User talk:Fmehdi

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[edit] Che

Thank you for your contributions to Che Guevara. Its nice to see new editors brave enough to jump in the middle of things! Gtadoc 03:53, 20 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Are you "new" to Wikipedia?

Fmehdi, Are you "new to wikipedia"? See [1] This is getting stranger and stranger! Would you be willing to disclose why you chose to participate in wikipedia anonymously previously? I believe, although I cannot speak for others, that you have misled Gtadoc, given his reply to your comment on his talk page. Sincerely, Mattisse 17:25, 22 July 2007 (UTC)

Hello; I'm new more the the "editing" part of wikipedia, I've been a reader for a while. I did at one point a while ago edit some pages on Pakistan because I found that there were some I was looking for that did not or barely existed. I'm pretty active in online bullitin boards (in urdu). At one point I did have a user name (in 05ish) but don't remember what it was or what email I had it linked with. I've never really been much active in conversation (so yes, new there too) since most of what I was interested in no one else really cared about (sad) and I never bothered much to click on the "discussion" tab. Sorry if I misled anyone...Though I just looked and see you are a friend of Zleitzen, I did notice that he's a rather immflammitory sort of guy, though it seems common practice here (? I don't really know) to post rude things and then selectively delete them and then try to say/act otherwise? Fmehdi 18:16, 22 July 2007 (UTC)

Oh, and I chose to comment on a few talk pages because I was playing around with templates, besides, it certainly was appropriate! 18:19, 22 July 2007 (UTC)

Thank you for your reply. I am not so much a friend of Zleitzen as an great admirer of his enormous contributions to Wikipedia and his skill in interacting with others. I do not know him personally and have had no personal communication with him. A group of us worked for months on an article together with Zleitzen over a year ago and I am speaking from my experience there in this comment. What the editors of that article underwent was very similar to what is happening on Che Guevara and Zleitzen never lost his cool under all that duress. I also know from working with him on the Fidel Castro article that he is a stickler for correct sourcing and scrupulously follows Wikipedia policies and guidelines. Recently I noticed he received Feature Article status for an article he wrote by himself, British African-Caribbean community, and I congratulated him. He showed me the Che Guevara article which had just received FA and I thought it was exquisitely done. He also put a great deal of effort in the Buena Vista Social Club article and put it up for FA status. He received not one comment from the FA editors, even though he has been an active contributing FA editor himself, making balanced, constructive comments on other FA candidates. He also, almost singlehandedly, built up the Caribbean Portal.

I am surprised that Zleitzen is making the statements he is now, I admit. But I understand, as an editor myself of some 24,000 edits, that being a substantial contributor of article content is quite different from other types of interaction on wikipedia. I have had extremely difficult experiences in writing and editing articles. I have been repeatedly reverted, unfairly blocked, stalked and harassed, and been the subject of huge talk pages, and had my energy drained by useless discussions, mediations, RFC's and arbitrations until I basically withdrew from Wikipedia. It was only through the kindness of a bureaucrat who saw what was happening and tracked down and banned the sockpuppet ring that had been harassing me for over six months (and recruiting others including Admins to do the same) that I received any relief at all. Since then I have tentatively remained as a contributor but I no longer risk contributing anything substantive to Wikipedia.

As an editor contributing substantial amounts of content, you give up a part of yourself , so I empathize with what I speculate is Zleitzen's current state of mind. When you feel you have been treated unfairly such as when admins take the sockpuppets' side and when obvious favoritism is consistently shown to others (as happened to me for so long), you become overwhelmed and lose perspective. Wikipedia begins to seem like a playground for young techies and not a place for serious writing. I cannot defend Zleitzen's current comments but I ask you to understand that a very professional, talented, kind, generous individual may have given up on Wikipedia and so is taking one last stand. Yes, he has lost his cool and is not being tactful. But I ask you please to understand how this can happen when you have unselfishly given so much of serious worth and then it can all so easily be trashed. Sincerely, Mattisse 19:48, 22 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] thanks

Thanks! :) and for the channel passwords, it was nice to be able to talk to you outside of WP! Gtadoc 15:55, 8 August 2007 (UTC)

I'm not feeling that my time here is productive or all that appreciated so I will be departing. As I've spent too much time here is also a problem as its been distracting me from more important things. Best of luck to you. Gtadoc 20:41, 10 August 2007 (UTC)