[WikiEN-l] Re: problem with power structure?

[michaelturley at myway.com]

michaelturley at myway.com (michaelturley at myway.com) [050622 05:17]:
>
>> But I do believe that there is a lack of real accountability to the very highest standards and ideals that this project claims to be founded on.  
>
>
>The Arbitration Committee does exist and looks into admin abuse. So this
>statement is trivially factually incorrect. But I assume you wrote it
>sincerely, so I presume you mean you aren't seeing enough admins penalised for
>your liking. What concrete examples do you have (not generalities) that you
>consider makes mechanisms for more admin penalties an urgent need?
>
>
>- d.

There's a difference between abuse and ideals.  For example, civility at all times is one of the highest standards and ideals.  "Don't abuse" is the rule.  Be civil is the ideal.  

Yet when incivility comes up, such as calling someone a jerk, we got a "circle the wagons and defend the tribe" response from many members, including some that repeated the insult, mildly amplifying it into a judgement.  Or the extraordinary tolerance of very aggessive newbie biting in the recent Willswikihelp incident.  But I '''really''' don't want to talk about specific cases, because they're in the past.  They're minor.  I'd rather let them go.  

Maybe "admin penalty" is too strong, or even the wrong concept.  

Instead, I'd rather see some genuine disapproval in the admin community when someone "falls off the wagon" into incivility, regardless of who the incivility is directed to or what prompted it.  If that requires a two or a ten minute, or even a ten or 24 hour involuntary block to express 'just strongly enough' that the administrator learns from it, then so be it.  Start tiny, even at the "so small as to be nothing other than symbolic" level, and gradually rise from there.  I think you'd be surprised at how effective symbolic gestures can be to an offended person.  

I'd rather see admins set an example, voluntarily requesting their own sanction for their own transgressions of civility.  A 'penance for forgiveness' principle, perhaps.  (Not that other users couldn't make the same requests, too.)  Maybe "admin penance" is the term I'm flailing around for.  

Why all this fuss?  I'd like to see a higher standard for admins, to ensure that they are always trying to set a better example for others rather than escalating hostilities.  Right now, people forget occasionally, and the reaction has been "well, they're a good person all the rest of the time..."  That's not consistent with the principle of "in service to others" that an admin should strive for.

The Arbitration Committee cannot and should not enforce higher standards of civility and kindness.  I think it will take a few good admins voluntarily setting a higher standard as example, and peer pressure from there.  

One subscriber to this list seems to want to kick out troublesome editors with a size twelve army boot.  I'd rather push them in the direction we want them to go with a feather.  It would require a thousand times more patience, but I think the end result would be better.  

Sure, there will still be trolls and vandals.  But if they truly feel that the ones blocking them are held to a higher standard, more will convert to productive users.  Or not become trolls and vandals in the first place.  

Think of some of the editor/trolls that persistently stick around, goading admins, perhaps even trying to trap admins in rule violations.  If these people thought that the admins were already being held to a higher standard, how many do you think would still "have it in for" admins?  If there was a community of higher standards, how many fewer do you think would see adminship as belonging to a "selfish power clique"?  How many fewer would "fight the power" if "the power" was a group of people gently pressuring each other toward saintly behavior?  

Maybe I'm overly optimistic, but I see room for improvement, and relatively easy paths to get there.  

Michael Turley
User:Unfocused

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