Shalom everyone. As you can see on my Wikipedia talk page, I've left Wikipedia and all Wikimedia projects. Back in March, I quit Wikipedia in what turned out, in retrospect, to be a publicity stunt. Not this time. I'll start over under a new name in order to maintain my anonymity.

Based on my RFA and the ensuing RFC this past week, I would advise everyone here:

1. If you are not an administrator but wish to become one, do not write a blog associated with your Wikipedia identity (or your real-world identity). My blog posts were misquoted and/or misunderstood on my RFA. You should only keep a wiki-blog if you are already an admin (Scarian, Fuzheado) or you do not wish to become an admin (Durova, Filll).

2. If you are not an administrator but wish to become one, do not post to Wikipedia Review under your Wikipedia username or a close variant thereof (such as LessHorrid vanU). My Wikipedia Review posts were misquoted and/or misunderstood on my RFA. You should only post to Wikipedia Review if you are already an admin (Alison, Lar, Firsfron, Viridae, Neil, etc.) or you do not wish to become an admin (Rootology, Peter Damian, Poetlister, Somey, etc.).

3. If you are not an administrator but wish to become one, do not edit Wikipedia under your real name. You will feel stress if someone posts false statements about you in public view, and you will find it difficult to say, "Forget it, it's just a stupid website."

To all of you who say editors should post under their real names: I no longer feel comfortable doing that for reasons most of you will understand. Wikipedia can accept me as a truly anonymous user or not at all. I assume many other people arrived at the same conclusion.

I'll save the sour grapes for another day. I'm just trying to be helpful to people who might learn something from my experience.

Um. Yeah. I think most people here couldn't care less about becoming an admin. You really need to get over that, btw. I can't think of a less worthwhile use of your time.

What I learned from Phil Berrigan and the Prince of Peace Plowshares is this insight: If you want Shalom, work for Tzedukah.

As Lar has pointed out, there is no Tzedukah on Wikipedia, which, I surmise, is why they have lost Shalom.

To be honest, I don't know why anyone would reveal their true self on wikipedia when they can edit anonymously, unless they intend to use it for a resume item or social networking. Anything that is done can have repercussions in the real world, as anyone can see what you did on wikipedia, and may be able to learn quite a bit about your real world personality from your edits. My personal opinion about this, which is why I do not reveal my real name, is that nobody needs to connect my edits on wikipedia with my real life person. Nobody I don't know needs to know who I am off wiki, and I don't want my edits on wikipedia to effect how people in my real life judge me. Perhaps others would disagree.

The thing is, if you want to become a wikipedia admin, you need to never make any contentious edits, and never do anything that might upset a lot of people. Wikidudeman was right when he said the following about adminship on his talk page:



It is for this reason I know I would never become an admin on wikipedia, no matter how much I may or may not want it. Had I chose to become an admin before dealing with POV issues, things would be different. While I disagree with Wikidudeman on his views, specifically the one on Stormfront, I will admit he was right about the adminship issue. To you Shalom, starting over may be a good idea. I wonder how many wikipedia admins have "started over" with a new account to become an admin after making a mistake. Sort of a problem with adminship being rather perminant. All attempts to create a "removial of adminship" policy have failed. Such a policy might help solve some of the problems which can occur with "abuses of powers" on wikipedia.

I remember back in the months soon after I joined, I would get RFA nom offers now and then, and my admin friends would tell me not to do it; that adminship is not what it sort of appears to be; that it's mostly just a hassle. So true. It really should be retitled. But admins get away with all sorts of shit. And that really should end. Like, a little leniency considering the multitudes of bullshit we put up with, but little else.

Wikipedia used to be fun, but after becoming an admin and getting involved in more of the behind the scenes... it's an ugly, disgusting place. It's like that crap drawer you have in your kitchen. You know, that drawer where you throw anything that doesn't have a spot somewhere else. So it's like, various rolls of tape, paper clips, extra pens, super glue, spare keys, post it notes, craft paint, nails, ribbon, scissors, old receipts, a couple screw drivers, expired coupons, those little Betty Crocker points that you'll never actually cash in, ziplock bags, Kool-aid packets, clothes pins, rubber bands, needle and thread, deck of cards, granny's recipes... You get the idea. Adminship gives you access to that drawer. But it's just a big mess.

Absolutely accurate (except I'm not sure Somey has ever edited WP; I could be wrong). I wish you much luck under your new username, Shalom.

So why didn't you listen?

Because others encouraged me to accept. It's all a matter of where you involve yourself. I should have gone about my editing and used the tools when I needed them. Or otherwise by request only. Instead, I found my away around all the dark little hallways.

I want to become an administrator (again), but I absolutely refuse to compromise my beliefs in pursuit of that effort, and if that means I can't pass an RfA for the next decade or two, so be it. I have always posted with the full intention that people on WP should read my posts and associate them with my WP identity.

I certainly wish you very good luck in your future endeavours, wherever you go. If you do manage to become an admin, few here will doubt that you will be one of the very best.

Shalom

Between the lines, you and others are asking whether I will become an admin under my new identity.

I don't know. I'm still thinking about (1) whether it's appropriate, and (2) whether I really want it anyway. Under my current username, I requested the tools because I needed them to do sockpuppet blocking at Suspected Sock Puppets. If I didn't need the tools, I would not have asked for them. I'll be in school, so I'll have much less motivation to waste hours of my time fighting vandals, but if I can somehow become an admin the old-fashioned way, by writing a featured article or two, I don't think that would be so evil. Either way, we're probably a year or more in advance of the point where I'll have to decide.

Dealing with the thankless jobs at SSP (and elsewhere) for the past year, I'll back up Lara's assertion that adminship is not everything it's cracked up to be. However, if you do admin work but you don't have the tools, that gets frustrating after a while. Nobody doubts my competence; it's the "trust" issues that I'll never get past. So I gave up trying.

A very good analogy.

Sorry about the thankless part. It wasn't long after you left that people started complaining about the backlog at WP:AN, so you are missed.

Stay hard.

Yes, I noticed.

I'm staying on the sidelines for now.

Mod note: Off topic posts relating to sausages were split into this thread. Please keep this thread pork free.