[WikiEN-l] Thoughts on the process of requesting adminship

Fri Jul 1 02:54:09 UTC 2005

While frequenting Wikipedia, web forums and IRC channels I have
noticed a strange correlation between the number of administrator
users and the strictness of that communitys behavioural guidelines.
Take IRC, for example. In IRC channels there are between 20 to 800
users, a number of them are supervisor users who are able to kick and
ban other users.

Enter a channel with 50 users whereof 10 are administrators. Say "fuck".
Enter a channel with 50 users whereof 5 are administrators. Say "fuck"
and observe what happens.

Assuming both channels are English language channels, in which channel
are you more likely to get kicked/banned from? That's right - the one
with 10 administrators!

Remember when the most important rule was "ignore all rules"? I agree
that the Request for Adminship procedure is cumbersome but not sure
that bringing more admins in will make Wikipedia better. Or that it
will solve the real dilemma of an exclusive group in an open
community.

Sorry if this is not entierly relevant, but you said _please_ discuss. :)

-- 
mvh Björn