 | This is an essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
Throughout Wikipedia history, many editors have aspired to the position of administrator. It is small wonder why, given the power and, sometimes, prestige that is often associated with the tools. But the life of the administrator is not always a pleasant one, due to the controversial tasks that must be performed by those who wield the mop. Administrators are given the ability to do things like blocking and topic banning users and deleting pages, but these rights carry with them inherent controversy. While not every admin task performed is going to start a firestorm, any administrator that makes a difficult decision is willingly opening the door for some serious scrutiny and often for outright attacks. It's a dirty job, but somebody has to do it, and those who do often get little thanks for subjecting themselves to the wrath of the community. No administrator is perfect, but those who sign below are indicating that they understand that the administrators are still human beings, just like the rest of us (except for the bots, of course), and they should be afforded as much courtesy as anyone else. Instead of being quick to be angry with administrators, one should instead be inclined to have thankfulness for those who are willing to take the heat for doing the jobs that Wikipedia needs done.