[Advocacy Advisors] List behavior and moderation [was Re: Wikipedia Zero and net neutrality

[Luis Villa]

On Wed, Aug 13, 2014 at 2:42 PM, L.Gelauff <lgelauff at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Luis,
>
> Seems reasonable to me. I am a little sad though that we have to have this
> discussion in the first place though!
>

Not too sad - just the nature of mailing lists, especially about politics
:) Everyone here is strongly opinionated, and we are discussing important
issues that we feel passionate about. We also have looser social
connections - not everyone knows each other, for example, and we sometimes
have strong loyalties to other groups that conflict with this one. (And
those are dangers even when everyone speaks the same language natively, and
has the same set of background cultural expectations, which we don't.)

So it is inevitable that if we're not careful and *intentional* about being
good to one another that conflicts will happen. No need to be sad about it,
any more than one should be sad that a dropped glass is caught by gravity.
Focus on hanging on to the glass, not being angry at gravity ;)

Luis


> Lodewijk
>
>
> 2014-08-13 20:50 GMT+02:00 Luis Villa <lvilla at wikimedia.org>:
>
>> On Tue, Aug 12, 2014 at 9:14 AM, Nathan <nawrich at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> This might be a good point for the list moderator (someone from Legal?)
>>> to step in to help maintain a constructive atmosphere on this list. We can
>>> and should discuss, debate and disagree while maintaining a degree of
>>> collegiality.
>>
>>
>> Generally, I think list moderation is *extremely* important for keeping a
>> mailing list healthy. I described my best practices for behavior and
>> moderation in the draft OSI Code of Conduct for Mailing Lists:
>> http://opensource.org/codeofconduct/licensing
>>
>> However, I don't think that imposing such a policy in the middle of a hot
>> debate is a good idea. So I suggest we have a discussion about that once
>> this has run its natural course.
>>
>> In this specific case, I agree that the tone has become hostile and
>> unconstructive from some participants. I hope everyone will take a deep
>> breath, and if appropriate, apologize either to specific people who have
>> been attacked or to the list as a whole for creating an unproductive
>> environment.
>>
>> I also hope that, in keeping with the "disclose potential conflicts"
>> section of the OSI code linked above, some of the new list members will
>> introduce themselves and explain their interests and motives for joining
>> the group. Advocates from other groups are of course welcome here, but we
>> hope in the spirit of transparency you'll disclose your goals and
>> intentions for joining in our community.
>>
>> Thanks-
>> Luis
>>
>>
>> --
>> Luis Villa
>> Deputy General Counsel
>> Wikimedia Foundation
>> 415.839.6885 ext. 6810
>>
>> *This message may be confidential or legally privileged. If you have
>> received it by accident, please delete it and let us know about the
>> mistake. As an attorney for the Wikimedia Foundation, for legal/ethical
>> reasons I cannot give legal advice to, or serve as a lawyer for, community
>> members, volunteers, or staff members in their personal capacity. For more
>> on what this means, please see our legal disclaimer
>> <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Legal_Disclaimer>.*
>>
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>
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-- 
Luis Villa
Deputy General Counsel
Wikimedia Foundation
415.839.6885 ext. 6810

*This message may be confidential or legally privileged. If you have
received it by accident, please delete it and let us know about the
mistake. As an attorney for the Wikimedia Foundation, for legal/ethical
reasons I cannot give legal advice to, or serve as a lawyer for, community
members, volunteers, or staff members in their personal capacity. For more
on what this means, please see our legal disclaimer
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Legal_Disclaimer>.*
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