Wikipedia:Editor review/Fsotrain09

Fsotrain09 (talk · contribs) Hello fellow Wikipedians! I have been editing since February of this year. I'm mostly a WikiGnome, although I have started and significantly expanded a handful of articles, and have contributed to others. I've also done some newpage patrol, and I help with Pages needing translation into English. I did some assessment work for WikiProject Ethnic groups before it went rather dormant. I haven't been the main contributor/polisher of a GA or FA yet, although perhaps that will change with North Korean missile test, 2006. I do realize that my contributions are rather skewed toward current events and the social sciences, but that is my area of study, and well, "from each according to her ability," right? I am a fierce defender of the principles and concept of Wikipedia, and I make an effort to assist newcomers whose perhaps unhelpful edits I encounter by pointing them towards the relevent WP policy or guideline. Finally, while I have great respect for admins, I do not wish to become an admin. I'm just proud to be a Wikipedian. Thank you. Fsotrain₀₉ 18:39, 27 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Reviews

• I am rather friendly towards wikignomes, although it is almost offensive to call you one!

  • Contrary to many other editors (like myself), you focus on a wide selection of topics, which denotes interest in both spreading knowledge and learning about the topic. Articles that are current events now will someday become historical, and what better to create them now than in ten years, when we may have to struggle to get information? Also, it is always harder to maintain neutrality in current events, when you don't know either how the event will finish nor what is happening behind the scenes than in a historical event where you already know how it ended, what really happened, and have several authors analyzing the topic.
  • I also notice you edit in several namespace projects, like the translation, requested pages, Esperanza, Featured articles, etc. Revert vandalism, remove nonsense, clean articles up... many activities. You needed a month for your last 500 edits, which is good because it means you are not stressing yourself.
  • Something curious is the low amount of minor edits you make. You should tag minor edits as... well... minor edits :)
  • Around a quarter of your edits are in talk pages, which is pretty good. Interaction for someone who works expanding articles is very important, and apparently you have been able to spend a lot of time with only some minor warns to vandals. My personal motto is that it is important to revert vandalism, but even most to teach them about Wikipedia. It is good to see others share this vision as well.
  • About the RFC: you will find people like User:Francespeabody everywhere, including outside Wikipedia. Belonging to a minority (as I would were I living in US, in example), experimenting the condition described in an article, etc, implies that your knowledge about the topic has been expanded by your own experience (that is, original research and primary source). These kind of people are usually biased depending on their experience, which may affect the way they edit in Wikipedia. And, in the end, affect those working in the same articles. From what I see in the Condoleezza Rice talk page history, you behaved correctly. As I just said, you will meet people like this user everywhere, everytime, and while it may not be possible to make them understand you are neutral, it is important to always be polite, which you have done.

  You are doing a great work as an editor, and hopefully you will continue working as now, in hot topics with a cold head. Good luck! -- ReyBrujo 04:28, 28 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Comments

• View this user's edit count using a PHP version of Interiot's tool.

Questions

1. Of your contributions to Wikipedia, are there any about which you are particularly pleased, and why?

   Answer

I am most proud of my expansion of Al-, the Wikipedia article on Arabic's definite article. First, it is the most actual content I think I've contributed. I learned of the article from an editor at Talk:Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and since I enjoyed contributing my expertise to the discussion there, I was more than happy to take a look at Al-. It was a one-sentence stub when I started working on it, and now it's six sections of IMO very accessible information. As a second-year Arabic language student, I used my textbook as a primary reference, and then took the article to peer review, and solicited assistance from other editors with Arabic or linguistic knowledge. There are now more references, and even an image!

1. Have you been in any conflicts over editing in the past or do you feel other users have caused you stress? How have you dealt with it and how will you deal with it in the future?

   Answer

It wasn't editing, exactly, it was user conduct. I was a party to Francespeabody's RfC. The details of the now dormant dispute are there, so I'll just say that while it was painful to be on the receiving end of personal attacks, I just reassured myself that I was just trying to uphold Wikipedia policy, and that the whole thing wasn't really about me. I also made an effort to be extra civil, something which I will try even harder to maintain if a conflict arises in the future. Also, I'm going to try to be very well-read on Wikipedia policy before I jump into a situation and start citing this and that. It's a bad habit I have to get into things head-first. I will try to control that better.