[Foundation-l] Racism in Commons

Ayelie ayelie.at.large at gmail.com
Wed Dec 5 19:43:31 UTC 2007


On Dec 5, 2007 2:36 PM, Durova <nadezhda.durova at gmail.com> wrote:

> > Why bother? Good old William of Occam would have made a fantastic
> > Wikimedian. You've got a simple, quick, and easy solution to a pretty
> bad
> > problem. Why hesitate and go in for something more complicated? Don't
> > understand the reason to overcomplicate. Or, alternatively, you could
> ban
> > him from uploading any more politics-related images...
> >
> > Honestly, though, if we get to the stage where 50 percent of one guy's
> > picture gallery labels him as a Neo-Nazi - complete fringe theory -
> Commons
> > need to learn something from enwiki and toughen up. There's a word for
> that
> > we use at enwiki: POV-pushing. This is not acceptable and we don't
> really
> > need any more bad press at the moment, not with Durova/!! all over the
> > Register.
>
>
> En.wikipedia has a lot more problems and disgruntled users than Commons
> ever
> has, and I don't believe it is purely due to size or reputation. We're
> more
> easy-going at Commons and we try to talk to and help people before
> clicking
> the block button and pissing them off - you'd be surprised how many times
> I've explained one point of policy to someone who would otherwise have
> been
> blocked for uploading copyvios or such after repeated warnings, and they
> realised a point they hadn't understood before and became decent
> contributors. Policy and copyright are hard to understand and blocking is
> not the way to educate people.
>
> en.wp does not do things perfectly; and no, they aren't the perfect older
> sibling for the little ones to look up to. En.wp is more like the
> rebellious
> older sibling who became a rock star and wildly famous, but is also slowly
> killing itself with drugs and alcohol. Just because it makes a lot of
> money
> and has a lot of fans doesn't mean the little siblings should mimic its
> behaviour.
> --Ayelie
>  (Editor at Large)
> ******
> Could I ask for a retraction, please?
>
> I've been keeping my head low for two weeks in the hopes that things would
> blow over.  Yes, I'm in the Register now.  And unfortunately in a couple
> of
> more mainstream news sources also.  None of them contacted me for comment
> before running the story.  And due to the way dispute resolution
> progressed
> I had no fair opportunity to present my side of events onsite, either.
>
> I unblocked the editor as soon as I realized I was mistaken, apologized
> repeatedly, sought to make amends, invited scrutiny, and pledged
> improvements.  What more can I do?
>
> I'm not Essjay.  I haven't lied about my credentials or misled any
> reporters.  I've volunteered for Wikipedia for two years and 20,000 edits
> and handled some of the site's most difficult disputes.  Please assume
> good
> faith.
>
> This reads like an implication that I've sought this attention, and that
> I'm
> a substance abuser.  None of that is true.


A retraction from me? I wasn't aiming my comments toward you whatsoever - I
apologise profusely if it came across as such. I was replying to Moreschi's
statement that "Commons should learn from the English wikipedia and toughen
up". I certainly didn't mean to involve you in the matter and was not
replying to the last sentence in which you were mentioned. Apologies again
if my message seemed to indicate I was!

--Ayelie
   (Editor at Large)


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