[WikiEN-l] Userboxes: A rational proposal

[John Lee]

Steve Summit wrote:

>John Lee wrote:
>  
>
>>What concerns me is the existence of userboxes and categories that
>>exist solely for the purpose of factionalism. To me, the UDUIW stuff
>>fits that definition to a tee, splitting Wikipedians into "us and them".
>>    
>>
>
>I agree up, down, and sideways that factionalism is very, very
>bad for the project.  But given that it has begun to take root,
>and especially when one of the factional splits is between those
>for and against userboxes, it's not at all clear that rampant,
>heavyhanded deletion of userboxes (which are, after all, merely
>a symptom of the real problem) will automatically make things
>any better.
>  
>
When those userboxes are expressing factionalism, then yes, there is a 
reasonable chance things will be better. It is /not/ good for editors to 
get the idea that factionalism is the normal state of things on 
Wikipedia and/or is to be encouraged. Attempting to associate me with 
rampant or heavyhanded userbox deletors won't wash; I've only deleted 
two userboxes in my whole life, both of which fit my rather narrow 
definition of T1.

John