[Foundation-l] Foundation-l open for business, with changes

[Ryan Lomonaco]

After reviewing the comments of foundation-l participants over the last few
days, we've come up with a few changes that we hope will ultimately improve
the tenor and scope of discussions.

To start, we're placing two participants on temporary moderation:  Thomas
Dalton and WJhonson.  The conversations that have been most problematic
recently were those that involved one or both users.  We do not intend to
place them or any other users on permanent moderation at this time, however.

When appropriate, we will be using moderation more often, for short periods
of time when we feel doing so will allow cooler heads to prevail.  The idea
behind moderation has never been punitive, but it's often been treated as
such by many, and as a result, we have not used it as often as we could
have.  Going forward, our intent is that being placed on moderation should
not be viewed as a slight, or as a punishment, but as a way to retain
civility within a discussion.

Second, we're adding a "soft post limit" that, for the time being, will kick
in at 30 posts per month.  At that point, we will, at our discretion, place
members on moderation for the remainder of the month, and will approve posts
only where we feel they are useful and add significantly to the discussion.

With these changes, our goal is not to stifle anyone, but to avoid the
situation where a few voices dominate the conversation, and the arguments,
often off-topic, that have inhibited important discussions recently.  We do
not feel, for example, that specific users need to be permanently moderated;
however, all users, including prolific posters, should bear in mind that
should their posts become off-topic, overly argumentative, or uncivil, they
may be moderated temporarily.

We leave open the possibility that other changes may be useful in the
future, so ideas for improvement going forward are always welcome, either at
the Meta page <http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Improving_Foundation-l> or via
e-mail, at foundation-l-owner at lists.wikimedia.org.

As of this post, the list is now unmoderated.  We welcome your thoughts on
this issue.

Sincerely,

Austin Hair
Ryan Lomonaco