http://www.marketplace.org/topics/tech/inside-sexual-harassment-online-gaming
I just caught this on the podcast. They mentioned "trolls" (that some people say to just ignore them) but no mentions of Wikipedia. -Jeremy This coincides nicely with this highly-discussed article on the same subject from yesterday’s New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/02/us/sexual-harassment-in-online-gaming-stirs-anger.html?src=me&ref=general Likewise, no mention of Wikipedia, but there are some interesting parallels. For one thing, there is a guy at Microsoft with a thankless job—or I would call it thankless if I weren’t already a Wikipedia administrator and thus able to empathize: Stephen Toulouse, who was the head of enforcement for Xbox Live from 2007 until February, policed the most egregious behavior on the network, owned by Microsoft. And women were the most frequent target of harassment, he said. In that role, Mr. Toulouse experienced the wrath of angry gamers firsthand, who figured out where he lived, then called the police with false reports about trouble at his house (more than once, SWAT teams were sent). If players were reported for bad behavior, they could be disciplined by being muted on voice chat or barred temporarily. At least once a day, Mr. Toulouse said, the company blocked a specific console’s serial number from ever accessing the network again. But policing the two or three million players who are active on Xbox Live at any given time is hard. Just as on the broader Internet, there are people who delight in piquing anger or frustration in others, or “trolling.” For trolls, offensive language — sexist, racist, homophobic comments — are interchangeable weapons that vary with the target. Mr. Toulouse, anytime you want to come over to Wikipedia, your mop is ready. Daniel Case
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