[WikiEN-l] Are things getting worse?

[Caroline Ford]

Jimmy Wales wrote:

>Is the amount of internal squabbling getting worse or better?  My
>rough sense is that it's getting worse, but maybe I'm just tired of it
>and therefore perceiving it to be more of a problem lately.
>
>What can we all do to build a sense of love and harmony?  What can
>each of us do to alter our own behavior to be supportive of others,
>less argumentative, more productive?
>
>Is the mediation/arbitration system working to increase internal
>political problems, or do decrease those problems?  Or, is it way too
>early to tell?
>
>My concern is that it seems to me that we're spending way too much
>time on internal court intruigues, to our detriment.  Every day, it
>seems, there's some new crisis of management, some new emergency ban,
>some new sysop crossing the line.
>
>Part of this was caused, I think, by a perceived power vacuum after
>the start of the year.  I was out of the business of policing, but the
>arbitration committee was still not ready.  Sysops felt a real need to
>do something to stop some real problem users.  It was a vicious cycle.
>
>But, what about now?  How can we bring about peace?
>
>--Jimbo
>_______________________________________________
>
>  
>
I think one thing we need to remember is that in real life people die 
over some of the issues we are squabbling about. With this in mind, it 
is hardly surprisingly that people edit-war "to the death" over some of 
them.

I think some of the problems are a natural consequence of our growth. 
The larger we become the more likely it is that we get a wider range of 
POVs. As we become more prominant we will also attract more "netcranks" 
and the like.

We still have a geographical bias, partly but not soley due to the 
different levels of internet access amongst different communities and 
countries. As this divide narrows we will get more contributors who 
disagree with the current consensus on various articles. Most articles 
on countries and political movements have not been edited by people from 
the relevant country.

If we sometimes have trouble getting Wikilove between the US and UK then 
it will probably get worse as net access improves in eastern Europe and 
the former Soviet Union, for example.

I don't mean to be pessimistic but we need to have a strategy to deal 
with this.

Caroline/Secretlondon