Hi Deryk
Thank you for sharing such a personal response to your experiences at
Wikimania, and you raise a very valid point about different cultural
sensitivities and the possibility of feeling like an outsider IRL as well
as online. I'm so sorry you felt rejected and excluded at Wikimania. I
don't think I was involved in the specific discussion you mention but I can
certainly attest to the fact that emotions were running high that weekend
following the referendum. Your email is a useful reminder that we all have
a different perspective on issues that can seem like binary propositions.
It was great to see you at the WMUK AGM yesterday, and I really hope that
you felt welcome and included there!
All best
Lucy
On 9 July 2016 at 22:51, Deryck Chan <deryckchan(a)gmail.com> wrote:
I apologise for the somewhat emotionally charged post.
Please read to the
end and I promise my argument will come together...
Wikimania 2016 gave me more emotional hot air than any other previous
Wikimania except the one I organised (2013). But unusually, the hot air
didn't arise from disputes about Wikimedia chapter governance or conference
(dis)organisation. It was about Brexit.
(For the record, I thought Wikimania Esino was amazingly well-operated.)
Before Wikimania, I had already set out my attitude towards Brexit on a
Facebook note. I've reposted it on my user-space on the Wikimania 2016 wiki
so I won't repeat my arguments at length:
https://wikimania2016.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Deryck_Chan/The_reluctant_Rem…
The title of my post gives it away - I'm lukewarm towards Brexit.
At Wikimania, the topic of Brexit naturally brought itself up in many
mealtime conversations between me and Wikimaniacs from other EU countries.
My opinion on the matter often took conversations towards unhappy
disagreement, and I would feel excluded from subsequent conversation on the
same table.
I've never felt so rejected at Wikimania. Most heated debate at Wikimania
I was involved in took the form of "us vs. y'all", so as inflamed as a
debate may have been, there would be a "my side". But not this time. My
unusual perspective as a non-white British (and EU, until UK formally
withdraws) citizen meant that I had a perspective that was shared by very
few others at Wikimania. It was like "me vs everyone else".
I felt disenfranchised enough by the referendum debate itself as a
non-white citizen of the UK. I felt sad enough that I voted Remain but
Leave won. I wanted to share the little bit of hope I still had about the
future, on the day Leave was declared victorious, and wasn't appreciated.
I shared my feelings with Daria Cybulska (WMUK staff, Polish origin) and
she reminded me to be "sensitive" of other people in discussion... an
instruction I immediately fell foul of in that discussion, as I forgot that
the UK's withdrawal from the EU will mean fewer opportunities for people
with similar backgrounds to Daria, as much as the EU's protectionist
tendencies have been reducing the opportunities for people with similar
backgrounds to me.
Okay, enough Brexit chat. I promised my argument would come together.
In her Wikimania keynote, Katherine Maher said one of the things WMF would
prioritise in the next year is to make our communities a "friendly and
inclusive space".
I'm a six-time Wikimaniac; and in-person meetings are known to facilitate
more amicable debates than online discussions. But because of my unique
background, even I fell foul of the standards of sensitivity in
communication, and as a result felt unwelcome.
Now imagine someone from a far-flung corner of Wikimedia-sphere joining
Wikimania for the first time. Or a prospective new editor from a far-flung
corner of Earth clicking [edit] for the first time. When there's
disagreement in which the newcomer has a unique perspective, will they feel
included?
I don't claim to have the magic bullet. But thanks to Brexit happening
during Wikimania 2016, now I understand the sheer magnitude of the problem.
I feel encouraged that Katherine and the WMF are making it a leading
priority for the next year to foster a "friendly and inclusive" community
atmosphere.
I'm not sure which one is easier to solve: the political mess of today's
Europe, or the hostile mess of online communities. But for both, I shall
remain hopeful and do my part to make our communities better.
Deryck
_______________________________________________
Wikimedia UK mailing list
wikimediauk-l(a)wikimedia.org
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l
WMUK:
https://wikimedia.org.uk
--
Lucy Crompton-Reid
Chief Executive
Wikimedia UK
+44 (0) 207 065 0991
Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and
Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered
Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT.
Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia movement. The
Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who operate
Wikipedia, amongst other projects). *Wikimedia UK is an independent
non-profit charity with no legal control over Wikipedia nor responsibility
for its contents.*