On Dec 11, 2007 6:56 AM, Risker risker.wp@gmail.com wrote:
On Dec 11, 2007 2:51 AM, David Gerard dgerard@gmail.com wrote:
On 10/12/2007, Risker risker.wp@gmail.com wrote:
There's a big difference between an impromptu sanity check and a
regularized
mailing list. You still haven't gotten around to explaining why people
felt
the need to go off-wiki to create solutions to big-picture on-wiki
issues
such as harassment and cyberstalking.
Er, you're asking: why would victims of cyberstalking not conduct a discussion in the venue they're being stalked in?
No, I was asking why people who were trying to develop the Wikipedia Anti-Harassment and Anti-Stalking program were doing so off-site. Hardly any of the victims were at the tea party; it was by invitation only, and if you didn't get the invite you didn't know the party was happening.
Indeed. I haven't been directly involved in a harassment or stalking incident (yet; I figure that as long as I'm an active editor here my number's bound to come up eventually), but I'd like to be of use in the creation of a real Anti-Harassment and Anti-Stalking incident, because it's a Big Serious Deal. The seriousness of the issue, and my depth of caring about it, are also why I the current main advocates for victims of harassment annoy me so much; they handle their own cases poorly *and then turn around and encourage others to emulate their errors.* This is then compounded by displays of hostility towards anyone fool enough to question whatever the current approach is. Unlike the entire rest of the project, this is not an area we can give amateur opinions in and let our mistakes work themselves out; for the vast majority of victims, there <s>will</s> should be only one incident, and only one chance to get it right.
For the serious cases that are our real concern, we need involvement of professional law enforcement more than amateur sleuthing, restraining orders more than whack-a-mole blocks, and we need people to know when and how to invoke these things. Right now, our standard modus operandi is to blither around like drunken giants until things blow up out of control. We need to do better.