Wikipedia:WikiProject community rehabilitation/Idea/Wikiknights

This is a project that I started soon after I got here (MAY 2008). It was in response to some very harsh treatment that I thought was extreme and elitist. For some reason my wanderings kept taking me to situations of strife and aggresiveness toward new editors. I was also very surprised when I encountered veteran editors that had left Wikipedia (but left a terse goodbye).

Anyway...it was an early attempt. Ive only shared it with a few. I offer it here for what its worth.

Maybe it will stimulate some other thoughts. I hope so.--Buster7 (talk) 02:04, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

Lost Souls

One of the more troubling aspects of my early days as a member of Wikipedia is discovering "lost souls". As with most "newbies" (I would guess) I'm jumping here and there and everywhere. Reading articles, discovering the lay of the land, creating an exceptable user page, daring to make the occasional edit. And, also, looking for acceptance and maybe a little guidance. The discussion pages are filled with wonderful conversations and more than a little verbosity. Its an advantage to be able to get a feel for an editor and then be able to go to his/her user page and find some more about who they are. But...here's the rub. Often times that editor has given up...

• "I fought the good fight, but enough is enough",
• "...the attacks become too personal, too mean-spirited",
• "...I didnt sign up for this"...
• "I was really wasting my time...."
• "It was enormously fun at first...
• "Please make Wikipedia not suck!"
• "......because I was spending more time defending articles than improving them"---And they leave.

Perhaps the "newbie" gets involved with an article at a level that they are just not ready for---too inexperienced. Or, they get embroiled in an editing war with a bureaucratic editor or administrator. WikiJargon starts to flow, things get said, threats are made, names are "called", the newbie is discouraged. The Wiki-Experience changes. The Wiki-Experience ends!

Remember Our Early Days

It would probably do us all a WikiWorld of good to remember (each on our own) our individual early days at Wikipedia. How bright-eyed we were. How exciting the place was. OMG...The challenge of your first edit. Probably just a minor edit...punctuation more than likely! But you were hooked. You joined a World-wide phenominom. As you wandered around, your sense of the enormity of the place grew. You got a sense of what a free-flowing, ever-changing, stimulating project it was. And you wanted to be involved.

WE=Wikieditors

Wiki-Editors....WE....How much cleaner can it get. It says it all. WE...A Unifying term, a reminder that WE are all in this together. A "Don't Bite the Newbies" kinda thing. Let's leave the edit war behind for a second and remember who WE are. How it was when WE were young and innocent. How WE felt when WE were chastized for the first time. How WE couldn't believe that our good faith was being challenged...by 5 people...all at the same time and place. Also, how WE feel to be a part of something that is endless. Talk about FutureMind!!!!

If not you, who? If not now, when?

"We care about moral issues, nobility, decency, happiness, goodness—--the issues that matter in the real world, but which can only be addressed, in their purity, in fiction" Orson Scott Card

WikiJourney

Is your Wiki-Journey really over? Are you going to let the naysayers win? What if your Wiki-experience had taken a slightly different course? Maybe what you need is a new direction, a new sandbox to play in (so to speak), a new set of priorities. I cant prove it but I KNOW that if a person merely changes their mind, they change their experience. Wikiknights are there to help forlorn editors change their minds. Most Wiki-editors start with high hopes, high purpose, high regards for others. Each Wiki-life is different. But, for some, sadly, the roads travelled have led to the same place---discontented and disheartened.

Wikipedia's design flaw is the same as any open free society. It can not always control the actions of its citizens/members. Vandals, grafitti, trolls, loud mouthed oafs, over-zealous "trigger happy" editors and administrators- all negative, childish choices. V-G-LMO/OZEA All enemies of Wiki-Wonderful.

Vandalism, graffitti, "broken windows" (V,G and BW)---all have a negative effect on "the neighborhood." Residents, workers, and visitors are all effected. The neighborhood is castigated and branded, much as Wikipedia is experiencing right now. Creditability is challenged. The Wikiknights effort is not to get the vandals, Others have taken up that mantle. There is alot of technological support in that direction. Wikiknights is focussed toward the "Lost Souls" that become discouraged and "move out of the neighborhood". The analogy to a neighborhood is "right on". If we are not vigilant the cancers of V,G OZE/A AND BW will bring about the downfall of the society we call Wikipedia.

The time spent in an edit war is wasted time, for the most part. It is time that is lost. The value of an editor that gives up cannot be measured. Good Faith Editing (GFE) should not be a rare commodity.

BROKEN WINDOWS

Based on an article titled "Broken Windows" by James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling, which appeared in the March 1982 edition of The Atlantic Monthly.[2] The title comes from the following example:

"Consider a building with a few broken windows. If the windows are not repaired, the tendency is for vandals to break a few more windows. Eventually, they may even break into the building, and if it's unoccupied, perhaps become squatters or light fires inside. Or consider a sidewalk. Some litter accumulates. Soon, more litter accumulates. Eventually, people even start leaving bags of trash from take-out restaurants there or breaking into cars." A successful strategy for preventing vandalism, say the book's authors, is to fix the problems when they are small. Repair the broken windows within a short time, say, a day or a week, and the tendency is that vandals are much less likely to break more windows or do further damage. Clean up the sidewalk every day, and the tendency is for litter not to accumulate (or for the rate of littering to be much less). Problems do not escalate and thus respectable residents do not flee a neighborhood.

Unless I am mistaken, the arrival of a kindred spirit to a situation is soothing. It's a part of the healing process. Sure, Wiki__________ tell us to forget about it, step aside, go do something else, etc. But, a sense of doom starts to build. Wikiknights dispell that "doom quality".

Tactics of a Wikiknight

For obvious reasons, the tactics that are available to a Wikiknight are not available to the general public. That would defeat the purpose and provide opposing SIC/CC editors with a blueprint for encroachment and destruction...kind of like Cancer! The tactics have been honed to a sharp edge, much like a surgeons scalpel. However, they are under investigation and are currently being updated (many haven't been used since The First Crusade.) As you can clearly see in the image above, work on the tunics continues. The trusted steeds necessary for quick response are rested and "chomping at the bit" for action. The call has gone out to the Winds of Wikipedia for Noble Knights. Training will soon begin. Change is in the AIR! Can you feel it?

MORE IDEAS AT DISCUSSION PAGE

Norms of Conduct

• invisible
• courteous
• humble, most times.
• colorful and vigorous in language and War.
• a person of artistic persuasion
• a hero
• a gentleman
• a saint
• a protector of the poor (newbies-NWB, giffees-GFE)
• a herald to the vanquished (the "I quit"ters)
• a brother to other knights in mutual courtesy
• a pursuer of the infidels (dragons)
• a standard, a model
• a restorer of editorial order
• a champion of Justice

• in control of his

coarseness

incendiarism

treachery

contempt

crudeness

temper

desire to ridicule

from...The Story of Civilization Part IV, The Age of Faith, pgs-572-578

Pledged to honor and service, seeking adventure and fame rather than comfort and security...WILL DURANT

JARGON

• BS```````````````````Bad sports...the source of the BullShit...The DrGN's et al, those that would kill the spirit of the GFE, leading to abandonment by the GFE,.
• DrGN`````````````The most aggressive naysayer, the one leading the opposition. The "DraGoN" Usually the first on the scene. (Please DO NOT CONFUSE these DraGoNs with WikiDragons, a benevolent and helpful terrradactyhl)
• DrGASS``````````The DraGgon's assistant. (We need names for the different roles that cabal members play so that we can agree, during a war, who is who).
• Gauntlet
• GFE`````````````````Good Faith Editor, the customer, why Wikiknights exist,the reason WE are here.
• Holy Grail`````````` a cauldron endowed with special powers.
• KaRT````````````Knights AT the Round Table...pronounced cart...as in "cartel"
• KoRT`````````````Knights OF the Round Table...pronounced the same as "court"...just for symbolism...when they read it they will say "court" to themselves...lol...subliminal input...
• OI````````````````Original Idea
• OC```````````````Original Concept
• IT````````````````Intellectual Temptation...resist IT!...to join in the fight as a participant...forgetting why WE came...Often used as a warning to a fellow Wikiknight during battle..."Resist IT!!"
• MP````````````````Messenger Pidgeon...a call has gone out for another Wikiknight....."I have sent AN MP"
• LMO................loud mouthed Oafs
• SIC.........Spanish Inquisition Cabal
• CC..........Cavil Cabal
• SIC/CC......The two combined...a possible Death sentence...A Pyre in the Courtyard.
• MD````````````````Mis-direction, a DraGoN tactic.
• PSB``````````````"Put a shrimp on the bar-bee" from Australia, an island....GFE/PSB would mean that the original editor is alone...on an island....DrGN/PSB would mean The Dragon is alone.
• WE```````````````WIKI EDITORS
• WQB````````````````WikiQueenBee....Wikipedia's founder, Jimbo Wales.
• ZULU````````````````Where it (the WAR) started .... The point of diversion, where the discussion stears away from the OI or OC... important that it be discovered by the attending Wikiknight.

WIKI-PREDATORS

Vandalism...Graffitti...Zero Tolerance Policy...Community Policing

The best weapon against an enemy is another enemy ...Neitzsche

A taste of their own medicine...bang the bangers...vanqish the vandals...

WIKI-GATES

Gated Communities. The rich safeguard their belongings, their treasures, their property within protective walls.

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WIKI-WINDMILLS

Don Quixote...maybe this will be my windmill? "Tilting at windmills"...or an Animal Farm fantasy?

Spanish windmills in La Mancha

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WIKI-FISHING

Cast many lines. Bait many hooks. Chum the water. The fish are there. You need to find them. They are not looking for you. Most WE's are endowed with the ability to know the difference between a gentleman and a rat. But, they are not in the pest control business.

GFE's/The Customer

There are 75,0000 active (or at least semi-active) Wiki_Encyclopedists.

• some are Kings; some are clowns.
• some have a moral & intellectual compass; some are carpetbaggers.
• some seek quality; some seek turmoil.
• some are poisonous, cancerous; some are healthy, positive.
• some know that the true scholar is a modest person; some are ego driven.
• some create DIStraction; some work toward Attraction
• some are sole experts; some are soul experts.

A giant grouper at the Georgia Aquarium

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WIKI-DORMANT

Dormancy can be a survival technique

A well-informed landscaper will plant many varied grass seeds in the same plot-each for different conditions. Some seeds lay dormant, waiting for their opportunity in the sun. Others thrive everywhere. No matter what conditions are, the lawn looks great. Dormancy can be a survival trait.

links

http://www.usemod.com/cgi-bin/mb.pl?GoodBye ROugh Draft...for section of WiKIKnights project

The Arena

The arena <---> WIkipedia.

Who is the Home Team...who is in charge...who ends the edit-war...let's talk.....For how long. About what...alls been said....lets decide!

Bull has POWER---HORNS, honed in many conflicts.....SNORT,,,strikes fear in GFE's heart....Pedigree, good breading...unbeatable-----HOOVES...., vocab, Wikitalk,.. Clawing, throwing dirt.

Fight doesnt happen without the Matador....It takes two to Tango...