This is to withdraw a poorly phrased notice of tort, and to clarify that harm can result from cavalier use of arbitrary power. Though the circumstances might not rise to actionable tort, phrases, characterizations and group dynamics employed here comport with documented means of communicating arbitrary, prejudicial group power. Harm resulting from abusive group authority has been well documented in world history. This is not to suggest further harm, but rather to encourage the writer of this page to consider harm-reduction when wielding administrative or editorial power.
Hate has been studied in far more interesting venues. Typical dehumanizing behaviors might be of little interest here except they seem as much a part of the documents' statement as is the actual content. The editorial process seems to have been lifted straight from the numerous on-line chat environments where for a decade people have made a game of inventing and arbitrarily enforcing behavioral expectations in an otherwise open environment. Bodies of laws are developed to correct fundamental human attribution errors typical of these group processes that begin to identify criminals, or socially unapproved persons, based primarily on their character or untoward motivation, rather than identifying specific offenses against described, published and accepted norms. The interest here is that vigilantism by people who use administrative access to reinforce a constructed ego in an on-line community interferes with a stated task, that of writing an educational document.
Writers do best to maintain privacy to protect their contributions from malicious procedural attacks by other group members for reasons related to group process rather than to content. But contributions to group process discussions that are not specifically identified in relation to substantial contributions are arbitrarily prohibited. You might prefer that arrangement, but it is not the only arrangement by which group discussion may proceed, nor is it the arrangement stated by this electronic publication which invites unsigned contributions as well as it allows creation of easy, unique and multiple handles. At best, I would cast a dour eye toward anything I contributed on which this handle appeared, expecting of this handle the kind of editor that looks over ones shoulder waiting for an error to attack rather than an editor who can be expected to contribute meaningful knowledge about the subject or the medium.
Name-calling and selective derision by vocal in-group members has little impact on content except to discourage contributions, and to discourage good-faith efforts to improve content. It doesn't protect the content. Fights over content go on, providing an arena for people who want to be part of an on-line militia that attempts to identify the motives of contributors, all the while attempting to prohibit contributors from making original comments about motivation. Therein lies the harm. The harm to persons, or to ego constructs, is expectable. But the damage to content resulting from falsely published motives of contributors (troll, sub-vandal, sock-puppet) leaves a false account of how the content was developed. Such poor behavior can be expected from individuals, but when individuals with disturbed authority needs prepare a social venue that invites participants to contribute anonymously then demean efforts to protect privacy, it is a matter that might warrant attention. It certainly can inform judgments on the veracity of content.
- Thank you for the withdrawal, and for the well-written account of your concerns. I believe however that most of them do not strictly pertain to the actualities of this website:
- Wikipedia, while open content, open source and editable by all, is not an "open environment" or free-speech zone. Its purpose is to construct an encyclopedia, to convey factual information. Deviations from that purpose happen all the time, of course, If, for example, one were to add "FUCK THE FREE WORLD" to the top of the article on Samuel Adams (as has happened in the past), one should expect to have that bit removed in short order. Such incidents are the price paid for the openness of the site, and are quickly and even cheerfully rectified, because most of the editors here realize that Wikipedia owes much of its good content to the efforts of those editing through an anonymous IP. And such incidents happen all the time here, usually due to new users, with anonymous IP numbers, who are not yet familiar with what the site is all about. Generally people are very lenient with newcomers; if however this sort of behavior continues at length, it is detrimental to the functioning of the site, creating a hostile environment. Such behavior will not be tolerated.
- If, as I think is the case, your concerns are raised by the incident earlier today where a "new user" appeared and, without having verifiably contributed anything at all to the project, immediately mounts a tirade claiming the right to fling any sort of vitriol he or she wants, making such outrageous claims as "only outright libel is off-limits." This is not a new user. No new user is familiar enough with the system to have made that post. This is rather, as they are so aptly-named on Slashdot, an "anonymous coward" who by all evidence has no goal whatsoever than to disrupt the site from achieving its stated goal. As I mentioned earlier, such behavior will not be tolerated.
- One of the things that makes Wikipedia a viable resource is the fact that editors strive to present information in a clear manner. This means using the conventions of spelling, grammar and punctuation which are standard in the English language, and which are often overlooked on a first draft. This will not happen unless people go through the articles and edit copy (and there are many who do so). If you take offense at having minor errors corrected, I'm afraid my best advice is to either get used to it or find another site, because it is going to happen. Likewise if you find an error in fact in one of the articles, it is much more efficient to simply fix it than it is to complain about it. And if you think "looking over ones shoulder waiting for an error to attack" is all I personally do here, you haven't been following my activity very long, although lately it's been my main activity, as it is less time-consuming than article-writing and lately I have been too distracted by disruptive users to do much else.
- If you believe my actions are merely " to reinforce a constructed ego in an on-line community," for all I know you may be right; I'm certainly in no position to judge. If you're sincere in this belief, I would encourage you to post these concerns in a more widely-read venue. My guess is that if they are phrased as calmly and politely as your remarks above, they will be well-received and discussed, regardless of whether you are known by the community or not. - Hephaestos 20:37, 4 Feb 2004 (UTC)
- I would guess not. An environment where one party arbritrates terms of dialogue is scarcely one where ideas can be expected to be well recieved. An environment where a power group routinely declares the motives of others is not one in which communication can be described as discussion. A supposedy professional educational effort that bases its administrative language on such childish constructs as "troll" and "sub-vandal" most informs readers as to the credibility of participants.
- Tolerance of administrative statements such as "be polite not crass or we'll ban your ass" suggests a sophomoric cadre that takes pride in arbitrary misuse of language to affect personal authority. Tolerance of statements such as "ban him, block him or tie him up and throw him over the Niagra Falls" by when posted by a popular group member suggests the group has little more maturity than adolescent cliques that develop around high-schools and which routinely defy social standards regarding assault, battery and respect for persons.
- Mut beruht oft auf Unbesonnenheit, Feigheit hingegen auf guten Informationen