Sometimes, instead of patrolling recent changes for vandalism, I'll change the filter to "good faith edits" and "unregistered". A lot of edits made under IP addresses are constructive, and I send out welcomes that way. I also check my watchlist and welcome people. I like using the thank button as well, and give wikilove (to new and experienced editors). I find that reachng out to a newbie with a personal message along the lines of "you're doing a good work and I noticed that" is usually fairly well-recieved.
On Tue, Feb 25, 2020, 1:03 PM Paulo Santos Perneta <paulospern...@gmail.com> wrote: > As a rule, (at least) in Wikipedia, with very rare exceptions, established > communities of editors treat newbies as unwelcome invaders. > No idea how to solve that, since it's a problem related to the nature of > humane beings, not something technical. > But the result is a very low rate of retention, indeed - and increasingly > reduced diversity and cultural richness, which eventually ends up reflected > on content. At some point those established editors also start preying at > other established editors, specially when newbies are not available. The > environment is awful and toxic in general. > > For outreach activities to have at least a minimal rate of success, the > participants need to have some kind of protection shield, such as some > privileged contact with established editors willing to help them. > Otherwise, edithatons and other outreach activities are basically sending > lambs to the slaughterhouse. As for newbies that come to Wikipedia by > themselves, they are generally on their own. > > Best, > Paulo > > Aron Demian <aronmanni...@gmail.com> escreveu no dia domingo, 23/02/2020 > à(s) 23:30: > > > On Wed, 19 Feb 2020 at 22:35, Andy Mabbett <a...@pigsonthewing.org.uk> > > wrote: > > > > > I have just come across a case on en.Wikipedia where the daughter of > > > an article subject added details of his funeral (his death in 1984,w > > > as already recorded) and his view about an indent in his life. > > > > [...] > > > > > As well as being reverted, she now has three templates on her talk > > > page; two warning her of a CoI, and sandwiching one notifying her of a > > > discussion about her on the COI noticeboard. These total 4094 > > > characters or 665 words. > > > > > > > This is a topic that's seldom discussed and somewhat taboo in certain > > areas, therefore not many people are aware of what experiences many > > newcomers have. These events go generally unnoticed, but if you were > > wondering why editor retention is a constant issue, the pattern that lies > > behind this single case you brought to our attention is a top reason. > > > > I've tried to help in a similar case of a footballer unknown in > > English-speaking countries. She was repeatedly reverted without the edits > > being evaluated or the rules being explained. She never returned and I > was > > frowned upon by the admin, who was involved, for trying to help. > > > > I've noticed this "shoot first, ask later" pattern in many cases, not > just > > with newcomers. Unfortunately, this is all too common and a contributing > > factor to the toxicity. > > > > I've noticed the following issues: > > 1) The general unwelcoming treatment of newcomers: "noobs" are considered > > lacking the proper understanding and necessary knowledge, unless they > jump > > right into RC patrolling, which is not the sign of a new editor. > > 2) The lack of protection given to newcomers: "You have no rights" being > > explicitly said to one newcomer, that I recall. > > 3) Preferential treatment and authority bias: the experienced/established > > user is "trusted", thus must be right, therefore unwelcoming - and often > > hostile - conduct is not considered uncivil or it's "not actionable". > > 4) The excessively vilifying application of the most frowned-upon rules > > such as COI, socking. Editors tagged as such are treated the same > > regardless of the effect of their actions and whether that has caused any > > damage, which can scale from none to introducing bias to many articles > for > > years. > > > > Currently, there is no effort to mitigate these issues, to improve the > > policies and community practices. It's also a problem that while the > > "biting newbies" and "civility" policies are very well written, these are > > almost never applied and definitely not in the protection of newcomers. > By > > that I don't mean these should always result in sanctions, but that the > > community - and primarily who get involved with handling disputes - > should > > take these seriously, approach with a neutral mindset and remind the > > editors about our policies, but that almost never happens and such > > complaints are either ignored or blindly decided in favor of the editor > > with more supporters, enabling the abuse of newcomers. > > > > Tl;dr: newcomers don't enjoy the safety net created by editors who know > > and care for each other and the community processes are not set up to > > create a welcoming and/or safe environment, this purpose is not > manifested > > in any kind of endeavors or practices. If the WMF and the movement take > the > > Mid-Term target of a welcoming environment seriously, that's a difficult, > > long-term target that will take a lot of effort. > > > > Aron (Demian) > > _______________________________________________ > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
