[Foundation-l] Social networking (was: Analysis of lists statistics: community in decline)

[John Vandenberg]

On Mon, Nov 3, 2008 at 5:24 AM, Marc Riddell <michaeldavid86 at comcast.net> wrote:
>
>> On Sun, Nov 2, 2008 at 5:19 PM, Robert Rohde <rarohde at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> There are many who seem to feel that using Wikipedia for socializing
>>> and fun is contrary to our mission, especially if it attracts people
>>> who aren't contributors to the encyclopedia.  Personally, I think
>>> that's nonsense, and the community benefits from increased cohesion
>>> when there is fun and socializing to be had, but I realize that many
>>> people don't see it that way.
>>
> on 11/2/08 1:40 PM, Milos Rancic at millosh at gmail.com wrote:
>
>> * If the point is that a part of the community doesn't want to have
>> social networking because of the principles...
>
> A sidebar: When The Apple Computer organization was created, a conscious
> decision was made by its creators to establish a company culture that was,
> by existing corporate standards, considered informal. This encouraged
> creativity, reduced stress and produced a culture of tolerance and,
> ultimately, a great product. Their mission was to create the best damn
> computer a creative mind in a creative culture could produce. "Socializing"
> among its employees was not only encouraged, but the ability to socialize
> was almost a prerequisite for being a part of the team.

I think we already have a very social environment, but this
socialising is "focused".  We chat about topics that interest us all
the time on the wikis, usually with people who are also similarly
interested enthusiasts and often with people who are surprisingly well
informed.  But, we are always doing it in a way that is also
"productive".

For example, we dont endlessly tolerate trolling and idle speculation
on Wikipedia, because it isnt productive.  It isnt strictly forbidden,
but if it is done on pages that others frequent, it will be viewed as
an interruption, because there is more valuable discussions going on,
and the rest of us want to focus on those, and we want to "clear the
air" so that more valuable contributions are attracted.

There is so much to learn and participate in on the wikis, that if
someone is primarily socialising, they havent caught the "wiki bug".
These are the people who would be fired from Apple because they didnt
fit in.

> The quality of a culture can be measured, in part, by what that culture
> produces.

I think it is fair to say that the Wikimedia culture has already
proved itself to be a producer of the "impossible".  This speaks
volumes about the culture as it is.

Can our culture be improved?  Perhaps.

But ... it isn't broken, so we should be wary about trying to "fix it".

Thanks for your input Marc.

--
John Vandenberg