> On Thu, Feb 26, 2009 at 1:29 PM, Marc Riddell > <michaeldavi...@comcast.net> wrote: >> Civility, like courtesy, is contagious - it begins with you.
on 2/26/09 8:48 AM, Carcharoth at carcharot...@googlemail.com wrote: > > If it has a shorter lifespan, might need more effort to successfully > inoculate. But you are right, the effects of being polite and civil do > spread. But there will always be some level of incivility. How do you > know when the levels are acceptable once again? When more articles are > being written? My theory is that the articles still get written, just > slower, and some article writers are lost for good (or never arrive). > Carcharoth, I believe the problem we as a community are having with the issue of civility is finding a definition of it that everyone can agree upon. And, since the very concept of civility is so highly subjective, that agreeing upon a firm definition is impossible. That's what I meant when I said before. "I know it when I see it." If I happen upon a discussion that I'm not directly involved in and feel one or more of the participants are being uncivil, I will interject a comment about it. The culture of a community is what the majority of its members decide it will be. Speaking only of this medium here, when I am directly involved in a discussion and encounter what I feel is an uncivil response to something I have said (whether it be on a mailing list or talk page) I simply ignore it and stay focused on the subject being discussed. If the entire post consists only of an uncivil remark, and doesn't even deal with the issue being discussed, I don't respond at all. This works for me. Marc _______________________________________________ WikiEN-l mailing list WikiEN-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l
