Pray for Essjay
You might have seen the recent news coverage about Wikipedia administrator/bureaucrat/checkuser Essjay. I’m not going to make a statement about whether or not I believe his actions were justified. However: good grief, people, don’t go off on someone for lying. How many shady secrets do you have in your history?
Alright, to contradict my earlier statement, I’m not happy about what’s happened (even though he is one of the best contributors), partially because I’m a Wikipedian myself, but overwhelming someone’s talk page with abusive comments is not the proper way to go about dealing with things. As Ryan Chappelle would say, “There’s a thing called due process; it’s why we have juries and judges and courts”.
March 6th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
The purpose of laws and courts is not to replace the ability of people to directly express themselves. A users talkpage on WP is an established means of voicing criticism about the conduct of users, admins, and officials. Essay is overwhelmed only because his conduct has offended so many other users. WP admins have taken some modest steps to stifle the discussion, blanking and protecting his user page (although history is still available), semi protecting related discussions. Although these steps do not seem too heavy handed, it is best to just let the discussion play out.
March 10th, 2007 at 8:16 pm
Hey Oscar! How’re things going for you over there in NJ? I hope you’re enjoying living in the US.
“. . . overwhelming someone’s talk page with abusive comments is not the proper way to go about dealing with things.”
Yes, you’re right, Oscar. Actually I don’t know anything about what happened, but I do agree with you there. It’s incredible how our culture has subconsiously(or perhaps even consiously) decided that jumping all over someone when they do wrong is the best way to take care of it. Of course, the person should be judged and ought to admitt that he did wrong. But that *doesn’t* mean that we should put them through so much scorn. *Especially* when it’s not our place to do so.
God bless, Oscar! *smiles*