Wikipedia talk:Requests for adminship/Randykitty
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Question 5
[edit]A previous similar 'clean-start' RFA that a number of people are implicitly referring to is Wikipedia:Requests for adminship/Fæ. Before that, there was Wikipedia:Requests for adminship/Cirt. Both of those people have since been de-sysoped. I was involved in the user:Fæ RFA, and bear some responsibility for the end result, and I hope to prevent another similar very time consuming mess. The user:Cirt case is less messy, but I am also less familiar with it. At the time, I privately told Fæ that "You should also assume, at all times, that all of your previous accounts and anon edits will at some point be outed." That is the nature of being an administrator on Wikipedia. You'll be making calls that people dont like, and eventually someone will find out who you are. Or you may take on more public roles, such as talking to the press or becoming a trustee/employee of a Wikimedia donor funded organisation. Or you may make edits which should be accompanied by some form of disclosure of a potential conflict of interest. While we dont allow people to post personal information for no good reason, sometimes there is dirt to be found and the airing of it results in WP:OUTING. Fæ unfortunately disregarded my warning (among other issues), became a trustee of a Wikimedia chapter, but screamed WP:OUTING any time his real name was mentioned on the web in conjunction with his wiki activities. My personal position on clean-start RFAs is that while both sysop candidate and 'the project' are taking a risk, the project can remove the sysop bit if necessary (maybe not as easy as it should be), but the sysop cant put the genie back in the bottle once it is out and the project can only 'protect' your real identity while it is not in the public interest to disclose it. In short, the project will survive, but you may not. So if there are skeletons in your closet, you should probably rethink becoming a sysop, or you should avoid pissing off a lot of people after becoming a sysop, and not seek higher 'office' in the wiki world. Many sysops act like either janitors or scholars, and their work is always appreciated without their real identity or previous accounts ever being questioned. Others act like police or judges, bull fighters or drama queens, and tend to have to deal with a lot of harassment.
So my question on the RFA is, what is your plan of attack and/or exit strategy if your real identity is linked to your wiki identity?
But there are lots of questions in this issue, which you might touch on in your answer, and maybe a side discussion here on the talk page is also valuable. John Vandenberg (chat) 09:10, 12 April 2014 (UTC)
- Hi John, I was not really familiar with those cases and just had a look at them/ Fae stated to have made a clean start after an RfC/U, which, I assume, did not go to well for them. Nothing like that was the case for me, I never underwent an RfC/U and if I had, I am fully confident that it would not have led to any problems. Cirt's case is different, too, as it is stated there that he had had several blocks on his previous account before starting as "Cirt". I have stated, and this has been confirmed by DGG and Drmies, that I have never been blocked, banned, or subjected to any restrictions or punitive measures whatsoever. There is no difference in editing style between my former account and this one. There are no skeletons in my closet. Of course, I have made mistakes (we all do), especially when I started, but unless someone makes mistakes all the time and doesn't learn from them, that should not be a problem. In addition, where I make or made mistakes, I always try to right them as soon as I become aware of them and if necessary apologize to those that were wronged. In short, I think that the only parallel between Fae/Cirt and me is that we had previous accounts, but in contrast to those two editors, my previous account never was blocked or unfavorably reviewed. --Randykitty (talk) 17:12, 12 April 2014 (UTC)
- I think one of his concerns is that once you become an admin, the odds of your previous identity (ie: real identity) being revealed goes up by at least a full factor, perhaps to the degree that it is inevitable if given enough time. That is why he was asking for your exit strategy/plan of attack. It is an interesting and valid question, although the answer wouldn't affect my support, personally. Being outed has ended the wikicareers of more than a few admin/arbs/etc, and not just those with checkered pasts. Dennis Brown | 2¢ | WER 17:31, 12 April 2014 (UTC)
- Thanks Dennis. Yes, I realize that the chances of being outed will go up if I would become a sysop. But, however flexible I can be when dealing with newbies or editors who are just a bit difficult, I have no patience for trolls, except that I will weather anything they can throw at me and will stay here until they get tired of it and go play somewhere else. I have a thick skin and a lot of self confidence, I know my weak points, but also my strong ones. WP has become an important part of my life and I will not let me scare away by cowards that don't even dare use their real names themselves. --Randykitty (talk) 20:27, 12 April 2014 (UTC)
- I would say "bravo" to your spirit here, but if you're going to take on "trolls" or get involved in controversial or messy areas, then it's not a matter of if but when someone will put the pieces together and work out your real life identity. If harassment in real-life has been an issue for you in the past, then if you pass this RFA then it will likely be an issue again. I don't want to put you off, and it looks like you will pass, but I don't think you should be under any illusions. Lankiveil (speak to me) 13:52, 14 April 2014 (UTC).
- Well, I don't plan on getting involved in controversial topics and I'll certainly not go out trying to find trolls. What I meant to say was that if trolls come and seek me, then I won't budge. But I certainly am not looking for trouble and will avoid it when I can, just not at any price... I greatly appreciate your concern and warning. --Randykitty (talk) 14:12, 14 April 2014 (UTC)
- You don't need to look for trolls, they will find you. It is perfectly fine to chose to not handle certain cases or situations if you believe it has the potential to cause an outing. That is one reason we have the category Category:Wikipedia administrators willing to make difficult blocks, it is understood that everyone has their limits, including admin. Dennis Brown | 2¢ | WER 14:39, 14 April 2014 (UTC)
- Well, I don't plan on getting involved in controversial topics and I'll certainly not go out trying to find trolls. What I meant to say was that if trolls come and seek me, then I won't budge. But I certainly am not looking for trouble and will avoid it when I can, just not at any price... I greatly appreciate your concern and warning. --Randykitty (talk) 14:12, 14 April 2014 (UTC)
- I would say "bravo" to your spirit here, but if you're going to take on "trolls" or get involved in controversial or messy areas, then it's not a matter of if but when someone will put the pieces together and work out your real life identity. If harassment in real-life has been an issue for you in the past, then if you pass this RFA then it will likely be an issue again. I don't want to put you off, and it looks like you will pass, but I don't think you should be under any illusions. Lankiveil (speak to me) 13:52, 14 April 2014 (UTC).