Office of Advocate missing
I agree with your point. At times I've tried to side with the new editors, but it is difficult to do so one on one. They can be very active, or very annoyed, or drop out of sight, and even when you side with them, it is still only an argument. I feel like it would be better to have a group of advocates who can take up a cause and agree on principles, facts, and outcomes (much as ArbCom does, but obviously ArbCom won't be involved if the advocate is even slightly successful) Wnt 00:05, 6 May 2011 (UTC)
I am glad that you agree with whatever point you see in my suggestion. However this is not what I meant. I am not suggesting "a lower circuit court" or "miniArbCom". I am suggesting an Advocate, who speaks for someone. Example: A newbie wants to say "Keep your islamic bullshit off this page" Advocate actions: (1) translate: "While the islamic viewpoint does exist, in this article it must be clearly described as such, rather than as an unambiguous fact". (2) explain to the newbie the translation, i.e., which wikipedia policies are involved and (3) Explain the newcomer what was wrong with his text. EXCERCISE: Can you? Are you fit for the bar? Altenmann 00:40, 6 May 2011 (UTC)
Altenmann, the research we've done at the Wikimedia Foundation supports what you're saying here -- your description of new people's frustrations is accurate.
I like your Advocate idea, for a couple of reasons. First, lapsed editors have told us that one of the reasons they leave is because Wikipedia doesn't feel sufficiently welcoming or personal: as new editors, they felt isolated, alone, unnoticed. On the flip side, successful editors have often told me that one of the keys to their longevity may have been the fact that they were noticed and spoken with early by a more experienced editor -- someone who commented on their work, helped them do something they were struggling with, or praised them for something they did well. Even interactions that we might define as neutral rather than supportive ---like being taught a particular piece of wiki-syntax, or being nudged towards a helpful policy page--- people have experienced as encouraging and helpful, when they happened one-on-one rather than via a template. People like to be noticed by other people, they like to feel like their work matters, is wanted, and is taken seriously :-)
It's also obviously true that editing Wikipedia today requires much greater policy knowledge than it used to (the alphabet soup that you mentioned). Currently it's tough to edit Wikipedia in part because the editing interface is so complex. But usability improvements won't help with policy complexity. So yes, I agree that one-on-one coaching and hand-holding WRT policies is valuable to help new editors as they get acclimated, and it will continue to be valuable.
Great idea! but why stop there. As a mature society specialization is indeed called for. Why not also reduce the power of anyone to delete or vote on deletions? Create a specialized group of deleters, a police force for wiki that is trained in helpful editing and allow only them to delete and propose for deletion, with special tools at their disposal. Advocacy and help is great, but restrict the power of deletion to specialists!
Dear Sue, imho it is high time to go slash-and-burn a lot of policy. Someone once joked the BBC is essentially HMRC (UK Tax Service) with a broadcast antenna. WP of 2011 feels equally ossified.