[WikiEN-l] Another admin burnout

[Nathan Awrich]

I respect the sentiment, but I don't think Wikipedia needs to get into
the habit of providing emotional support systematically to editors.
There are a lot of people out there with a lot of problems. Folks need
to take responsibility for their own wellbeing and their own actions.
Flameouts are a fact of life and always have been - not just on the
Internets, either. I think the last thing we need is a coordinated
Wikiproject to provide emotional support to troubled editors, or a set
of templates like "You seem stressed out, do you need a temporary
Wikibreak?" that are nicely designed and completely standardized and
impersonal.

On Dec 20, 2007 6:34 PM, Marc Riddell <michaeldavid86 at comcast.net> wrote:
> >
> on 12/19/07 11:06 PM, Todd Allen at toddmallen at gmail.com wrote:
>
> > For most admins, though, a marked change in the way they react to people
> > (especially toward the negative) should be a good reason for someone to
> > gently suggest they take a voluntary and temporary break from the tools
> > before they're given an involuntary and permanent one. Ideally, this
> > would be someone the person knows and trusts, and that the person being
> > given the advice would be hesitant to simply brush off as a troll or a
> > fool. As to those trusted people, the best thing you can do for those
> > you trust and care for is to be honest with them, even when that honesty
> > might sting a little.
> >
> Todd,
>
> To me "civility" in a community of persons includes resources being
> available for the individual to reach out to for assistance when they need
> it. Within WP we have a lot of technical resources, with experts available,
> when a Community Member needs this kind of help (and, believe me, I've been
> one of them many times :-). But are there any resources available to someone
> who is needing some emotional support?
>
> Many, many persons bring many, many pieces of emotional baggage to the
> Project. And we certainly can't do anything about that. But, when the
> emotional dilemma a person finds themselves in is a direct result of some
> activity in the Project, could we not provide some first step with an ear
> where the advice might, in fact, come down to the person needing a break?
> This could be something as simple as a list of persons who are willing to
> make themselves available to listen and offer some input. I find this
> process a lot more civil than just letting the person flame out on their
> own.
>
> Marc Riddell
>
> --
> Be direct - be fair - be assertive - but, above all, be civil.
>
>
>
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