User:Obuibo Mbstpo/Wikidrama

WordNet defines drama as, "An episode that is turbulent or highly emotional." Those who have been editing for Wikipedia for very long are surely familiar with such episodes.

Drama is often viewed as harmful for a variety of reasons. Heated arguments can go on for pages and consume many Wikipedian-hours. People may threaten to leave the project if they don't get their way. Testiness may border on or cross the line into incivility. If grudges are held, working relationships (e.g. within a WikiProject or article) may be damaged; and people may carry over resentment to other interactions with opposing editors. Once the wikidrama starts, the pace of the discussion tends to accelerate, people are more likely to make hasty evaluations (is this person a troll?) and the situation may begin to seem out-of-control.

Uncomfortable with such situations and concerned about their possible implications, onlookers may take measures to stop or prevent drama. If they determine misconduct (e.g. trolling) is taking place, or that the debate is being instigated by a small minority whose objections are unmerited and whose view is unlikely to prevail, they may put an archive box around it, closing the debate. When a subject of past drama is raised again, they may urge it to be dropped, saying it's time to move on. They may seek to delete or protect a page on the basis of it provoking drama, even if the policy grounds for such deletion or protection are shaky.

It is worth asking, Is drama itself bad? In other forums of our civilization, such as political debates, we view impassioned exchanges as beneficial and healthy. In politics, when incivility occurs, we view it as reflecting poorly on the person slinging the mud, rather than meaning that the subject itself that prompted their incivility is one to be avoided in the public discourse. With some issues, such as abortion, drama and even disruption (e.g. illegal demonstrations) are routine. Yet it does not shake our democracy. These hot-button issues, despite having been settled legislatively or judicially, are continually revisited and reargued, in the hope that one day the consensus will shift. Why, on Wikipedia, are we relatively intolerant of this?

There are other ways of addressing wikidrama besides stifling the debate. It is often helpful, when viewing a contentious argument, to disregard emotions for a moment and look at the facts. Where is the common ground? Are valid points being raised? Does the debate point to some underlying issue or systemic problem that needs to be addressed? There could be merit to what someone is saying, even if they are saying it in an inappropriate way. In those cases, the community can still benefit by working to solve the underlying problem.

Often, the community seems to say, "We shouldn't reward this person for stirring up trouble. By saying something provocative, they're trying to manipulate the community into paying attention and doing what they say." Could it be that the rush to silence them actually draws more attention and drama than it would to stay calm and reply as though unperturbed? Particularly in the case of trolls, this is the only way to defeat them. Righteous indignation is what they feed off of; without it, they get bored and wander elsewhere. In the case of a well-intentioned petitioner, on the other hand, there is not necessarily any harm in letting the squeaky wheel get the grease. You have not because you ask not.

There have been many proposals for harnessing the power of wikidrama. CommunityWiki, for instance, seeks to turn it into a fun process by having DramaCharacters represent the different viewpoints much as characters on the Simpsons represent the whole spectrum of American society.

See also

• Wikipedia:Staying cool when the editing gets hot