[WikiEN-l] Could we use a chore wheel?

[William Pietri]

Charlotte Webb wrote:
> On 10/12/07, William Pietri <william at scissor.com> wrote:
>   
>> So for example, I might get a notice twice a month that I'm in for a
>> four-hour shift on looking at AfDs, or RC patrol. Whatever area is in
>> most need of labor gets the help. Perhaps we could include a way for
>> people to report their shifts completed, so that we could list the virtuous.
>>
>> I'd use something like this. Would others?
>>     
>
> I think as long as we remain volunteers, most of us will edit whatever
> we want, whenever we want. If you want to work out some sort of
> brownie point system for those whom you entice to work in the least
> glamorous areas of the encyclopedia, it might be fun enough for some
> people to play along with, but Wikipedians generally prefer to be
> self-directed.
>   

For what it's worth, I like to be self-directed, too. But there's the 
self-direction of "what do I want to do this instant?" versus "what do I 
want to do over the next six months?"

This would be an attempt to support people who are trying to think in 
the latter mode. Personally, I never really want to clean the house. But 
every Sunday morning, we clean the house. Because I like having the 
house clean, I have made the commitment to those Sunday morning cleaning 
sessions, even though it interferes with my moment-to-moment self-direction.

I'd welcome other ways to map that approach onto Wikipedia; I'm more 
interested in the spirit and the effect than the particular mechanism I 
proposed.

William


-- 
William Pietri <william at scissor.com>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:William_Pietri