User blog:Jaxswim/Jaxswim's Two Cents

Jaxswim here. I've been gone for about four days in New Mexico, and apparently I missed "Hell Week." Users have quit, are quitting, or are thinking about it. People that have quit our wiki or apparently that haven't even quit are going to Dramatic Static to bash our wiki. Our wiki is something to be proud of. Have you seen some other wiki's? We're like a level up on evolution compared to them! Every wiki will have its bumps, and that's true. To relate to real life, I think ours in something like the Great Depression. There are a lot of problems right now, and nobody can disagree with that. Many users are disagreeing with council or just the way we run our wiki in general. I often see amazing blogs with great ideas on how to mould our wiki into something better. I also often see comments like "I agree." "Great blog, all these things should happen!" However, I rarely do see something happen. I'm making this blog to try to resolve some of these problems, and if users agree, I would like to see something happen with it. Here goes nothing.

Council
I personally think that as soon as council actually goes public, it will be fine. It's not "corrupt." One idea that I just thought of (on the spot ^-^) is that maybe there should be a couple trusted users meant to represent the user population of the wiki in council. These would be people that know what goes on at the wiki and are friendly and trustworthy, as well as smart. They should also be elected by the users of the wiki (by that I mean excluding the rollbacks and admins, but there should be an edit requirement). I don't really have anything else to say on the subject of council.

Dramatic Static and Total Drama Wiki
If this was a interaction page, it would obviously be a conflict. However, like Courtney and Gwen's conflict, it can be resolved. This conflict only recently sprung up because a well-known user went to Dramatic Static. I don't know what happened, but suddenly the conflict flared up and suddenly we're in Wiki War XIV, or something like that. We should be sister sites, not enemies. Just because we're sister sites, that doesn't mean we have to be members of both sites. I understand that some people go to Dramatic Static when they're done here, which is fine. The problem is that we look down on one another. I am a member of both sites (albeit, not an active member of Dramatic Static) and quite frequently see bashing of the other site. We should make amends. How? I would like to hear your ideas in the comments. One idea of mine is simply that both sides could be mature about it and refrain from putting the other website in a bad light. When it comes down to it, we're both just Total Drama websites filled with Total Drama fans. We're actually a lot alike. They even have have a roleplay like us. Another idea is that we could collaborate on some things (like roleplay) as an attempt to build bridges, not walls. Yet another idea is that the leaders of Dramatic Static could attend a council meeting and we could discuss ways for peace. Finally, as a last resort, we could make it a rule on both websites not to speak down on the other website. That's all I have to say on this subject.

Unhappy Users
Users are quitting our wiki. We all know that much. Our wiki runs on users, much like how a car runs on fuel. Some users need to quit because of things in real life, and this is understandable. When users quit because of drama, that is the part that could be fixed. Some users feel that other users are attacking them. If you are in the IRC and are receiving a private message that offends you, the first thing you should do is Kindergarden. You should tell them that what they said made you feel sad/mad/offended/unhappy. On the other hand, if they make you feel good, don't be afraid to tell them that, either! Anyway, if they continue to offend you, please tell an admin or rollback or even just a close friend of yours. Sometimes, I have heard that the admins don't give the right advice or just do nothing. I have no idea if this is true, but if it is and happens to you, just go to a different person. Some users--no, all users--make bad decisions sometimes. Part of making you happy again is to forgive them. Otherwise, more fighting will occur and most of the time at least one of the users is pushed over the edge and quits. Nobody wants that, seeing as if too many users quit the wiki will fall apart.

There it is, that's my blog. Comment on my ideas below! Thanks for reading it all.