On Thu, Apr 17, 2014 at 10:28 AM, rupert THURNER rupert.thurner@gmail.comwrote:
i do not agree with pete forsyth,
I accept Sue's recent statement -- she's right, the final call about what kind of policy the organization will or won't have rests with the organization.
and everybody who thinks WMF and its
employees needs special treatment.
I do not agree with this characterization of my words -- but I'm happy to move on.
- what zack did was not ok by that times rules, is not ok according
to current rules, and most probably will never ever be ok.
I agree with that statement.
(By the way: It may be known to some that Zack and I have not always seen eye-to-eye; but I respect him and what he has done for the movement, and I am trying, as always, not to let any personal feelings influence how I proceed.)
Let me be specific about the problem I see, because there have been many misunderstandings in this thread. I do think it is safe to assume that User:Wikitedium is Zack Exley.
In February 2010, either shortly before or during his application for a top level executive position as Chief Community Officer, Zack created[1] a user page with the following content:
"Mainly, I just fix typos when I come across them. I depend on Wikipedia and I'm happy I can help improve it in at least a small way."
That was absolutely false as a description of how User:Wikitedium had operated in the preceding four years. The user account's edits had been almost entirely devoted to expanding content related to Zack Exley and his career. It was a bad decision to create that user page -- specifically, a bad decision for somebody seeking to set the direction for how the Wikimedia Foundation would build its relationship to community.
After he was hired, Zack continued to use that account -- more responsibly, yes -- but he neither corrected the false statement on its user page, or disclose his connection to it. In my view, another bad decision.
And now, close to 24 hours after all this has been brought up, neither Zack, nor anybody at the WMF, has addressed this on the wiki. Now, this is looking to me like a *really* bad decision.
The WMF's position has been made clear, that it's Wikipedia's rules and norms that should be followed. I still maintain that's not the best way to go about it, but if that's what remains -- so be it. The Wikipedia policies and processes around a situation like this are very clear.[2]
-Pete [[User:Peteforsyth]]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Wikitedium&oldid=3432756... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Sock_puppetry