[WikiEN-l] Newbie and not-so-newbie biting

[Matt Jacobs]

Having been bitten multiple times, I can definitely say the unfriendly
atmosphere has been a problem for a while now.  Editors/admins who are
regularly rude to others are not only tolerated by most of the community,
they often have a group of supporters around them always ready to praise
everything they do, manipulating RfCs and other voting (sorry, !voting)
situations.  A newbie running afoul of these people rarely even gets token
sympathy if they try to get the problem addressed.  The handful of editors
who try to address these situations have to wade through multiple attacks
and allegations just to try and do the right thing.

If we want to make WP more friendly, we have to make sure admins and
high-profile editors are actually trying to BE friendly.  If they can't
handle that, they shouldn't be working in a collaborative environment.

In addition, I believe that templates are 1) often not worded in a friendly
manner, and 2) overused.  Using a template when there isn't a very good
reason to is going to often be perceived as rude, especially if an article
they've worked hard on has just been speedy deleted.

If WP is going to continue to gain editors, it has to do better.
Sxeptomaniac




> Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2009 09:36:24 -0400
> From: Sage Ross
> Subject: [WikiEN-l] Newbie and not-so-newbie biting
> To: English Wikipedia <wikien-l at lists.wikimedia.org>
>
> This isn't a new issue by any means, but here's a nice post by someone
> who's been contributing occasionally since 2004, about how daunting
> "wikibullying" can be for newbies and other editors who aren't
> well-versed in the procedures and processes.
>
>
> http://travel-industry.uptake.com/blog/2009/09/04/bullypedia-a-wikipedian-whos-tired-of-getting-beat-up/
>
> Unfriendliness is built into the system, even when admins and others
> who enforce the rules are perfectly civil and try to be friendly at an
> individual level.
>
> -Sage
>
>