+1 On 2009-09-09, Gregory Maxwell <gmaxw...@gmail.com> wrote: > In the thread "WMF seeking to sub-lease office space?" > On Sat, Sep 5, 2009 at 10:51 AM, Austin Hair<adh...@gmail.com> wrote: > (to Gregory Kohs) > [snip] >> I've placed you on indefinite >> moderation with the goal of improving the signal:crazy ratio. > > With something like 40 posts made to that thread after Mr. Kohs' last > I think it is clear that the squelching of a (admittedly, > trigger-happy) critic was ineffective at improving the SNB > (signal-to-blah) ratio. > > …while at the same time it increased the scent of idea-centric rather > than presentation-centric censorship. > > This is doubly a concern when moderation is used against someone who > made an error that any one of us could have made and jumped to some > hasty conclusions. > > Certainly there are non-profits which are little more than fronts for > their operators' private gains, ones started for that purpose, and > ones which fall into it after years of normal operation. In some > places and at some scales the kind of self-dealing Mr. Kohs was > concerned about are arguably the norm. I don't believe that they > currently apply to Wikimedia but my confidence is in part derived from > that fact that were there any real evidence of such things the critics > would be all over it. (I do, however, think Wikimedia has done a > worse job than it could have at avoiding the perception of > self-dealing) > > Kohs was gleefully pointing at some supposed evidence of > naughty-naughty. He missed a critical detail which made his position > laughably wrong. I have no doubt that it was an honest mistake: in the > end it only made him look silly. It was a mistake anyone could have > made if they didn't begin by assuming good faith but the value of a > critic is that they start with a different set of assumptions and > values. > > I'm of the view that the further growth and development of Wikimedia > and its family of projects is utterly dependent on having solid, > well-considered, and productively-spoken critics. Internet forums are > highly vulnerable to groupthink: as we work together we become a > family. It's all too easy to avoid thinking critically about your > family and about things you've invested time in. It for this reason, > under other names, that we invite outsiders to serve on our board. A > view from outside of WMF's reality distortion field (and from inside > someone else's RDF) is essential. > > Mr. Kohs is frequently not an ideal critic: by being too prone to > extreme positions, and by falling into accusations, he loses > credibility. But even an off-the-wall critic can help make an > environment more conducive to productive criticism. Someone more > moderate may feel more comfortable speaking up when there is a strong > critic handy to take the unreasonably extreme positions and the > resulting heresy-fire and the existence of someone with an extreme > position can help other people find a common ground. > > I'd prefer that moderation of this list be used as a last resort to > maintain civil discourse and not as a tool to impose an external view > of the desired traffic volume and especially not in a way which could > be construed as prohibiting criticism. Dealing with criticism, > including occasional off-the-wall criticism and sometimes outright > nutty criticism, is one of the costs of open and transparent > governance. > > I make this post with over a year of consideration: had this kind of > (in my view) heavy-handed moderation been effective at improving the > discourse on this list, I would be left with little to say. I don't > think anyone here can say that it has improved. As such, it's time to > try something different. > > _______________________________________________ > foundation-l mailing list > foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l >
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