User:Yunshui/Teahouse questions

1. How did you find the Teahouse? What were your first impressions?

I was actually a bit of a latecomer to the Teahouse project; I'd been aware of it for some time, but frankly, wasn't a huge fan of the idea at first. It seemed a bit too Facebookesque for my liking, and so I left it alone for several months after its inception, preferring to work at the Helpdesk or the New contributors' help page (which seemed a bit less fluffy and a bit more in keeping with my ideas of how Wikipedia should work). After a while, though, I started dropping in to the Teahouse to see what all the fuss was about, and found that it was actually turning into a very positive force for helping new editors. There was no specific Road to Damascus moment, but eventually I recognised that I'd been wrong about the project - it actually fitted its intended purpose far better than any of the other new editor help forums. Plus, my natural affinity for all things Oriental wouldn't let me steer clear of a project so clearly rooted in one of my favourite Japanese traditions.

2. What do you like best about the atmosphere at the Teahouse?

I'm glad that the "be nice!" ethic hasn't been allowed to supersede the need for accurate and, where necessary, unwelcome information about content policies. Most of the current hosts seem to be doing an excellent job in striking a balance between encouragement and gentle admonishment, dissuading inappropriate activities whilst still coming across as friendly and helpful. And best of all, it turns out the place hardly reminds me of Facebook at all...

3. What experience, interaction, guest, or host stands out for you as a highlight?

I was particularly happy to be able to help out Sagaciousphil, who cropped up at the Teahouse in September and has since impressed me no end with her editing (so much so that I ended up nominating her as Editor of the week a short while ago). I've also been generally impressed by the other regular hosts, who've dealt with issues ranging from the arcane to the ridiculous (you know who you are) with enthusiasm, good humour and friendliness.

4. How has the Teahouse enabled you to empower other editors?

I'm not one of Wikipedia's great content creators, so it's very rewarding when I can assist those that are (or that will be in the future). Helping new editors to build articles that meet the requisite guidelines and will improve Wikipedia is probably the most useful thing I can do here, and the Teahouse provides a tool to enable me to do just that. By fixing minor issues at the Teahouse before they can become serious (i.e. CSD-worthy) problems, we not only encourage new contributors, but also help to build a better encyclopedia. You never know which newbie struggling with citations will be the next Koavf; the bit of friendly assistance they get at the Teahouse may mean the difference between this and this.

5. What do you hope for the Teahouse as she continues to grow up?

"She"? I'd like to see the attitude of the Teahouse spread more widely across Wikipedia - whilst there a definite need for stern warnings and blocks for many new editors (and I hand those out fairly liberally myself), we also need to welcome and encourage the genuine new content creators. I fear, now that Wikipedia is such a widel-known reference tool, that we have a larger influx of SPAs than genuine Wikipedians; the majority of new users seem to want to create an article on a particular topic that's dear to them, be it themselves, their band or their company. Few of these people have much interest in continuing to edit once their pet project is up and Google-indexed; those that do (or those that come here with the intention of improving the encyclopedia, rare though they are) are more likely to stick around if they're met with a friendly welcome and the offer of assistance.*

*Caveat: I spend more time than most working with CSD listings, the majority of which these days are puff-pieces by SPAs with a promotional agenda. It's probable (I hope!) that my perspective is somewhat skewed by this - maybe we do have a lot of incoming editors with positive, Wikipedia-friendly intentions and I just don't encounter them very often.