Archive for the ‘Wikimedia’ Category
Communication Projects Group
This week I have signed away another chunk of my life by helping to start up and offering to co-ordinate Wikimedia’s new Communication Projects Group, or comproj. This is great, because I’ve been interested in the Foundation and how it communicates for a while, so this is an excellent opportunity for me to do something useful for Wikimedia and also to learn some new skills. The Communications Committee has been dealing with press issues and the like for some time, however the Foundation’s newly-hired communications manager, Sandra Ordonez, has plans to get this secondary group set up for less time-sensitive tasks and those that require a larger slice of the community. My job is going to be hopping around and trying to keep people organised, which takes some work off the shoulders of Sandy. At the moment it’s all about recruiting, but I think we can start doing some good work very soon.
I think that this, coupled with my work as a member of the e-mail response team, allows me to call myself a volunteer for the Foundation, since I’m working more for Wikimedia than Wikipedia; the latter was where I got started. This is of course not too important, but I think it’s a good idea to have a title when asked for one by real life people, not so much online.
Catalysts
I’d like to spend a little time advocating the catalyst philosophy for resolving disputes on the Internet, and indeed in real life. It’s something that Rob Levin, founder of freenode originally developed (along with others) for IRC and I find it very effective. It’s also extremely valuable for resolving disputes on-wiki, and I try to apply it to pretty much all situations of possible conflict on the Internet. I have a copy pinned on my wall, and have it linked from my user talk pages in the hope that other people might use it too.
At the core of the document is the dedication to use words and gentle nudges rather than force, such as a block or kline. IRC can seem extremely harsh towards new users sometimes and the environment of projects can seem equally dangerous, especially if people read the blocking policy before the civility one. By working with words disputes can avoid spiralling, and overall this promotes a friendlier enviroment – as long as gaming of the system is avoided.
Of course, this philosophy is nothing new, but the famed document is particularly good at giving hints and strategies to those who want to implement the strategy who don’t really know how to do so. It’s inspirational for those who are still using older methods, and I’d really love it if more people who start using it. That’s why I will always promote and link to where I can the catalyst strategy for solving disputes, in order that we can make the Internet a better place.
Wiki-policy links: Assume good faith, civility
freenode links: SportChick’s blog post, catalyst documentation, channel guidelines