[WikiEN-l] WR's secret forum and list

[Wily D]

On Dec 10, 2007 9:28 PM, Matthew Brown <morven at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Dec 10, 2007 6:01 PM, Bryan Derksen <bryan.derksen at shaw.ca> wrote:
> > Indeed. My main concern at this point is that there seems to be a
> > philosophy prevailing that 'the general public just misunderstood what
> > happened, therefore we don't need to actually change anything and it's
> > the public's responsibility to get it straight.'
[snip]
>
> Secondly, blocking while being unwilling to explain why is not
> acceptable.  In rare cases this explanation should not be made public;
> in those cases, the blocking admin should be sure to find other admins
> who will support the decision on-Wiki, and preferably should be
> willing to explain in private to uninvolved, trusted parties.  It
> would be preferable to obtain the active agreement of the arbcom
> before doing such a block.  In this case, Durova claimed that she had
> support but nobody came forward to state that they supported her
> decision.
>
[snip]
> -Matt
>
This is probably the point that needs emphasis.  I don't think anyone
is bothered by the simple fact that a bad block was made (now this
happens a lot).  Nor is anyone really bothered that private
discussions take place (now this also happens a lot).  What we're
bothered by (what I'm bothered by) is that we seem to be moving more
and more towards a culture where admins make blocks they refuse to
explain to anyone and this is considered appropriate (and at least one
editor supported not giving any explanation of it).  This is what gets
people goat - the impression has been created (true or not) that these
lists were contributing to this shift.

People are uppity for a reason - and so far as I can see, this is the
reason - it's certainly the reason why I'm uppity.

Cheers
WilyD