[Foundation-l] FW: [Wikimediameta-l] Wikimedia and cyberstalking

[Delirium]

> I'm writing a paper on cyberstalking and harassment, which I hope to
> hand to the Foundation with a view to educating people about the
> extent of the problem on the Wikimedia projects, and if possible
> improving their responses to it.
>
> I'd like to include some concrete examples of cyberstalking or offline
> stalking that have happened to users as a result of their
> participation in any of the Wikimedia projects, and particularly where
> the target was picked on because they were an administrator.
>
> [...]
> I'd also like to hear from women who feel they were subjected to
> additional harassment because of their sex, or from gays and members
> of ethnic minorities who feel they were picked on in whole or in part
> because of that.
>   

With all due respect this seems somewhat backwards. A useful 
sociological study would be: To what extent is "cyberstalking" and 
harrassment a problem on Wikimedia Foundation projects, and if it is a 
significant problem, what character does it take? This proposal puts the 
cart behind the horse, opining, despite admittedly not having "concrete 
examples", that it is a serious problem that the Foundation is not 
responding to appropriately, and then trolling for anecdotes. That 
strikes me as more like a class-action-lawyer's method of operating than 
a valid methodology for sociology research, and I can already guess what 
the results of a study carried out in that fashion are going to be, 
since the proposed study outlines pretty openly what it plans to find.

-Mark