User:Maplefern/Essays/Respect on the Wiki

Respect: esteem for or a sense of the worth or excellence of a person, a personal quality or ability, or something considered as a manifestation of a personal quality or ability.

That is what respect is, by dictionary definition. The part of that definition that stands out most on the Wiki, however, is "a sense of worth or excellence." Anything else - forget it. Who cares about being an apprentice of Project Character Art when you could be a senior warrior? Or a deputy? Or a leader?

That seems to be the attitude on the wiki. The force of it all is sometimes overwelming. Everybody says that to have respect, you must be part of the staff, or at least a senior warrior of a project. People associate power with respect - perhaps because they are afraid, or perhaps they think that if they are a friend, they too, will gain that rank.

Yes, I admit, I've wanted power when I was new. But after a while, I realized that the point of the wiki was to work together - not to become a senior warrior. Not to become deputy. Not to become leader. The purpose of the wiki is to inform. One of the best things that anybody could do - and I mean anybody - is correct a spelling error or add information. Projects are purely optional, but they also help the wiki.

Everybody really should be friends on this wiki, but unfortunately, some of us don't share the 'common goal' of to inform. Some people are just here for power. They join all the projects, at hope of being nominated or appointed a special position. The fights start over "I reserved him first!" or "I deserve that rank, not you!" or at least some form of these sayings.

And something to think about: If everybody had an 'important' rank, wouldn't those so-called important ranks not be special anymore. Everybody would then want the next rank, and the next rank, until projects were lead by the entire wiki, not one person. That would be pointless to have ranks, then. Everybody would be equal. Perhaps that would be ideal, but I would like somebody to enforce the rules of the project.

Another major competition on the wiki is the amount of edits. People think "Oh! If I get ____ (usually a large number) of edits, I could become ____ (important rank)." So they make pointless edits - or vandalism - and don't recieve the rank that they want. Then comes anger. And the fighting, as I've mentioned above.

So what should we do? First - don't expect or ask anyone to nominate you for a rank. Two - Be respectful to everyone, no matter who they are or what rank they are. Three - Don't get frustrated with other user or start fights. Four - Don't bother intruding in fights. Unless somenone else is being offended (badly), don't intrude. If somebody is, tell an admin.

Although this essay was short, I hope I've proved that respect doesn't always come with power.