[WikiEN-l] Requirements for Adminship

[Jossi Fresco]

On Feb 19, 2007, at 9:19 AM, Rich Holton wrote:

> Jossi, you say that you are not against having many more admins,  
> but you
> are against relaxing the criteria for becoming an admin. Do you  
> have any
> useful suggestions for expanding the ranks?
Endeavor to make at least 5 nominations this month. If we all did  
that ....

>
> Relaxing the criteria should have benefits beyond increasing the  
> number
> of admins. It should help to eliminate the perception that being an
> admin is a "big thing". Yes, many non-admins overrate the prestige of
> becoming an admin--and many admins do as well.
Adminship *is* a big thing, as it pertains to the level of  
responsibility given to us.  The "prestige" thing, in my experience,  
is not so much an issue for us as admins, but mostly to newbies that  
tend to give you some kind of credence because your are an admin. Any  
Wikipedian *knows* that adminship is both a privilege and a burden.  
Are there some admins that walk with a swagger because they are  
admins? Sure. But that is the exception and not the rule.

>
> I don't think it does anyone any good to minimize the real differences
> that exist. As an admin, I can view any deleted article any time I  
> want
> with no permission, implicit or explicit, and no community review.  
> This
> is a big deal to some non-admins, and there are presumed legal reasons
> for keeping this distinction. Just telling people to self-nominate for
> the current, restrictive RfA is not a viable solution to people who  
> may
> have good reason to view those deleted articles. This is just one  
> example.
That is a small point... If an article was deleted by community  
consensus, it should be kept deleted. What interest should an admin
  have to view a deleted article, beyond addressing a Deletion Review?

>
> If you haven't been following this list recently, I urge you to  
> view the
> archives and review this thread and the thread on admin burn-out. I
> think it will help you to understand some of the issues that lie  
> behind
> some of the recent posts.

I have read that thread. And I concur with the view that we need more  
admins, but without making the requirements less onerous; that admins  
need more supporting and less bitching against them (as to encourage  
more editors to become admins); and that as we interact with editors  
and spot those that put the project first, we ask them for their  
agreement to nominate them for adminship.

-- Jossi