[WikiEN-l] Community

[Charlotte Webb]

On 1/1/08, Marc Riddell <michaeldavid86 at comcast.net> wrote:
> There needs to be a civility initiative in the Project that is reflected in
> every interaction. People need to compliment each other more, and cut each
> other some slack when they take risks and make some mistakes.

Coerced civility isn't sincere discourse. I must say I have met users
on Wikipedia who would say nice things to random (?) people including
myself for no apparent reason (other than promoting wiki-love?). My
first reaction was to appreciate the thought, but the eventual result
was a failure on my part to take any of their other words seriously.

> Take care of the new members of the Community, and remember they are
> learning about the culture with every new encounter and interaction.

If there may be a corollary to "don't bite the newcomers", I'd advise
"don't bend over backwards and carry on as a love-bombing cult might
do". Sorry for the apparent bitterness but I still can't stress this
enough.

> Words have power - use them wisely; in the mind of an impressionable person
> they can be inspiring or deadly.

Yes, for the benefit of those who haven't figured out that positive
role models exist only in fiction... yes, everyone should choose their
words carefully, yes, everyone should try to be a at least as decent a
person on the internet as they are in real life, and yes, everyone
should avoid the urge to convert or indoctrinate others to their own
way of... whatever... and above all, avoid claiming the moral high
ground which belongs to nobody.

> Also, there could be something similar to a Barnstar that we place on our
> User Pages ourselves saying something like "I am a proud Member of the
> Wikipedia Community" with a design such as a globe similar to the WP Globe,
> but with a figure of a person at the N, S, E & W locations.

Hopefully not *too similar* as the "broken globe" logo isn't released
under the GFDL, and its usage is subject to WMF "visual identity
guidelines". Let me know what you come up with. :-D

> I would like to see placed at the top of the Wikipedia Main Page, a banner
> that says something like, "Be honest - be fair - be assertive - be civil."

Be bold. Be neutral. Be verifiable. Above all, be yourself.

> Wikipedia: A Community of persons building and refining an Encyclopedia of
> knowledge - and trying to learn how to get along while doing it.
>
> And these community values must be shared, practiced and reinforced every
> single day, by every single member: This is how it is here & This is how we
> are. And anyone not willing to share these values, must find a community
> more to their liking.

I really don't know how to respond to that. There's only so much you
or I can ask of anyone. We're only human.

—C.W.