User:Linkthewindow/Wiki Rantings

On Sysops

Ah the sysop. The sole user who can delete pages, brandish the banhammer, and destroy vandals with a blink of an eye. Sysops are victim to a few common misconceptions, which I'll try to explain and banish here.

1. Sysops are human too - Sysops have just as much right to comment on policy discussions and have just as much right to hold an opinion as a regular user (even if it goes against the rules.) Sysops are not your typical forum moderators who can only hold an opinion if it supports the forum rules, they can hold whatever opinion they wish. Sysops are not your personal punching bags if you hate the system (some sysops likely dislike it just as much as you,) and attacking the sysops because you hate the system is plain stupid.
2. Sysops are not moderators - Sure, we've got a policy that says just that, but it's still the most prevalent misconception on the wiki. Sysops have the right to use mean words against you, attack your ideas, and generally be a douche. Generally I prefer sysops to be civil (especially in regards to administration issues,) but they don't have to be. Likewise, this also means that sysops don't have the responsibilities, power, or rights of a forum administrator. Sysops can't stop someone who's being uncivil to you (also: no civility policy.)
3. Sysops are not better then you - This myth isn't so common, but it still sticks around. A sysops opinion or vote isn't inherently better then yours and you've got every right to criticize said opinions (although don't be surprised if you get a rebuttal.) A "sysop" is not a hierarchical rank above "user" and they don't have any extra abilities or powers off the admin pages, and only a few on the admin pages.
4. Sysops are not gods - Sysops don't have the power or technical know-how to solve every problem. Sysops are really just regular community users who've decided to take on a few extra responsibilities to help the community, not gods who can solve all your problems in a heartbeat.
5. Sysops are part of the community - Tying slightly into the first one here, sysops are just as much part of the community as any regular user. Next time you say "the community wants X" remember that the community is not "every wiki user except for the sysops" the community is "every wiki user." People sometimes define "community" as "every non-sysop" which is very annoying. Sysops do a fair bit of the maintenance work around here and have just as much right to be counted as part of the community as you.
6. The sysop team is not one monolithic being Sysops don't all hold the same opinions and don't act as one body.
7. There is no sysop cabal Seriously, each time someone says something along the lines of "ZOMG THE SYSOPS ARE CONSPIRING AGAINST US!!!!" I pretty much stop reading. I have no contact with most other sysops outside of the UDWiki (I can contact a few Australian sysops on urbandeadwiki, specifically Cyberbob, Boxy and DDR,) but other then that I can't contact a single sysop outside of the wiki. Sysops aren't here to conspire against you (and that shouldn't need stating, really.)

Linkthewindow  Talk  09:20, 21 July 2009 (BST)