Stephen Gilbert wrote:

This isn't the same situation as, say, "working" on an article with Helga Jonat. Fred (Hi Fred! Are you tuned in to this thread?) is a good contributor to the project, and isn't out to push a specific agenda all through Wikipedia. On the other side of the coin, you're obviously not intending to dismiss Fred as unimportant, nor are you trying to insult his intelligence.

I agree with this. :-)

We're starting to see the growth of Wikipedia straining the sense of community. Take a look at the Wiki Life Cycle (http://www.usemod.com/cgi-bin/mb.pl?WikiLifeCycle). It's a remarkably accurate guide to the rise and fall of wiki communities. We are entering stage 17: "Decline Of Civility -- there are more strangers than friends, and assum[ing] good faith fails as reputation is fleeting." As more and more Wikipedians contribute, we have to be careful; it's getting easier to get into heated arguments, and these fights will de-stabilize a project that bases itself on openness.

Thanks for the link. I knew I couldn't have been the first person to think about the growth of online communities.

kq