Block
From RationalWikiWiki
The sysops on any given wiki will often be forced to block users in order to protect the site from vandalism. The length of time the vandal is blocked for will depend on factors such as:
- The nature of their offence.
- The policies of the wiki in question.
- The personality or mood of the blocking sysop. (Though this last one is rarely made explicit.)
[edit] Fibonacci sequence
RationalWiki was supposed to use the Fibonacci sequence; a system designed to make the blocking process both impartial and transparent. Transparency and impartiality are assumed to have been important objectives in the early post CP days of the founders. Sadly, the process was understood by few, and used by none. It has since changed.
[edit] Vandal bin
With the introduction of the vandal bin, the RW block process should have been reviewed, but it was easier to do nothing so nothing was done. In fact, sysops continue to pull a number out of the air and ban the user for whatever period of time occurs to them.
The fact that the vandal bin has made blocks (and certainly long blocks) largely unnecessary occurs to few sysops. RW's hordes of new sysops receive little formal instruction in the processes (such as they are).
Interestingly, when Sysops have the block dialogue box open they can read at the top,
- "If the user is purely a vandal, use RationalWiki:Vandal instead, to reduce their edit rate to 1 every 30 minutes."
and the advice:
- "Note:Sysops can move vandals into the vandal group at RationalWiki:Vandal."
appears lower down. Despite the explicit instruction to use RationalWiki:Vandal instead, chaos continues to reign with block lengths of over one year being liberally applied in December 2008.
To be fair, by January 2009 many of the long blocks had been reduced to some time in 2009. Interestingly (?) the longest outstanding unexplained IP block was applied by Radioactive afikomen and it expires in no less than 20 January 2035. We are impressed both by his assumption that Rationalwiki will still be operating in 2035, and by his apparent belief that the IP will be anxiously waiting for an opportunity to edit for the next twenty-six years.
