[Foundation-l] Message to community about community decline

[Marc Riddell]

> On Mon, Mar 28, 2011 at 18:20, MZMcBride <z at mzmcbride.com> wrote:
>> Going along with this
>> theory that we've brought in a majority of the people who are willing to
>> work on these free projects already, perhaps the focus should shift to
>> making their lives easier? And maybe from there, the pool of those willing
>> to get involved might grow a bit.
> 
on 3/28/11 10:19 PM, Sarah at slimvirgin at gmail.com wrote:

> It's been a regular theme since I joined in 2004 that people have
> minimized the contribution of established editors. We highlight
> research emphasizing the percentage of edits made by anons; or studies
> showing the real problem is that newbies don't stay long. And we
> emphasize an ideology that ignores creativity and talent by saying it
> doesn't matter who writes articles -- which amounts to saying that
> people don't matter as individuals. All are replaceable.
> 
> But I believe that when the history of Wikipedia is eventually
> written, we'll be astonished by the very small number of people who
> created, wrote and maintained this project. And every time one of
> those people leaves, real damage is inflicted on Wikipedia's future.
> 
> I wish the Foundation would focus on nurturing those people. The
> difference that would make would be truly amazing.
> 
Exactly! Nicely said, Sarah. One of the things that has made the Wikipedia
Project so powerful is the emotional commitment that has gone into its
creation and maintenance. Technology cannot do that - only persons can.

Marc