User blog:Neowitch/Wikians are N00b haters

Serious blog I meant to write for a while now but it's only thanks to tuckyd's recent blog that I really feel like doing it. '''Haters gonna hate. If you don't like my "mother talk" get the hell outta here NOW!'''

As some people know I'm studying design. And one of the things I'm currently learning about is how to get people to participate in social networks. The numbers vary but the average percentage of people on a community site who actually contribute to it is 10%. Only 1% are constant contributors. Meaning 9% of people who make one or two contributions and are never heard of again.

Back to the actual topic of this blog: A phenomenon I've been observing for a while is the behavior of senior members towards new members and AWCs. Looking at it from the perspective of one of those groups a lot of us (and that includes myself) are goddamn assholes. I mean it.

On one hand we are all tired of and irritated by vandals and spammers who cause us unnecessary extra work. That is perfectly understandable.

On the other hand there is a tendency of carrying that irritation over into our interaction with new members who don't mean to do any wrong on purpose.

Okay, so they did not read the image guidelines again and they added speculation to an article and their grammar might not be perfect. That is fixable. What isn't fixable is the first impression these users get of the community. It is rather frustrating if your edit gets re-done without explanation whatsoever, even or especially when you did it in good faith. And I do not like the tone of certain people when they point out the image guidelines to the newbies, either.

I know I'm not the one to talk. So I'm not telling anyone what they are supposed to do. It's just something I noticed and needed to get out of my system.