naveen_reloaded
!! RecuZant By Birth !!
Exclusive On the surface, all is
well in Wikiland. Just last
week, a headline from The San
Francisco Chronicle told the
world that "Wikipedia's Future
Is Still Looking Up," as the
paper happily announced that
founder Jimmy "Jimbo" Wales
plans to expand his operation
with a high-profile move to the
city by the bay.
But underneath, there's
trouble brewing.
Controversy has erupted
among the encyclopedia's core
contributors, after a rogue
editor revealed that the site's
top administrators are using a
secret insider mailing list to
crackdown on perceived
threats to their power.
Many suspected that such a
list was in use, as the
Wikipedia "ruling clique" grew
increasingly concerned with
banning editors for the most
petty of reasons. But now that
the list's existence is
confirmed, the rank and file
are on the verge of revolt.
Revealed after an uber-admin
called "Durova" used it in an
attempt to enforce the
quixotic ban of a longtime
contributor, this secret mailing
list seems to undermine the
site's famously egalitarian
ethos. At the very least, the
list allows the ruling clique to
push its agenda without
scrutiny from the community
at large. But clearly, it has
also been used to silence the
voice of at least one person
who was merely trying to
improve the encyclopedia's
content.
"I've never seen the Wikipedia
community as angry as they
are with this one," says
Charles Ainsworth , a Japan-
based editor who's contributed
more feature articles to the
site than all but six other
writers. "I think there was
more hidden anger and
frustration with the 'ruling
clique' than I thought and
Durova's heavy-handed action
and arrogant refusal to take
sufficient accountability for it
has released all of it into the
open."
Kelly Martin, a former
member of Wikipedia's
Arbitration Committee, leaves
no doubt that this sort of
surreptitious communication
has gone on for ages. "This
particular list is new, but the
strategy is old," Martin told us
via phone, from outside
Chicago. "It's certainly not
consistent with the public
principles of the site. But in
reality, it's standard practice."
Meanwhile, Jimbo Wales has
told the community that all
this is merely a tempest in a
teacup. As he points out, the
user that Durova wrongly
banned was reinstated after a
mere 75 minutes. But it would
seem that Jimbo has done his
best to suppress any talk of
the secret mailing list.
Whatever the case, many
longtime editors are up-in-
arms. And the site's top
administrators seem more
concerned with petty site
politics than with building a
trustworthy encyclopedia.
"The problem with Wikipedia
is that, for so many in the
project, it's no longer about
the encyclopedia," Martin
wrote in a recent blog post .
"The problem is that
Wikipedia's community has
defined itself not in terms of
the encyclopedia it is
supposedly producing, but
instead of the people it
venerates and the people it
abhors."
Bang! Bang! You're dead
On November 18, Durova
banned a Wikipedia editor
known as "!!". Yes, "!!". Some
have taken to calling him
"Bang Bang." At Wikipedia,
everyone has the right to
anonymity, and user names
are often, shall we say,
inexplicable.
In banning this account,
Durova described it as an
"abusive sock puppet,"
insisting it was setup by
someone dead set on
destroying the encyclopedia.
"This problem editor is a
troublemaker whose
username is two exclamation
points with no letters," read
the block. "He is a ripened
sock with a padded history of
redirects, minor edits, and
some DYK work. He also
indulges in obscene trolling in
German, and free range
sarcasm and troublemaking. If
you find this user gloating, or
spot his nasty side, hit him
with the banhammer." DYKs
are edits made to the "Did You
Know" section of the
Wikipedia home page.
Continue to read here....
*www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/04/wikipedia_secret_mailing/
well in Wikiland. Just last
week, a headline from The San
Francisco Chronicle told the
world that "Wikipedia's Future
Is Still Looking Up," as the
paper happily announced that
founder Jimmy "Jimbo" Wales
plans to expand his operation
with a high-profile move to the
city by the bay.
But underneath, there's
trouble brewing.
Controversy has erupted
among the encyclopedia's core
contributors, after a rogue
editor revealed that the site's
top administrators are using a
secret insider mailing list to
crackdown on perceived
threats to their power.
Many suspected that such a
list was in use, as the
Wikipedia "ruling clique" grew
increasingly concerned with
banning editors for the most
petty of reasons. But now that
the list's existence is
confirmed, the rank and file
are on the verge of revolt.
Revealed after an uber-admin
called "Durova" used it in an
attempt to enforce the
quixotic ban of a longtime
contributor, this secret mailing
list seems to undermine the
site's famously egalitarian
ethos. At the very least, the
list allows the ruling clique to
push its agenda without
scrutiny from the community
at large. But clearly, it has
also been used to silence the
voice of at least one person
who was merely trying to
improve the encyclopedia's
content.
"I've never seen the Wikipedia
community as angry as they
are with this one," says
Charles Ainsworth , a Japan-
based editor who's contributed
more feature articles to the
site than all but six other
writers. "I think there was
more hidden anger and
frustration with the 'ruling
clique' than I thought and
Durova's heavy-handed action
and arrogant refusal to take
sufficient accountability for it
has released all of it into the
open."
Kelly Martin, a former
member of Wikipedia's
Arbitration Committee, leaves
no doubt that this sort of
surreptitious communication
has gone on for ages. "This
particular list is new, but the
strategy is old," Martin told us
via phone, from outside
Chicago. "It's certainly not
consistent with the public
principles of the site. But in
reality, it's standard practice."
Meanwhile, Jimbo Wales has
told the community that all
this is merely a tempest in a
teacup. As he points out, the
user that Durova wrongly
banned was reinstated after a
mere 75 minutes. But it would
seem that Jimbo has done his
best to suppress any talk of
the secret mailing list.
Whatever the case, many
longtime editors are up-in-
arms. And the site's top
administrators seem more
concerned with petty site
politics than with building a
trustworthy encyclopedia.
"The problem with Wikipedia
is that, for so many in the
project, it's no longer about
the encyclopedia," Martin
wrote in a recent blog post .
"The problem is that
Wikipedia's community has
defined itself not in terms of
the encyclopedia it is
supposedly producing, but
instead of the people it
venerates and the people it
abhors."
Bang! Bang! You're dead
On November 18, Durova
banned a Wikipedia editor
known as "!!". Yes, "!!". Some
have taken to calling him
"Bang Bang." At Wikipedia,
everyone has the right to
anonymity, and user names
are often, shall we say,
inexplicable.
In banning this account,
Durova described it as an
"abusive sock puppet,"
insisting it was setup by
someone dead set on
destroying the encyclopedia.
"This problem editor is a
troublemaker whose
username is two exclamation
points with no letters," read
the block. "He is a ripened
sock with a padded history of
redirects, minor edits, and
some DYK work. He also
indulges in obscene trolling in
German, and free range
sarcasm and troublemaking. If
you find this user gloating, or
spot his nasty side, hit him
with the banhammer." DYKs
are edits made to the "Did You
Know" section of the
Wikipedia home page.
Continue to read here....
*www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/04/wikipedia_secret_mailing/
