[WikiEN-l] NY Times article on gender gap in Wikipedia contributors

[Marc Riddell]

> On 31/01/2011 06:43, George Herbert wrote:
>> Good interviews with Sue, Kat, others...
>> 
>> http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/31/business/media/31link.html?hpw

on 1/31/11 7:30 AM, Charles Matthews at charles.r.matthews at ntlworld.com
wrote:
>> 
> As an advocate of keeping "user friendliness" and "friendliness" issues
> separate in discussing enWP,

I don't agree with you here, Charles. The tone of interaction, including
"friendliness", should be appropriate for any interactive forum related to
the Project. That is how the tone of a culture is established, encouraged
and maintained.

>I'd like to note that the "gender gap" is basically a friendliness issue.

You are right here if you mean that, in a male-dominated culture,
"friendliness" implies weakness.

>It is all very well setting targets, but
> unless interactions become more polite and helpful on the site, it is
> hard to see how they are to be achieved.

Agreed!

>I'm not convinced that the
> community generally get it about this point.

If "more polite and helpful" interactions are a desired goal for the
Project, how to you propose we help the larger Community to "get it"?

Marc