TreasuryTag (talk · contribs · count) I pledged to undergo an Editor Review because I was assured by several people that they had a thing or two to say to me, so here it is, the forum for all that. ╟─TreasuryTag►Africa, Asia and the UN─╢ 08:30, 3 June 2011 (UTC)
Questions
Reviews
In recent months, I've noticed a disproportionate number of ANI threads involving TreasuryTag, some of which he started, some of which were started about him. The ones he starts (sometimes at Village pump rather than ANI) have struck a lot of people, myself included, as passive aggressive, as he asks a question in the abstract so as to get agreement out of context on some issue he has with what someone else said, rather than directly and calmly dealing with it or just letting it go. He escalates conflict rather than defusing or resolving it. He often tries to get the last word, and he responds with sarcasm to people who are already clearly upset with him. I have no problem with a little snark, but you should avoid it, given the negative social climate you've helped create around you, and the difficulty you have getting your comments read as humorous.
Most editors do not attract a lot of negative attention, regardless of where they participate. Plenty of people manage to list articles or images for deletion, for example, without generating drama or ill will. At some point you have to take responsibility for that, because it ultimately comes down to the manner with which you interact with people. And you have to learn that you're not going to win every content dispute, no matter how much you think you may be right. Wikipedia:Wikipedia is not about winning, Wikipedia:The Last Word, Wikipedia:Just drop it.
On the content issue, the ANI thread in which editor review was first suggested to him revealed that on numerous occasions, he has removed content just because it is unsourced at present, when it was in fact not only correct but easily sourceable, in one instance from an article that was directly linked from the content he removed. Maybe others have noticed this in some of his AFD nominations as well? Obviously bad content needs to be cleared out, but we need to take the time to fix it in the best possible way, not just the quickest way at the time. If you can't take that time, then leave it alone and someone else will take care of it.
A few suggestions:
1) If you are having difficulty participating in a particular area without getting pissed off and without pissing others off, you should take a long break from that area and participate somewhere else.
2) Accept the fact that a lot of editors don't like you and may never like you. You're not going to change that by criticizing or mocking them. Assuming you want to turn over a new leaf, it's going to take time before attitudes toward you change. Which isn't to say that you deserve personal attacks or incivility. But in most cases the best way to deal with it may be to ignore it, to walk away. Your view of it may be an overreaction, or even if you're not overreacting others will see it for what it is, without your characterization or response escalating the matter. Or ask another editor or admin on their talk page (not in another ANI or other public thread) to take a look and intervene if they deem it necessary.
3) Spend more time on article creation and expansion. I've noticed that a lot of editors whose XFD or other process/administrative-based participation causes undue drama tend to do little or nothing else. From what I can tell, this may be less true of TreasuryTag than others. But not even counting FFD or DRV, the ratio of deletion discussions he's started to new articles he's created is still roughly nine to one. Overly focusing on content removal can make you less sympathetic to the editors who contributed it, and can make you less able to see potential. See Wikipedia:Overzealous deletion. And it also comes back to #1. If you can't start or participate in an XFD without drama or ill will, then you need to stop doing it. postdlf (talk) 16:07, 18 June 2011 (UTC)