On Tue, Jun 8, 2010 at 7:30 AM, Amory Meltzer amorymeltzer@gmail.com wrote:
Good?
"Though the Wikipedia has more than 12 million registered users, its inner core consists of roughly 1,700 administrators who possess the ability to reject edits, lock down pages from further editing, and deem entire entries unworthy. But the real power lies in the Wikipedian equivalent of the College of Cardinals -- some 200 to 300 super-administrators who may banish transgressors for life and chart the wiki's strategy and direction..."
With the exception of the first two numbers, nothing there is wholly or remotely true.
I think that there's a definite point to that. There are a few core admins and core vocal engaged users who are "super-users" in the sense that we've generally mastered the policy and political stuff inside and can get things done, either directly or by doing the right thing process-wise. I don't know how far out to draw the line, but somewhere between 250 and 500 people all told is probably a reasonable guess.
How much influence we hold over content is a more complicated question. Most of those super-users believe in the value of inclusive consensus in a strong way.
With that said, WP:BITE is a constant problem...