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

[Charles Matthews]

Ray Saintonge wrote:
> Matt Jacobs wrote:
>   
>> 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.  
>>     
>
> This is not unlike schoolyard bullies who are usually accompanied by a 
> swarm of sycophants. 
>   
It is certainly true that our systems are at their worst when confronted 
with cynicism within the community. Not surprising, since the essential 
and founding assumptions of Wikipedia were that people are not like 
that. And most really aren't. But this remains an unsolved problem. To 
connect it directly with newbie-biting is a stretch, if not an 
impossible one: there is something in the idea that people on the site 
are assertive beyond the needs of the job because a confident manner is 
self-preservation.

Charles