[WikiEN-l] Wikipedia as a cult

[Marc Riddell]

on 6/24/07 8:01 PM, michael west at michawest at gmail.com wrote:

> Other places have drawn analogogies about Wikipedia as being akin to a
> cult.  I think it does have aspects of that. The same has been said about
> Trotskyist groups.  I think that a better analogy would be that Wikipedia
> looks like a Trotskyist group (though obviously not in any political sense).
> 
> 
> - Wikipedians value themselves on the amount  "counts" they are at.
> - Wikipedians spend more time discussing policy than actually writing
> articles.
> - Wikipedians don't respond well to critism from outsiders.
> - Wikipedians have an Uber Mentor (Jimbo Wales).
> 
> 
> 
> - Trotskyists value themselves on the amounts of "newspapers" they
> have sold.
> - Trotskyists spend more time discussing policy that actually doing
> groundwork.
> - Trotskyists would rather die than have a kind word for somebody who
> has left the movement.
> - Trotskyists have an Uber Mentor (Leon Trotsky, James P. Cannon,
> Gerry Healey, Posada, Tony Cliff, Ted Grant etc. etc).
> 
> Perhaps, many groups could be included not just Trotskyists (I have been a
> Trotskyist for 18 years, and been part of various schisms within even small
> groups), but use it as an example of how ordinary editors do get bogged down
> in changing perception of policy and guidelines, which many, many editors
> only get to hear about when they actually contribute.
> 
> Perhaps a closed Wikipedia is the way forward, we all know that Wikipedia is
> not the encyclopedia everyone can edit.
> 
> There was much criticism of Esperanza and it ended up just being a clubroom
> and block vote.  A New Esperanza type project would be helpful (wikilove is
> too crass though) but as a way of helping new editors or editors who tend to
> write new articles not get so fed up with process that they leave.
> 
> Would welcome any comments.
> 
Mike, why the need for a label? What difference does it make what it's
called, so long as it is meeting the needs of the individuals enjoying it
and getting satisfaction from it?

Marc Riddell