Wikipedia:Archiv/Keine Diven füttern
Vorlage:Essay Vorlage:Nutshell
A Wikipedia diva Allures might come up with long time membership of the WP Community. Some of those authors are of opinion (and often are right to do so) that they as very active authors re especially esssential for the project. Divas are normally seen as being female, but within Wikipedia the biggest part of the community and especially the majority of the 1% Powerusers that provide the bulk of content are men.
Treating Dicas the right way and coping with their manners which include regular request for conformation of status, rallying of admirers and supporters and a strong believe in being of higher importance than other editors. The last ressort in the Rules of Engagement of a Diva is obtaining Validation by storming off the project in a huff—a "retirement" or "Wikibreak"—accompanied by a long diatribe against whatever petty issue drove them away this time.
Invariably, this diatribe attracts a flood of "please don't go" messages, along with plenty of support for the diva's side of the dispute that triggered the latest "retirement". The end result is that the diva gets exactly what he or she craves—validation and support—and returns to the project triumphant, at least until the next petty conflict.
Spotting divas
The following are tell-tale signs that you are dealing with a Wikipedia diva:
- Argumentative in petty disputes
- There is no issue too small for a diva; disputes are more about getting their way than getting it right.
- Frequent citation of personal perceived "rewards" in disputes
- Divas want others to think they are indispensable to the project, therefore they will frequently promote their own value to the project via their edit count, Did you knows, Good articles or Featured articles. In citing their own value, they are implicitly denigrating their opponent's value, which is a form of validation.
- Excessive self-promotion
- Divas often have elaborate user pages which tout their contributions.
- Frequent threats to leave
- This is the diva's primary weapon, and they use it often. They retire often, but never stay away for more than a few days.
Dealing with divas
Like trolls, divas crave attention, but whereas a troll is primarily destructive, divas appear to be productive contributors to the project—at least during times when they aren't storming off in a huff.
But unlike other productive contributors, divas use their productive contribution history as a weapon against other editors. For divas, positive contribution is not an end unto itself, but rather a means of gaining clout and power. This clout becomes like a currency in content disputes: they can trade in some of their stored clout to get their way in disputes with lesser editors. This clout also gains them much needed validation during their frequent "retirements".
The best way to deal with divas is to ignore their tantrums. When divas storm off, let them go. If you beg them to stay, you perpetuate the cycle, guaranteeing that they will storm off again in a few months.
In a more generic way, the call to treat Divas and power users in similar ways as "normal citizens" can be condensed by citing the ten rules of Jante Law, one of the base of the welfare and egalitarian scandinavian societies. The ten rules state:
- Don't think you're anything special.
- Don't think you're as good as us.
- Don't think you're smarter than us.
- Don't convince yourself that you're better than us.
- Don't think you know more than us.
- Don't think you are more important than us.
- Don't think you are good at anything.
- Don't laugh at us.
- Don't think anyone cares about you.
- Don't think you can teach us anything.
An eleventh rule often added is:
11. Don't think that there aren't a few things we know about you.
If you simply wish Divas well and let them leave, they will almost certainly come back, but with a better attitude. The diva who doesn't get validation will quickly realize that he or she is not more important than any other editor; that one single editor cannot break a project of such magnitude.
In some cases, the diva will stay retired, but the loss will be quickly filled by other editors who are not so high maintenance—editors for whom the goal is not self promotion and validation, but rather improvement of the project. Most final good byes from Wikipedia happen without much ado.
