Wiki governance: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 18:20, 8 June 2004

Wiki governance seems to pass through a few stages in a large public wiki:

1. chaos as basic wiki management problems slowly become understood

2. fascism as a sysop power structure and perhaps GodKing take root - some sysop vigilantiism mostly dealt with informally; some malcontents but mostly tolerated, some wiki witchhunts as vandalism becomes more common

3. stagnation based on worship of the GodKing by a priestly hierarchy who have no rational understanding of why wiki works; usurpers have managed to get close to the GodKing personally, and use his approval as a mask to push their own agendas - labelling everyone who asks for change a troll and abusing powers granted to deal with vandals, against such trolls; sysop vandalism occurs as sysops put their own beliefs above the truth - echo chamber begins, and systemic bias is no longer avoided, but *enforced*.

4. trolls realize that regime change is necessary and form factions, e.g. Wikipedia Red Faction, and start to develop appropriate rhetoric to justify trolling, and target bad sysops to be driven off by trolls etc.; sysops begin to justify ontological distinction using operational distinction, e.g. "that person was blocked thus they must not be saying any thing of value" - all dialogue becomes impossible, and echo chamber becomes a libel pit and then the basis of harassment;

5. troll war breaks out on interwiki level, confused by lack of any interwiki identity standard resulting in outing and framing. Some desperate sysops use technical means to conceal the truth, including denial of service attack by vandalbot on troll-friendly wikis (illegal) and (legal) IP range blocks by sysops who control the technology - developer vigilantiism! Also state violence is initiated by the most pathetic usurpers: false crime reports, false claims of terrorism

6. beginnings of peace talks as everyone begins to realize trolls are more right than wrong, and that following usurpers and reactionaries is going to kill all cooperation with the project; some shallow board activity, formation of formal mechanisms, e.g. Wikimedia arbitration, etc.

7. rejection of these bourgeois false democracy elements by revolutionary troll factions, and continuation of the struggle to anarchize or to democratize more deeply

8. abdication of GodKing, major reform, eradication of Wikimedia corruption, etc., i.e. Ragnarok the total troll victory.

9. a Lowest Troll emerges to moderate the new more democratic structure, and deal with trolling the only way that works: by trolling back, using politics as usual

10. now that real politics and wiki politics have merged, the outputs of the wiki can now be respected as real information subject to fair peer review with no sysop power structure distorting it into propaganda

Apparently no wiki has ever emerged from these transitions, as even the most advanced large public wikis are probably only at about stage 5 or 6 right now

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 . fascism as a [[sysop power structure]] and perhaps [[GodKing]] take root - some [[sysop vigilantiism]] mostly dealt with informally;  some malcontents but mostly tolerated, some [[wiki witchhunt]]s as [[vandalism]] becomes more common
-. stagnation based on worship of the [[GodKing]] and [[usurper]]s who have managed to get close to the GodKing personally, and use his approval as a mask to push their own agendas - labelling everyone who asks for change a [[troll]], and abusing powers granted to deal with vandals, against trolls;  [[sysop vandalism]] occurs as sysops put their own beliefs above the truth - [[echo chamber]] begins, and [[systemic bias]] is no longer avoided, but *enforced*.
+. stagnation based on worship of the [[GodKing]] by a [[priestly hierarchy]] who have no rational understanding of [[why wiki works]];  [[usurper]]s have managed to get close to the GodKing personally, and use his approval as a mask to push their own agendas - labelling everyone who asks for change a [[troll]] and abusing powers granted to deal with vandals, against such trolls;  [[sysop vandalism]] occurs as sysops put their own beliefs above the truth - [[echo chamber]] begins, and [[systemic bias]] is no longer avoided, but *enforced*.
-. [[trolls]] realize that [[regime change]] is necessary and form [[faction]]s, e.g. [[Wikipedia Red Faction]], and start to develop appropriate rhetoric to justify [[trolling]], and target bad sysops to be [[driven off by trolls]] etc.;  sysops begin to justify [[ontological distinction]] using [[operational distinction]], e.g. "that person was blocked thus they must not be saying any thing of value" - all dialogue becomes impossible, and [[echo chamber]] becomes basis of [[harassment]]
+. [[trolls]] realize that [[regime change]] is necessary and form [[faction]]s, e.g. [[Wikipedia Red Faction]], and start to develop appropriate rhetoric to justify [[trolling]], and target bad sysops to be [[driven off by trolls]] etc.;  sysops begin to justify [[ontological distinction]] using [[operational distinction]], e.g. "that person was blocked thus they must not be saying any thing of value" - all dialogue becomes impossible, and [[echo chamber]] becomes a [[libel pit]] and then the basis of [[harassment]];
-. war breaks out on interwiki level as desperate sysops use technical means to conceal the truth, including [[denial of service attack]] by [[vandalbot]] on [[troll-friendly]] wikis, [[IP range block]]s by sysops who control the technology - [[developer vigilantiism]]!  Also state violence is initiated by the most pathetic [[usurper]]s:  [[false crime report]]s, [[false claims of terrorism]]
+. [[troll war]] breaks out on [[interwiki]] level, confused by lack of any [[interwiki identity standard]] resulting in [[outing]] and [[framing]].  Some desperate sysops use technical means to conceal the truth, including [[denial of service attack]] by [[vandalbot]] on [[troll-friendly]] wikis (illegal) and (legal) [[IP range block]]s by sysops who control the technology - [[developer vigilantiism]]!  Also state violence is initiated by the most pathetic [[usurper]]s:  [[false crime report]]s, [[false claims of terrorism]]
 . beginnings of peace talks as everyone begins to realize [[trolls]] are more right than wrong, and that following [[usurper]]s and reactionaries is going to kill all cooperation with the project;  some shallow [[board]] activity, formation of formal mechanisms, e.g. [[Wikimedia]] [[arbitration]], etc.