[Gendergap] Thinking about Solutions

[Brandon Harris]

	As promised, here is a mail in which I talk about possible directions. 
  A lot of this has to do with the discussion system that is used by 
Wikipedia.

	It is abundantly clear that Talk pages are a plague upon all the 
houses.  They are intensely difficult to use and understand.  They are 
*incredibly* difficult for new users to understand and navigate for many 
reasons (which I can elaborate on, but I'll assume we all know what they 
are).

	So let's get rid of them.  Let's move to a modern discussion system 
(which is the promise of LiquidThreads) - one that users are likely to 
be more familiar with, one that is easier to use, and one that 
encourages several principles.
	


	* Identity Emphasis

	It is a known problem that Talk pages do not engender (hah!) identity. 
  In fact, the only notification that a comment exists from a different 
user is an indent and (possibly) a signature. To a new user, however, 
that doesn't help much.  In fact, we've seen time and time again that 
newbies have difficulty distinguishing "that one guy was a jerk to me" 
versus "Wikipedia was a jerk to me."

	I should be clear that I'm not talking about "real" identification 
(e.g., "Brandon Harris" vs. "Jorm") but rather the ability for a new 
user to easily connect all of Jorm's comments together.

	There are several small things that we can do to make this better which 
will have a larger benefit than their sum.

	First, research has shown that people are far less likely to provide 
hostile or negative responses *if they believe they are talking to 
another person* and *if they do not feel anonymous*.

	Accordingly, attaching a sense of identity to both the poster and the 
replier can help to alleviate this.  One common way to do this is the 
inclusion of avatars to discussion posts.

	By encouraging communication between individuals we will go a long way 
towards creating a social structure that can build grass-roots style.

	* Positive Feedback Systems

	As a culture, Wikipedia has developed several mechanisms to indicate 
displeasure with an individual's activities. However, we have next to no 
methods for telling someone that they have done a good job, or "thanks 
for the comment".  Sure, we have barnstars, but they are a non-standard 
feedback mechanism and likely to be confusing to new users.

	A simple "thanks" button, or "this was helpful" mechanism can go a long 
way towards solving for that.  Promoting helpfulness will make being 
helpful a desirable trait and will go a long way towards alleviating 
"newbie bite."

	* Newbie Protection Mechanisms

	A sad truth is that there are many people on Wikipedia who are jerks or 
trolls.  Experienced users know to avoid such people but new users are 
thrown into the gladatorial arena without protection.

	A system where low-value contributors (trolls) can be flagged or 
"downvoted" can go a long way towards addressing this.  In 
LiquidThreads, unhelpful comments could be automatically "collapsed" and 
de-emphasized.

	That leads me to. . .

	* Reputation Systems

	A reputation system is a form of soft "social currency."  Helpful 
individuals (those with high "helpful" marks) are called out and those 
with low-value are de-emphasized.  New users would be able to recognize 
individuals that the community has determined to be high-value.  This 
helps to encourage trust, which promotes community health and vibrancy.

	I have a lot of other things I've been looking at but I think this is a 
sufficient launch point for now.