Thursday, December 6, 2007

Can you get too big?

Recent "turmoil" has erupted over at wikipedia concerning secret email lists and crazy blocks and the like. I won't go into details, and I won't comment much on them either. Here are some things about wikiHow that will make it different...hopefully:

1) Sight of goals - One of the problems at WP is that it is so large that it has lost sight of its goals. wikiHow's mission is rather simple: build the world's largest how-to manual that anyone can edit. By keeping this in mind, Jack and wikiHow's leadership has helped steer potentially hazardous situations away from influencing the community. This will help it stay strong and not become overstressed from paranoia and divisive issues.

2) Leadership - wikiHow has been reluctant to set up arbitration committees and such that create an us vs. them complex. By keeping decisions within the community, everyone feels as if their voice is just as equal as someone else's. What some don't realize is how important that is to the current group of admins. Popular perception is that wikiHow admins reign on high. What is more realistic, however, is that many admins go about their normal business, and do weild crazy powers. The ultimate goal from someone shouldn't be their adminship.

3) Jack - He won't admit it, but the principle reason wikiHow is the way it is can be atributed to how Jack set up wikiHow in the first place. A lot has changed since then, and a there are many different policies now. But he has always been a steward of wikiHow and has not let "fame" and "fortune" cloud his judgement. Furthermore, by allowing wikiHow users the right to fork and his constant goal of maintaining transparency, wikiHow continues to move upward without compromising (too many) principles.

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