[WikiEN-l] Wik and a not-quite-proposal for constitutional change

Wed May 5 14:18:27 UTC 2004

Charles Matthews wrote:
> Jimmy Wales wrote
> > Where is that support system?  Who supports him?  Can they be
> > encouraged to pressure him into better behavior?
> 
> I think finger-pointing is not a good idea in this case.  Let's say that he
> has apologists, who may very well be acting in perfectly good faith and be
> valued community members in their own right.

Oh, you're absolutely right.  I didn't mean my questions in a
fingerpointing way, but rather I genuinely want to know what arguments
are being made in his favor, and by whom, and for what reason.  And,
if Wik has supporters, then they are going to be the people most
likely to be able to get him to change.

I absolutely think that people who defend Wik could very well be
acting in perfectly good faith and be valued community members in
their own right.  Indeed, I'm the first to say based on my
conversations with Wik that I think he really sincerely has a beef
with a bunch of trolls, and thinks he's doing good by battling them.

The problem here is ironic.  We let trolls go on a bit too much.  Then
someone like Wik sticks his neck out to fight them, but *also* in the
process makes himself extremely annoying to other users.  If we had
already gotten rid of the original problem users, then maybe Wik
wouldn't have felt compelled to behave badly.

--Jimbo