[WikiEN-l] Admin / experienced user flameout - how do we talk people down off the ledge?

[Fred Bauder]

It is likely the reason he got into trouble was because he wasn't
confident that others would back him up, so he did it himself. Which is,
of course, the third rail. What is missing is the knowledge that
sometimes, even if you are "right", others will not, for one reason or
another, not back you up and you will fail. And can't do anything about
it.

Fred

> Admin Rodhullandemu just retired after being blocked for blocking
> Malleus Fautorum to win a dispute
>
> For reference:
>   https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators'_noticeboard#Block_review
>
> On and off wiki I have mentioned before that we are really bad, as a
> project, at identifying people who have worked themselves into an
> angry corner and feel that they must blow up and leave, and then
> talking them down and defusing the situation.  This is in my
> experience the typical (or at least, a major and common) exit mode of
> longtime highly involved contributors.
>
> Our existing policy and precedent really don't address this problem.
> We have had individual admins and experienced editors spot the pattern
> start and work to calm situations down on an individual basis, with
> mixed results.  But typically the pattern is not really recognized
> until it's too late.
>
> Posed for consideration - This is a problem worth putting more time
> and effort into, and which the project will benefit significantly from
> getting right over the long term.
>
> The question is - what exactly do we do about it?
>
>
> --
> -george william herbert
> george.herbert at gmail.com
>
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