User:Pandakekok9/More hands, the better
This page is an essay; it contains the advice and/or opinions of one or more Commons contributors.It is not a Commons policy or guideline, and editors are not obliged to follow it. Please update the page as needed, or discuss it on the talk page.
Do you want to become an admin, but you are afraid because you don't have an editcount like Fæ's those users in the active users list (based on editcount)? Or because you are not as active as Fastily, INeverCry or Jcb (or all of them)? Or because of some reason that you can't state here? As long as you have sufficient experience, trust and a good behaviour towards others, there's no need to worry! The backlog is very high; and even though we have 200+ admins here, it is still not yet enough to significantly reduce the backlog! Be bold, and as Nike said, just do it™!
Unfortunately, there are some users opposing candidates because they don't have a high editcount, they are not very active, blah blah blah... But this doesn't do any good for the community. We are discouraging those who have the competence and experience of an admin. We should not be perfectionists; remember, we are not perfect. And we will never be. Furthermore, the most active admins who devote most of their time to Commons would be forced to reduce the backlog by theirselves, which would increase the risk of burnout. If this happens, we will lose the most active admins doing a tireless job for us, and if we continue to discourage those who don't have a high editcount or those who aren't very active or both, we won't be able to beat the backlog.
Reasons we should not use in a RfA[edit]
1. "Not high" editcount[edit]
Editcount is not always correlated with experience. Note that we have automated and semi-automated tools, like VFC and Cat-a-lot. It would be very easy to attain a high, not just high but very high editcount using these tools. Also note that the definition of "high" is different to each people. A high editcount may mean 3,000 edits to A, or 10,000 edits to B, or 1,000 edits to C.
However, this may also be a valid reason in some RfAs. If a candidate just did 50 edits to Commons, then they are obviously not yet trusted and experienced to become an admin.
2. Not very active, not always active, or anything similar[edit]
Not all people are like you. They may be busy in real life. We should be thankful because they volunteered some time for adminship despite being busy. You may not be busy now, but sometime you will be busy. A very active admin is very rare, and it is a blessing for us to have. However, if we all depend on one admin and reject those who aren't very active, then that admin would become a disaster to us. They would probably experience a burnout, and if they do so, they will start to do something bad, like accusing innocent people of socking and making inappropriate blocks, until they become desysopped.
3. Not in the age of majority (commonly 18+)[edit]
Age is not always correlated with experience. True, adults have more wisdom than children, but children can learn more easily than adults. Also, the children of today are more capable of processing information and multitasking. A minor who is an admin can use these skills, which I think can outperform those adult admins. For example, a minor admin can delete copyvios while closing old DRs. Remember, the terms of use prohibits discrimination, and this includes discrimination by age or ageism.
However, this can be a valid reason. One of the tools of an admin is the ability to view deleted content. Deleted content may contain personal information. A minor admin may disclose such personal information they found to others, which is a very grave offense. Fortunately, oversighters hide this kind of information not only to non-admins, but also to admins who are not oversighters. This grave offense can still happen though.
Summary[edit]
As long as you have a good behaviour, sufficient experience and trust, and you always abide to policies and guidelines, there are no other reason for you to not become an admin. The more admins we have, the better!
See also[edit]
- Commons:Administrators/Requests/Mates, an example of a user who just made 1,000+ edits, add OTRS permissions and request undeletions, but succeeded in becoming an admin.