[Foundation-l] Use of moderation

[Sue Gardner]

2009/9/8 Austin Hair <adhair at gmail.com>:

> In Buenos Aires I had multiple people ask (even practically beg) me to
> do something about foundation-l.  One person said "fucking moderate
> foundation-l, already!"—to which I explained why I didn't think that
> moderating individuals was a solution, but had to admit that I didn't
> really have a better one.
>
> I've created http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Improving_Foundation-l for
> brainstorming of how to make this list a little bit less of a
> cesspool.  Please feel free to ignore the initial thoughts I banged
> out as a starting point and refactor as you will.  If there's
> consensus on a better model, I'll happily implement it; even if there
> isn't, at least getting more people's thoughts on the matter is a
> start.

Thanks Austin -- I have a lot of sympathy for your task here, and I
really appreciate you trying to come up with solutions that will help
foundation-l improve.

Personally, I use foundation-l because it's our most accessible public
channel for information-sharing and dialogue -- but that doesn't mean
I like it much; I don't.  I'm sure we all know plenty of people who
unsubscribed long ago, either because they don't like the generally
negative tone here, and/or because they find the signal-to-noise ratio
too low to suit them.   I assume that becomes (or long ago, became) a
self-reinforcing cycle, with an increasing number of
constructive/positive people leaving or falling silent, ceding the
mailing list to negativity.

It may sound like I am being really critical of the people who _are_
active here: I actually don't intend to be.  I think tough questions
and constructive criticism, done in good faith and with an open heart,
are a service to us all.  But I also believe we've lost our balance a
little, and it would be good to have some more appreciation and warmth
amidst the other stuff.

So I will do my bit by appreciating Austin. Thanks for making the page :-)







-- 
Sue Gardner
Executive Director
Wikimedia Foundation

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