On 9/13/07, David Gerard dgerard@gmail.com wrote:
On 13/09/2007, George Herbert george.herbert@gmail.com wrote:
Regarding the burnout problem; I am beginning to think that the fundamental problem is with the personality of the people who make good editors and admins. We are the types of people who, while basically functional in normal society, also can get very focused and obsessed on particular points.
There's also the participation cycle. Elonka Dunin (User:Elonka) has done some work on Wikipedia as MMORPG. The typical participation time in an MMORPG is six to eighteen months. When she said this, I'd already noticed myself that some people I thought were great editors or admins would burn out and discover real life after eighteen months or so ... so, to be an old-timer on Wikipedia, just stick around for two years.
I find bouncing from job to job keeps things fresher. Also, remember to write articles. I haven't had an article deleted lately :-)
I'm curious about Elonka's work now...
The time limits sound familiar from other online venues I've worked with in the past.
I strongly second the "bouncing from job to job" part. I've been doing RC patrol for the last few weeks, and it's time to stop. That one has proven pretty exhausting.