User talk:EvanProdromou

Hey Evan, I was just wondering what you mean by "ghettoization" of the Wiki. What is that? What steps should we take to avoid it? --Nelson


 * Oh! Sorry, shorthand there for when organizations decide that they need users' help to create a Web site, documentation, etc., so they stick a wiki onto their Web site like a sidecar.


 * This is a fine idea, but problems can happen when the org makes it clear that the wiki is just for (l)users, that it's "not official", that they don't take responsibility for it, etc. And, of course, nobody from the org itself bothers to look at, work on, edit or update the wiki.


 * Nobody wants to contribute to and work on a second-class part of the Web site, so it languishes. It'll become full of last-ditch efforts by desperate people needing support ("I M JUST TRYING TO FIND THE DOCUMENT FOR GAIM HOW DOES THIS THING WORK!!?!?"), vandalism, and half-assed solitary attempts to keep others informed.


 * A ghetto is an environment where the people who live there don't care about it. They just get forced into it because nobody wants them anywhere else. Nobody else wants to go there, because it's trashy, dangerous, and there's not much there that's useful. Eventually everybody just wants to see the place paved over so they don't have to look at it and be reminded of how gross it is.


 * And that's what a wiki ghetto is like, too.


 * So I guess I was just saying: if you want this wiki thing to work, make sure it's official, that the people working on freeculture.org use it and support it, and make sure that it's prominent on the site. --EvanProdromou 10:52, 19 Mar 2004 (PST)