[Wikipedia-l] I'm seeing a trend here or How to keepdrivingaway good contributors

Thu Oct 24 22:41:32 UTC 2002

> > People enforcing social norms by quickly reverting the work of vandals
> > and antisocial jerks is SoftSecurity, if those people are organized and
> > empowered with social authority that makes no difference, except now it
> > may seem reasonable to some folks to call that group a "police force" --
> > which BTW is not Ed's term, but yours.
> 
> I hardly implied it wasn't. It is the case organization and empowerment with
> social authority make only a limited difference from self-organization.
> However, that is not what Ed said. He was discussing granting special powers
> to a group of people differentiated not by social authority but by the law
> of the code (admins).
> 
> I just want to make clear that I too very much want to find solutions to the
> problems we have with recalcitrants. Our best approach is to figure out ways
> to make the problems disappear, not ways to fight them.

Yes, I am talking about special powers -- but not simply an arbitrary _degree_ of power, which is what we have now. Developers can ban anyone, anytime, and are answerable only to Jimbo. Sysops can ban an IP, and any other sysop can unban that IP.

But it's all arbitrary, unless there is a consensus on what rules these bannings are intended to enforce.

Wikipedia is the world's largest wiki, isn't it? When it's 10 times or 100 times the size, with 1,000 to 3,000 logged-in, daily contributors -- how will we manage then? My plea is for some way beyond the personal judgment of an elite, to maintain order, lest a self-perpetuating cabal develop that freezes out the very type of capable and devoted contributor it formed to protect.

I'm not hitting a single note. I'm not saying, just give me power. I'm not saying make everything a matter of dry, rigid rules.

But sheer anarchy tempered by three dudes with shotguns isn't my cup of tea either.

Help me out, here, man.

Ed Poor