[Foundation-l] A Civil Wiki (was: Increased incivility at wikinews [en]

[Marc Riddell]

on 2/5/09 6:27 PM, Marc Riddell at michaeldavid86 at comcast.net wrote:

> A lot of good input so far regarding the state of communication in the
> wikis. I would like to take some time and construct a dialogue model for
> discussing this issue further. I feel this would be better - more productive
> - than me just listing a bunch of things that I think ought to be done (and
> a hell of a lot more interesting :-) ).

> Back soon,

I'm back.

A society is the "who's who in the zoo". A culture represents the values and
mores of that society. And this is most clearly reflected in the manner in
which the members of that culture interact.

The wiki society is made up of persons with a wide variety of educational
backgrounds, experiences and learning. To communicate effectively this
means, for example, that the computer experts and nuclear physicists among
you are going to have to simplify the lingo for me if we are going to
communicate in any effective and constructive way. Otherwise I will be
totally intimidated by your language and will most likely choose not to
participate in a discussion with you.

Likewise, this society is made up of persons with a wide variety of
personalities and emotional tolerances. To communicate effectively in this
case means that the more aggressive among you are going to have to tone down
your language. Otherwise some in the discussion will be totally intimidated
by your language and will most likely choose not to participate in a
discussion with you. With the result that much valuable input will be lost,
and the resulting Project's work will not reflect the total of its
membership's potential.

Every discussion, aside from the "how ya hangin'", "how's the weather"
chatter has a purpose; whether it's to solve a problem or to determine
policy.

With that in mind, I am proposing the following:

A guideline (or "rule" if you want) stating, Do not make any statement in a
discussion that does not contribute constructively towards the advancement
of that discussion. And that, any statement found in a discussion by another
reader of that discussion that does not contribute constructively towards
the advancement of that discussion be challenged immediately, openly and
directly.

This will take time, patience, and probably involve a bit of controversy.
But with this very clear, direct approach a culture will be created. A
culture of fairness and civility that will be the signature culture of the
Wikipedia Project.

Thoughts?

Marc Riddell

-- 
Give them the climate and they will give you the culture.