[Gendergap] the state of civility on en.wiki

[Pete Forsyth]

On Wed, Oct 26, 2011 at 7:19 AM, ChaoticFluffy <chaoticfluffy at gmail.com>wrote:

Pete Forsyth's strategy looks good on paper, but my feeling is that for this
> particular *type* of uncivil editor (as opposed to your garden-variety
> editor who happens to have lost his temper), an approach of something like
> "you know, you're talking to real people, and your words can come across
> somewhat hurtful to those people" is usually met with "I'm polite to people
> I respect, and I don't respect those people", which is simply no solution at
> all. Editors who see the right to not be yelled at or name-called as a
> privilege someone has to earn, rather than as a default right, are, in my
> opinion, not well-suited to wikipedia.
>
> -Fluffernutter


Yes, maybe there is a mismatch here between the kind of situation Ryan
describes and the experience I was reporting. Sorry if this comment was a
distraction; I absolutely agree that there are cases where a stronger
response is called for.

I think one of the big challenges is that strategies for coping with
incivility on a day-to-day basis are often at odds with broader strategies
to effect systemic change. Sometimes, the only way to get through a specific
situation with one's sanity and dignity intact involves a bit of appeasing
or lenience; but in the long run, appeasing and lenience make civility
issues more difficult to solve. I don't think there's an easy answer to this
tension, but I do think that talking about the various relevant experiences
we've had will be useful; so I'm glad this discussion is taking place.

I agree completely, by the way, that the "I have earned the right to respect
or disrespect whomever I please" meme should be stamped out and burned with
fire.

-Pete
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