On Thu, Jan 3, 2013 at 8:13 PM, Tim Starling <[email protected]> wrote: > On 03/01/13 22:46, Martijn Hoekstra wrote: >> Editor retention programmes have some data there. Check wp:wer on en.wiki. >> how the data for the other projects match up I don't know. > > Yes, that page describes the problem in detail. But the suggestions > they offer under "how you can help" are along the same lines as > policies that have been in place on Wikipedia since 2002 or earlier. > It's been tried, it didn't work. > > The problem is, some people want to feel powerful more than they want > Wikipedia to grow. Or even if they want Wikipedia to grow on a > cerebral level, exercising power over another user is immediately > pleasurable, and they don't have sufficient impulse control to stop > themselves from doing it. > > It should be obvious that what is missing is discipline. An > arbitration committee with expanded scope, with full-time members > funded by the WMF (at arm's length for legal reasons), could go a long > way towards solving the problem. Some users will be reformed when > their technical power is threatened (be that editing or admin access), > others will just leave as soon as their reputation is at stake. > > There is risk, because the editor population will probably be reduced > in the short term, and it's hard to know if it will ever recover. I > don't know if there is anyone with the power to save Wikipedia who > also has the required courage. > > -- Tim Starling
I took a moderately long break from ENWP for most of this year, precipitated by work / firewall issues but just taking some time mostly away helped clear my mind. In the interim, arbcom case filings and acceptances dropped like a stone, and it seems like several major conflict areas have been "baked in" as insoluble. If you believe that the problem is the conflict over a perceived problem, this is a good development. If you believe that the problem is the underlying problem at issue, then this is a horrific development. I don't currently know... -- -george william herbert [email protected] _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
