[Wikimedia-l] Highlight the positive aspects and multicultural comparisons

[Everton Zanella Alvarenga]

Hi all,

I just saw a nice thread at the Portuguese Wikipedia [1] where
[[user:rjclaudio]], a very active wikipedian, point out the importance
of highlighting also good contributions and what is good for Wikimedia
projects, instead of only saying what is wrong, what you cannot do,
that you have done a mistake.

The discussion in this thread continues with wikipedians sharing their
general feeling of all policies and recommendations emphasizing too
much what cannot be done, what Wikipedia is not, what is not notorious
or reliable, instead of acknowledging and encouraging contributors
(mainly new ones), for small that is his or her contribution.

I see this as a general pattern in the Wikimedia movement, not only
online. But when asking people from other Wikimedia projects, like the
Arabic and Swedish Wikipedias, I was told there is a better reception
for new contributors, for instance.

What about the Wikimedia projects you are involved with, do you see
this pattern of highlighting only the odds? Or sometimes you only see
destructive critics? If so, how can we improve that? No visual editor
or editor engagement will improve that is we, as a global community,
do not acknowledge there is some problem.

Tom

[1] http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikip%C3%A9dia:Esplanada/geral/Fa%C3%A7a_coisas_positivas_(21abr2013)

--
Everton Zanella Alvarenga (also Tom)
"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more
useful than a life spent doing nothing."