Wikipedia Sucks!

It's that time again, and the future of Wikipedia self governance has a familiar feel of decay and delusion.

Bearing in mind there are eight vacant seats, the fact only five have stepped up with less 24 hours left before the deadline, is hilarious in of itself. It only gets even funnier when you examine who they are....

Banedon

The annual no hope joke/protest candidate, a person who would undoubtedly do more harm than good, all be it with the best of intentions. Which is of course, far worse, because nobody ever likes shooting Bambi. But to be so thick or arrogant to think he could even remotely win, shows he's not qualified for the role.

Beeblebrox

The scum candidate. The fucking hell I really wish we had we had someone else to vote for, I cannot believe this absolute wanker who seriously thinks what he did to Fae is exemplary conduct, or any of the other stupid, nasty, disreputable shit he says and does, coming here with the utter fucking audacity to only acknowledge and apologise for it now, without even saying what he is apologising for, the arrogant manipulative prick, candidate.

Donald Albury

The who the fuck even is he? candidate. Look, it's admirable, wanting to stay out of the limelight, and lord knows ArbCom candidates should be experienced hands, but to have spent SEVENTEEN YEARS on Wikipedia without showing any interest in the ArbCom end of things and then put your hat in the ring for no obvious reason except that he feels ready, well, it's ridiculous. The lack of him seeing any need to even explain why he was so inactive between 2012 and 2018, is a giant red flag, and such naivety cannot be rewarded with a seat. In an era when Admins can't even take a long shit without having their loyalty or ongoing fitness to serve questioned when asking for their tools back, seeing someone who was made an Admin after facing only SIX questions at RfA, and who has by his own admission not exactly been training for this "different level of experience", stand for the top table, well, come on. The fact he reads as a genuinely nice guy who avoids confrontation only seems to guarantee he's destined for either a spectacular rookie mistake, or be a complete and utter non-factor.

Worm That Turned

The only worthwhile candidate. Split him into eight, job done. Anyone who can demolish Vigilant's lesbian power couple conspiracy theory with a few simple and obvious facts, and effortlessly deliver a gut punch to the tin foil hat wearing muppet as he does so, and get said muppet to be so willing to be humiliated before during and after the fact, well, who is going to cause them any problems on the bench?

Wugapodes

Only promoted to Admin for "nearly two years", so the idea he can really carry any authority over Admins with these days usually a decade or more of experience, is a bit of a joke. If not a sign that something has gone seriously wrong with the system that people this green even think they have a realsitic shot without the CV of a boy genius. And his is perhaps a quite disingenuous way to describe 1 year 10 months (passed 25th Jan), for someone whose every single word will be scrutinised if he is successful.

You will also note the lack of women, or at least any prepared to identify as women. So nothing new there then. They had women, not many, a tiny minority, but things went backwards, and whether the men see it or not, and one creditably did, the women have clearly been taking notes, seeing how their views are usually not taken into account at this highest level, this leadership level, seeing instead how their oppressors are rewarded and their own misdeeds amplified, and have concluded they don't want to be a party to their their collective humiliation anymore.

I had seventeen sockpuppets ready to vote for this dude



and they bloody blocked him!

Jake Is A Sellout wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 16, 2021 3:03 am

Banedon

hope he blows up Gotham City

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMjB2jjfw8w

Only nine hours to go, and still one candidate short of even making this an election in the sense eight into eight only goes one way.

Cabayi

One of these statements is not like the other.

I'm here as a somewhat reluctant candidate for election as an arbitrator.

My strongest opinion on Arbcom, and my takeaway lesson from WP:FRAMBAN in 2019, is the need for a strong, active and vibrant Arbcom to ensure the community remains in control of its own affairs and to keep the Foundation's tanks off our lawn. I

What ArbCom needs, are people who know the first rule of acting the tough guy, is to not introduce yourself as someone who didn't even have the strength of conviction to announce themselves with confidence and assurety. Sure, maybe Cabayi will kick ass and take names, but maybe he'll join they long line of Arbitrators who have found it quite hard, and after wetting themselves and crying in the corner, were quietly, uh, stood down.

Opabinia regalis

I was not planning to run this year. I fully intended to spend this election cycle sitting on my couch with a bowl of popcorn. But I convinced myself I'd step up if we got to the last day of the nomination period and there weren't enough women running. Between the various changes going on at the WMF and throughout the community - new CEO, new board, UCoC, whatever the "movement charter" is about - and the fact that pandemic life has in many ways had a disproportionate impact on women, I felt it was important that women's perspectives be well represented on arbcom.

And as it had done for the many previous elections, it feels almost cruel to exploit the kindness and generosity of one single woman, when in all likelihood, she'll be quite easily ignored should she say something that really threatens the good order of the man's world that is Wikipedia.

It should of course worry women that in the Fram case, perhaps because by then she was already quite used to being an Arbitrator, she responded more in defence of Wikipedia's proven failings, and less out of a sympathy of what Trust and Safety were trying to do (protect women from harassment by Admin after ArbCom had failed to do their jobs).

Three more candidates!

Thryduulf

I wasn't intending to stand this year, but

Izno

I did not intend to run this year

Guerillero

I am not running this year

How pathetic.

Why even tell people you don't want the job?

Why make people feel absolutely horrible about voting for you, KNOWING as they do, that you only stood so there was someone to vote for.

Now we have more candidates than seats, just, let's now wait for that other ArbCom tradition, the first person to pull out because THANK GOD SOMEONE ELSE STOOD.

You get the leaders you deserve. This is Wikipedia all over.

Do YOU seriously believe a bunch of reluctant office holders like this put ANY serious thought into serious issues like whether or not Beeblebrox had proven beyond reasonable doubt that they needed to bin a two year good faith editor who hadn't yet done a single thing wrong?

Because I fucking don't.

They're gonne be phoning that shit in, all day every day, just like everyone else who gets lumbered with a job they don't want and wish anyone else in the world would have taken.

The clue is in what is surely a RECORD numbers of candidates this year who have been pulled from a busy life of content creation, to reluctantly serve. An easy life with your nose buried in an article, or the hard work of being judge, jury and executioner?

Wikipedia used to attract all sorts, or at least enough to fill vital roles, including those whose passion was for solving the hard problems. For the greater good.

Wikipedia is in complete decay.

Beeblebrox thinks this is now a "a real field of candidates". Trolling bastard. It's ten candidates for eight seats, only eight of which anyone with any brains would even vote for, and with most of those not even wanting the job.

Beeblebrox is only happy because this really was the ONLY way he was ever going to keep his seat.

And it is somehow fitting that he will be in power only because Wikipedia is decaying.

Holy shit, I had quite forgot Banedon isn't an Admin.

Nine candidates for eight seats.

That's enough DEMOCRATIC CHOYCE to convince all other reluctant onlookers to stay under their duvets I am betting.

HTD.

Oh Lord, the Admin qualifications of the rookies are.....unimpressive.

Cabayi

Admin for 20 months, or to put it another way, one month for every person who thought he isn't even qualified to be an Admin. And on inspection, that was a scary mix of thinking they're a lacklustre content creator and an inflexible/aloof attitude to blocking, and from highly experienced users too. Strangely, he has even undercounted his service, it's actually 22 and a half months. So maybe he is a bit of a dufus.

Donald Albury

An admin since forever, which means he hails from an era when you could become an admin by a answering only six questions. And by his own admission, he hasn't exactly done much with it that might convince anyone he really is as experienced in the sort of thing ArbCom does as his long service as an Admin might suggest. He has made less than 300 edits to AN/I in his entire life, for example.

Izno

Another one that strangely undercounts his Admin service, showing it's been that short that it matters. He says two years, it's actually been two years three months. It says a lot that he was essentially standing to be a technical Admin, not a dispute resolving admin, and that perhaps explains why his nominator, an Arbitrator, had never even heard of the dude. Quite why he is standing as the annual 'ArbCom needs to be divested of some of its powers' candidate, because, well, it's not him who'll be taking up the slack is it, is anyone's guess. Perhaps now the community might reconsider the wisdom of waving through much needed techy Admins, because you never know what they're going to try their inexperienced hand at. This solitary oppose in their RfA now seems very prescient....

No conflict in main-space translates to a total lack of relevant dispute resolution skills for me.

I guess sixteen years as an editor discounts the idea he might be a sock!

Wugapodes

See above. Also, how wierd is it, given the whole Fram saga, that much of his candidate statement reads like an application for a role in the WMF or some other broad community role, not one the fifteen holy warriors tasked with defending the independence of the biggest and best wiki evah.

You can quickly realise how decayed Wikipedia is, with a simple thought experiment....

Imaging how ABSOLUTELY FUCKED Wikipedia would be, if the next ArbCom election had the following eligibility criteria for candidates...

1. Nobody can serve more than two terms as an Arbitrator
2. Candidates must have been an Admin for longer than the average
3. Candidates must have relevant dispute resolution experience as an Admin

....and, that's it. Only one last entry, Enterprisey. So I think we can safely say the community definitely fucked up with the whole 'oh fuck it, we're short on techy admins, he's a nerdy twat, wave him through' strategy, because that's now two of the bastards who have suddenly developed a hitherto unheard of interest in the board room and think they can bring something to the table.

Whatever it is, it ain't great....

Users who consistently engage before they've ready to collaborate effectively are not long-term sustainable for the project.

I believe arbs should be humble, empathetic, approachable, trustworthy, calm, and self-aware.

You can believe it all you want mate, you're about about get a real shock when they assign Beeblebrox as your mentor.

By all accounts, he's kind and empathetic and wants to teach the community all about how to improve its dynamics, find creative solutions and be proactive on harassment.

Yeah, OK son, but how does all that square with you having been an admin since 2019 but have only ever made a grand total of 108 edits to AN/I?

What the fuck it is, exactly, that you've ever done about, to take a random example, Fram's nasty habit of treating Wikipedia like his own personal cop show?

(the irony of there being a report on the board right now where Fram is giving it the whole you tried to abuse Wikipedia with your foolosh edits that are obviously malicious and dangerous and stupid, but I am too smart and I caught you so how do you like that suckah shtick.).

Hi everybody.