[WikiEN-l] User:Non-liberals are stupid

Mon Oct 13 18:42:54 UTC 2003

Ah, I missed this one -- I'm *way* behind, as usual.

LittleDan, you're a respected and highly valued member of the
community, please don't do anything provocative like that again!  (I
see that you already apologized later in the thread.  Thanks!)

Daniel Ehrenberg wrote:
> Why is it necessary to restrict usernames? This seems like a
> pointless measure that could only loose us contributors.

The username that you chose for your demonstration very nicely
illustrates the point.  A 'username' like "Non-liberals are stupid" is
a direct attack on other people, and an attack on an ideological
basis.  I don't consider myself a liberal, nor a conservative, and yet
I also - for some reason - have a hard time thinking of myself as
stupid.

Now, I'm well-known for being calm and pleasant and slow to ire, but
even so, when I see someone writing and saying, in essence, that I'm
_stupid_, it's difficult to view their work as co-operative and
helpful.  Such a name tends to poison our dialogue, as every single
thing that the username posts is accompanied with an insult.

> So, if I did it again, you'd ban me? Even if all of my
> edits were OK?

Yeah, I would.  I mean, if you pulled stunts like this over and over,
after repeatedly being asked to stop, you'd eventually burn through
the incredible good will that you've generated with everyone.

But perhaps you're asking whether it's o.k. to ban someone for having
a name like that, without all the usual rigamarole.

I'd say yes, no doubt about it.  That name was not even borderline, it
directly expressed a hostile sentiment towards many other
contributors.

The "JesusIsLord" example was different.  I think people realized that
the name was very likely not intended to be offensive or insulting,
and that while problematic, it wasn't just a simple insult.

One thing we must always remember -- we're building an encyclopedia
first, and an experiment in openness second.

--Jimbo