Reputation (was Re: [Wikipedia-l] Re: Quenya language request, and Chinese Wikipedia again)

[Stan Shebs]

Mark Williamson wrote:

>Do you really think I'm /that/ stupid?
>
He probably does, actually. Despite repeated hints that it's
counterproductive, you continue to try to browbeat people into
doing what you want.

As someone who's lived on the net for some 23 years now, let me
pass along a bit of advice. You start with a default fund of
reputation from other netizens. You do good things, like copyedit
a thousand articles or supply a bit of requested info, your fund
goes up. You do bad things, like call someone a nasty name in
public, your fund goes down.

Why does this matter? If your fund of reputation is high, you can
merely suggest an idea, and people will rush to make it happen.
If your fund is low, others will dislike your idea, *even if it's
a good idea*. Unfair, perhaps, but that's how interpersonal
relationships work, on the net as elsewere.

Some people even tried to let you know when your fund crossed zero
and headed into negative territory, but you blew right on by without
slowing down. So, if you want to have any chance at all of having
any influence on things, I suggest you cool it with all the
accusations and criticism - I think you do enough worthwhile things
normally that your reputation will eventually get back to the
positive side again.

Stan