[Wikipedia-l] Mark's moderation compromise

Fri Dec 13 00:11:22 UTC 2002

On 12/12/02 6:52 PM, "Poor, Edmund W" <Edmund.W.Poor at abc.com> wrote:

> What is the fear of Jimbo's proposed moderation experiment?
> 
> All he's saying is that wikiEN-l will be moderated for a little over 2 months,
> i.e., until March 1, 2003. At that point we will decide whether to unmoderate
> it, or to continue.
> 
> Anyone who wants to participate on a moderated English-language list, to
> discuss the English Wikipedia, is welcome. All others are still free to post
> to wikipedia-l which will remain unmoderated. Those who like their scum or
> slush or whatever unfiltered will still get plenty this way.
> 
> What could possibly be wrong with such an experiment?
> 
Some brief answers: It would establish a corrosive policy as status quo. It
would imply--and then establish as the baseline reality--that wikipedia-l is
useless, a haven of scum and slush. It would create even more divisions in
the wikipedia community.

It evokes some of the similar problems with charter schools, tracking, etc. 