--- On Sat, 26/2/11, John Vandenberg <jay...@gmail.com> wrote: > From: John Vandenberg <jay...@gmail.com> > Was: Re: [Foundation-l] Friendliness > (was: Missing Wikipedians: An Essay) > Was: Re: [Foundation-l] Friendliness > > On Sat, Feb 26, 2011 at 10:17 AM, Ryan Kaldari <rkald...@wikimedia.org> > wrote: > > On 2/25/11 3:11 PM, John Vandenberg wrote: > >> On Fri, Feb 25, 2011 at 11:18 PM, <dex2...@pc.dk> > wrote: > >>> .. > >>> I think it could also be considered to divide > our huge language wikis > >>> into smaller parts. The existing WikiProjects > could be made virtual wikis > >>> with their own admins, recent changes etc. > That way, each project is in > >>> fact like a small wiki to which the newbie > could sign up according to > >>> 'hers' area of interest and where the clarrity > and friendlier atmosphere > >>> of the smaller wikis could prevail. > >> > >> This is the best solution, in my opinion. > > > > Yes, the larger wikis need to become > WikiProject-centric. First step in > > doing this would be to create a WikiProject namespace. > Second step would > > be to make WikiProject article tagging/assessment part > of the software > > instead of template-based. > > I can see how those would be useful steps, however I think > those steps > are part of a 10 year plan. > > A 10 year plan will be overrun by events. > > We need a much more direct plan. > > I recommend breaking enWP apart by finding easy chunks and > moving them > to a separate instance, and having readonly copies on the > main project > like we do for File: pages from Commons. > > IMO, the simplest and most useful set of articles to break > apart is BLPs. > The criteria is really simple, and those articles already > have lots of > policy differences around them. > > By the time we have perfected this system with the BLPs, > the community > will have come to understand the costs/benefits of moving > other > clusters of articles to separate projects, and we'll see > other > clusters of articles migrated to sub-projects. > > btw, this idea is not new, but maybe its time has come. > http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?showtopic=29729 > > -- > John Vandenberg
Rather than breaking the project up, one way to achieve the same thing would be to apply a type of protection to BLPs that restricts BLP editing to users who have a "BLP flag" set on their account. Having that flag would be like having a user right, a privilege that can be earned or lost, for example by adding unsourced negative material to a BLP. In terms of administration, you could create a noticeboard where non-policy- compliant edits are reported, along with an elected BLP committee that can remove the flag from an account for a certain time period, just like arbcom does desysops today. I guess the rules would need to be applied leniently at first, to allow newbies to learn, and to avoid excessive drama. Perhaps a three-strikes-and-you're-out system might work to address good-faith errors (edits that are correctly sourced but constitute undue weight, etc.). One thing is certain: reducing the number of people able to edit BLPs would make BLPs a lot more stable, and less likely to contain libel or vandalism. It would reduce the amount of real-life drama for BLP subjects and OTRS volunteers - see http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-caught-in-the-deadly-web-of-the-internet-445561.html while probably increasing the amount of drama inside Wikipedia. That's a problem, but in the end, if you think about it, the concerns of BLP subjects should take precedence over community concerns. It's just a question of being responsible about things; losing the BLP flag doesn't ruin anyone's life, whereas losing the ability to travel because of what a Wikipedia article says about you does. Not sure how you'd handle the ability of newbie accounts to create BLPs. It would be invidious for a new account to be able to create a poorly sourced but good-faith BLP, and then not be able to correct a typo once it's been categorised as a BLP. Thoughts? _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
