Agreed. A good example; on the English Wikipedia, I'm a massive law nerd with 40-something legal GAs and FAs to my name. I'd never even have studied the subject if it wasn't for a group of Wikipedians, some of whom have later helped me with or collaborated on articles. The importance of social interaction cannot be understated, and it's why I have no truck with some of the more severe "OMG WIKIPEDIA IS NOT MYSPACE" people. People come here to build a collaborative encyclopaedia, yes, not to socially interact - but the key word there is "collaborative". Social contact is inevitable and incredibly helpful to us as a community; hells, it's what *makes us* a community and not just a hundred thousand people who independently agree that Wikipedia is nifty.
On Tue, Aug 3, 2010 at 7:50 AM, James Alexander <[email protected]> wrote: > On Tue, Aug 3, 2010 at 2:09 AM, Keegan Peterzell <[email protected] > >wrote: > > > This has been an interesting thread to follow, there should be one > > non-Wikimania, because it does matter. I've met several Wikimedians at > the > > couple meet-ups I've been to with whom on-wiki I had many disagreements > > with. Meeting face to face clears that air with the human contact. > James > > Forrester is the champion of meetups for good reason. I met him in D.C., > > far from where I live, while he was in for less than 24 hours, far from > > where he lives. I butt heads with MZMcBride many times, but I slept on > his > > couch. It's not just about localization for chapters; the opportunity to > > travel and meet those whom you've known online for a very long time or > only > > by the periphery is a great experience. > > > > -- > > ~Keegan > > > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Keegan > > > > > > This is exactly right. I can not even begin to explain the impact that > meetups have had on my view of the projects as a whole especially for those > I've met but for everyone else too. Even very infrequent personal and > social > contact can be hugely rewarding I think both for the contributers and the > projects as a whole. I've always felt we should do more both in person and > online when possible (IRC or Voicechat for example). I've toyed with the > thought of trying to get the WMF to install a mumble server for people to > talk on ;) or just setting one up myself I do think the impact that social > interaction has on trust/creativity and general cooperation is hugely under > appreciated by a lot of people on wiki (and off for that matter). > > James Alexander > [email protected] > [email protected] > _______________________________________________ > foundation-l mailing list > [email protected] > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l > _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
