may disagree) is that the social side of Wikipedia is somewhat underdeveloped. That is certainly a legitimate topic of discussion on this list: how we might make Wikipedia a friendlier, more welcoming place.
I first found Wikipedia in 2002, back in the days when articles like "Colorado" had not even been started. There was this guy, Larry Sanger, who while not in charge, had a lot of clout. And Jimmy Wales, was very hands on, following developments closely.
I've posted on the mailing lists quite a lot, nasty habit, takes up way too much time. I still edit a little bit, although most of my Wikipedia work these days is on a list unblock-en-l which tries to handle requests to bypass blocks.
It sounds like you are off to a good start.
Fred
WikiEN-l mailing list WikiEN-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l
That is certainly a legitimate topic of discussion on this list: how we might make Wikipedia a friendlier, more welcoming place.
So, not a place to socialize, but nonetheless a welcoming place to be?
Emily
Right, like a round square...
How can we both get work done, put our efforts into improving our reference works, and also have a pleasant friendly atmosphere.
Fred
On Jun 18, 2009, at 9:02 AM, Fred Bauder wrote:
Hey! I'm new here! Just joined today!
I'm known as "I dream of horses" on Wikipedia. My real name is Emily, but a lot of people call me Em for short. I am 19 years old. I like music, particularly rock, and instrumental music. I also like to exercise, and to fidget. I am a lacto-ovo vegetarian.
I am in the uncategorized and stub sorting wikiproject. i have also recent changes and new pages patrolled. However, I am becoming more interested in the "social" aspect of wikipedia, which is why I joined the list!
Would anyone like to introduce themselves? Is there any kind of "mailing list etiquette" I should be aware of?
Emily
Emily,
You sound like a wonderful addition to our community. One of the problems we might have (others may disagree) is that the social side of Wikipedia is somewhat underdeveloped. That is certainly a legitimate topic of discussion on this list: how we might make Wikipedia a friendlier, more welcoming place.
I first found Wikipedia in 2002, back in the days when articles like "Colorado" had not even been started. There was this guy, Larry Sanger, who while not in charge, had a lot of clout. And Jimmy Wales, was very hands on, following developments closely.
I've posted on the mailing lists quite a lot, nasty habit, takes up way too much time. I still edit a little bit, although most of my Wikipedia work these days is on a list unblock-en-l which tries to handle requests to bypass blocks.
It sounds like you are off to a good start.
Fred
WikiEN-l mailing list WikiEN-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l
How can we both get work done, put our efforts into improving our reference works, and also have a pleasant friendly atmosphere.
Sounds like a lofty yet worthy goal. :-)
Emily On Jun 18, 2009, at 9:09 AM, Fred Bauder wrote:
That is certainly a legitimate topic of discussion on this list: how we might make Wikipedia a friendlier, more welcoming place.
So, not a place to socialize, but nonetheless a welcoming place to be?
Emily
Right, like a round square...
How can we both get work done, put our efforts into improving our reference works, and also have a pleasant friendly atmosphere.
Fred
On Jun 18, 2009, at 9:02 AM, Fred Bauder wrote:
Hey! I'm new here! Just joined today!
I'm known as "I dream of horses" on Wikipedia. My real name is Emily, but a lot of people call me Em for short. I am 19 years old. I like music, particularly rock, and instrumental music. I also like to exercise, and to fidget. I am a lacto-ovo vegetarian.
I am in the uncategorized and stub sorting wikiproject. i have also recent changes and new pages patrolled. However, I am becoming more interested in the "social" aspect of wikipedia, which is why I joined the list!
Would anyone like to introduce themselves? Is there any kind of "mailing list etiquette" I should be aware of?
Emily
Emily,
You sound like a wonderful addition to our community. One of the problems we might have (others may disagree) is that the social side of Wikipedia is somewhat underdeveloped. That is certainly a legitimate topic of discussion on this list: how we might make Wikipedia a friendlier, more welcoming place.
I first found Wikipedia in 2002, back in the days when articles like "Colorado" had not even been started. There was this guy, Larry Sanger, who while not in charge, had a lot of clout. And Jimmy Wales, was very hands on, following developments closely.
I've posted on the mailing lists quite a lot, nasty habit, takes up way too much time. I still edit a little bit, although most of my Wikipedia work these days is on a list unblock-en-l which tries to handle requests to bypass blocks.
It sounds like you are off to a good start.
Fred
WikiEN-l mailing list WikiEN-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l
WikiEN-l mailing list WikiEN-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l
2009/6/18 Emily Monroe bluecaliocean@me.com:
That is certainly a legitimate topic of discussion on this list: how we might make Wikipedia a friendlier, more welcoming place.
So, not a place to socialize, but nonetheless a welcoming place to be?
Socialising generally takes place though the likes of
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:IRC
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup
geni wrote:
2009/6/18 Emily Monroe bluecaliocean@me.com:
That is certainly a legitimate topic of discussion on this list: how we might make Wikipedia a friendlier, more welcoming place.
So, not a place to socialize, but nonetheless a welcoming place to be?
Socialising generally takes place though the likes of
For sufficiently vague definitions of the word socializing.
Yours,
Jussi-Ville Heiskanen
Fred Bauder wrote:
Hey! I'm new here! Just joined today!
I'm known as "I dream of horses" on Wikipedia. My real name is Emily, but a lot of people call me Em for short. I am 19 years old. I like music, particularly rock, and instrumental music. I also like to exercise, and to fidget. I am a lacto-ovo vegetarian.
I am in the uncategorized and stub sorting wikiproject. i have also recent changes and new pages patrolled. However, I am becoming more interested in the "social" aspect of wikipedia, which is why I joined the list!
Would anyone like to introduce themselves? Is there any kind of "mailing list etiquette" I should be aware of?
Emily
Emily,
You sound like a wonderful addition to our community. One of the problems we might have (others may disagree) is that the social side of Wikipedia is somewhat underdeveloped. That is certainly a legitimate topic of discussion on this list: how we might make Wikipedia a friendlier, more welcoming place.
I first found Wikipedia in 2002, back in the days when articles like "Colorado" had not even been started. There was this guy, Larry Sanger, who while not in charge, had a lot of clout. And Jimmy Wales, was very hands on, following developments closely.
I've posted on the mailing lists quite a lot, nasty habit, takes up way too much time. I still edit a little bit, although most of my Wikipedia work these days is on a list unblock-en-l which tries to handle requests to bypass blocks.
It sounds like you are off to a good start.
Fred
I agree.
Emily,
I first found wikipedia in April of 2003, at a point when a cadre of old hands had already developed, and for a very long time kept being very deferential and apologetic and even when I thought somebody was being very rude, usually went to other people to ask if it was okay for them to be that way.
The first time I really got more seriously involved with wikipedia was when Tim Starling did an analysis of peoples editing patterns and found that I and 19 other people on the wiki had edits pretty much around the clock, in each hour of the day. (For me the reason was that I had just been layed off, and my previous job was one that kept me at odd hours, so I had developed a completely mixed up daily routine of sleep cycles), so Tim asked if we 20 could be sort of paladins of making sure the Single Server (yes there was a time when wikipedia ran on a single computer , Virginia - even a time it didn't even have a computer of its own), was always up and running.
It was my exciting task to in fact be the first person of us to make the alert that it had fallen - and later an embarrassing task to infact make a transcontinental phone call to inform the same to Jimbo himself, only to realize later that I had woken him up in bed 6 AM in the morning (timezones, ouch).
Since then, I have tried to be a lubricant where I can, and grit where that is needed. Currently I have been most active in doing translations and localisation work for the finnish language MediaWiki messages.
Yours,
Jussi-Ville Heiskanen
On Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 7:02 AM, Fred Bauder fredbaud@fairpoint.net wrote:
However, I am becoming more interested in the "social" aspect of wikipedia, which is why I joined the list!
I like where Fred is going here. But do I understand correctly, Emily, that by "social aspects" you mean more what we might call "community," or "collective," or perhaps "synergetic" aspects? My/our apparent confusion/misunderstanding comes from the unfortunate fact that for many people here, the word "social" is a kind of codeword for "community interactions that have no aspect of the purpose of writing an encyclopedia in mind."
Everyone is to some degree interested in "community," and that's why Wikipedia works. But the connection between "social aspects" and community, though essential, is still not yet well understood. Hence its my sense (?) that many people think that "if the idea doesn't have the encyclopedia in mind," it therefore must be "social," (discarded), often quite with little regard for whether or not that "social" idea contributes to "community." But, as with anything dynamic, there is a ongoing struggle to find a balance between different forces.
If your interested, you might even do a little research into the history of how social aspects have tried to coexist with the prime directive of building (and even writing) an encyclopedia. Maybe writing up a meta page about that history would help people get an overview. Places to look: Barnstars, Userboxes, IRC and Meetups (after Geni), Projects (of course), and Medcom / other WP:DRR, and Signpost (late addition). Maybe after checking these out you can have an idea or two of your own.
You may be interested to know that there have been times when people have been quite at odds about the "social aspects." Search "userboxes" + "wheel war" for example --a very important example of when the "community" decided (somehow) to stomp on the "society." I still consider the mass removal of userboxes from the meta namespace to the user namespace to have been a "social" faux pax.
To wrap this up, people-oriented people have always helped very much to create a more integrated community. Those that get themselves involved in content issues often help to keep things from blowing up. And some have even been entrusted by the community to positions of authority.
-Steve
You sound like a wonderful addition to our community. One of the problems
we might have (others may disagree) is that the social side of Wikipedia is somewhat underdeveloped. That is certainly a legitimate topic of discussion on this list: how we might make Wikipedia a friendlier, more welcoming place.
I first found Wikipedia in 2002, back in the days when articles like "Colorado" had not even been started. There was this guy, Larry Sanger, who while not in charge, had a lot of clout. And Jimmy Wales, was very hands on, following developments closely.
2009/6/18 stevertigo stvrtg@gmail.com:
To wrap this up, people-oriented people have always helped very much to create a more integrated community. Those that get themselves involved in content issues often help to keep things from blowing up. And some have even been entrusted by the community to positions of authority.
Yeah. While keeping in mind at all times "we're here to write an encyclopedia", the way we're doing it is to work with others, as humans. Sometimes ones we disagree with horribly. Hence cautionary rules such as "assume good faith."
We all need to be encyclopedists, but working with all the other encyclopedists, those who do a lot and those who do a little, etc., etc. This is easier to say than to achieve, of course.
- d.
2009/6/18 David Gerard dgerard@gmail.com
We all need to be encyclopedists, but working with all the other
encyclopedists, those who do a lot and those who do a little, etc., etc. This is easier to say than to achieve, of course.
Indeed it is! Very much easier to say than to achieve, but from what I have seen over the year or so I have been participating, it seems to work reasonably well!
But do I understand correctly, Emily, that by "social aspects" you mean more what we might call "community," or "collective," or perhaps "synergetic" aspects?
Yes, that's what I mean!
I'll be interested to see where this discussion goes.
Emily On Jun 18, 2009, at 2:15 PM, stevertigo wrote:
On Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 7:02 AM, Fred Bauder fredbaud@fairpoint.net wrote:
However, I am becoming more interested in the "social" aspect of wikipedia, which is why I joined the list!
I like where Fred is going here. But do I understand correctly, Emily, that by "social aspects" you mean more what we might call "community," or "collective," or perhaps "synergetic" aspects? My/our apparent confusion/misunderstanding comes from the unfortunate fact that for many people here, the word "social" is a kind of codeword for "community interactions that have no aspect of the purpose of writing an encyclopedia in mind."
Everyone is to some degree interested in "community," and that's why Wikipedia works. But the connection between "social aspects" and community, though essential, is still not yet well understood. Hence its my sense (?) that many people think that "if the idea doesn't have the encyclopedia in mind," it therefore must be "social," (discarded), often quite with little regard for whether or not that "social" idea contributes to "community." But, as with anything dynamic, there is a ongoing struggle to find a balance between different forces.
If your interested, you might even do a little research into the history of how social aspects have tried to coexist with the prime directive of building (and even writing) an encyclopedia. Maybe writing up a meta page about that history would help people get an overview. Places to look: Barnstars, Userboxes, IRC and Meetups (after Geni), Projects (of course), and Medcom / other WP:DRR, and Signpost (late addition). Maybe after checking these out you can have an idea or two of your own.
You may be interested to know that there have been times when people have been quite at odds about the "social aspects." Search "userboxes" + "wheel war" for example --a very important example of when the "community" decided (somehow) to stomp on the "society." I still consider the mass removal of userboxes from the meta namespace to the user namespace to have been a "social" faux pax.
To wrap this up, people-oriented people have always helped very much to create a more integrated community. Those that get themselves involved in content issues often help to keep things from blowing up. And some have even been entrusted by the community to positions of authority.
-Steve
You sound like a wonderful addition to our community. One of the problems
we might have (others may disagree) is that the social side of Wikipedia is somewhat underdeveloped. That is certainly a legitimate topic of discussion on this list: how we might make Wikipedia a friendlier, more welcoming place.
I first found Wikipedia in 2002, back in the days when articles like "Colorado" had not even been started. There was this guy, Larry Sanger, who while not in charge, had a lot of clout. And Jimmy Wales, was very hands on, following developments closely.
WikiEN-l mailing list WikiEN-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l
Emily Monroe wrote:
Is there any kind of "mailing list etiquette" I should be aware of?
It would be rather grouchy not to respond to your enthusiasm ... or to come up with a rule book. I like it when people edit the mails they reply to down to just the point they want to meet, and keep answers on the terse side. And stay on topic ...
Charles