[WikiEN-l] Controversial user nicknames

Tue Aug 26 05:46:25 UTC 2003

james duffy wrote:

> This might seem a small point now, as we don't have that many 
> controversial user nics. But as wiki grows the number of new users and 
> usernics will rocket. If two or three people use them and get away 
> with it, the likelihood is that more new members will follow, on the 
> basis that 'if he can call himself 'x', then I will call myself 'y'.'  
> Sooner or later we will face the problem. It makes sense to do it now, 
> with the small community, than try to deal with it when there are 
> twice or three times as many users, by which time offence may already 
> have been caused to some, and potential wikipedians frightened off by 
> the impression given by the unfortunate use of badly chosen names.
>
> Any observations?

My observation on these names is that most of these users have an 
attention span that matches their social grace.  Once [[User:Adolf 
Hitler]] has joined us, he is not likely to stay long.  His usage of the 
name, however,  means that all others are blocked from using that name 
in the future.  The problem will effectively solve itself without the 
need for more rules.

Ec