What can we do about our Persian "human resource?"

Question

Just a bit of background: Because of my high reputation, I was offered a chance by Anna Lear to be a Moderator on the site. I respectfully declined because of "day job" pressures. But lately, I've been spending more time on the site, particularly in regards to questions about Persia and Iran, because this is relevant to my "day job."

There is one relatively new user, who I feel is POTENTIALLY valuable to the site, because of her Persian/Iranian background, the unique perspective it affords her, and some questions from her that seem to be good at their core. I took the liberty of editing one question about the "confusion" between the Persian and Arabian Gulf. (Unfortunately, she edited my editing, including restoring a reference to a "big lie" that I had taken out.) And another question about human rights documents appears to have merit down to "what other documents from ancient times concern human rights or civil rights?" https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/7875/are-there-other-ancient-human-rights-surely-in-its-ancient-consept-documents-l That's before it veered into a "rant."

The problem appears to be that this individual appears to be 1) long-winded and 2) argumentative. At some level, she now appears to realize this, yt asking "how many times can I vote without being suspended?" A moderator seemed to answer that suspension was a very real possbility. If she were, the site would lose someone with a potentially valuable background, IMHO.

Is there anything we can do to "rehabilitate" this individual, short of suspension? For instance, her level of downvoting is a matter of concern, but it wouldn't be an issue if her reputation were as low as 124 (it's "dangerously" close to that level now). Can this person be "coached" or even restrained with regard to her comments?

What can we do about a potentially valuable contributor who has, however, caused some disruption to the site? That is, can we "rectify" her without suspending her?

Answer 1

My experiences have shown me that people who tend to be highly opinionated about a particular topic, to the point of being very defensive about their particualr viewpoint, cannot be persuaded by any means to adopt a more accepting and tolerant position of others who may not agree 100%. The comments to your question being a case in point.

I agree that this person has the "potential" to be a very valuable resource, and I would love to see that develop to the point of providing ongoing support for certain topics, but I am not quite certain that can be achieved. All we can do is to keep reminding all users that there are certain forms of behavior that are acceptable and others that are not. By remaining consistent in how we address all issues, I hope that we can set an appropriate example that all users will follow and adhere to.

When I joined my first SE site, I asked a lot of questions that were not formatted properly, and I engaged in discussions that were not appropriate. However, it only took one or two gentle reminders from moderators to help me recognize the rules, and I then chose to follow them. If other users cannot accept or abide by these rules, especially after having them pointed out at least a half dozen times, then it may just be best to part ways with them.

Answer 2

I am hopeful, like Tom Au, that there is some sort of happy medium that can be found, because I agree that the user in question brings a very valuable perspective to the site. However, there is definitely a disconnect between the norms of the site, and the way the user is conducting themselves. I'm not sure how best to deal with that situation.

Answer 3

Coming back and seeing this I am reminded of a few other Users who came on, were argumentative and/or added or answered questions that really should not have been. It'll probably happen again, trolls always come out at night, as we used to say on some Usenet groups. The problem you may find in this case is will this person be willing to be the resource you would like them to be, or only provide information on their terms. Unless you can get them to understand what the issues are around them, and judging from the posts I am just saw on here, I doubt you will be able to bridge that gap unless you can make a connection to diplomatically get the person on board with you. That is, of course, if they are willing to be on board with you or are on their own agenda.

You are a smart guy Tom, and I am sure you realize that this person may be a great resource for something that the site has lacked, but you may also have to realize your expectations for this person, and their intentions here, may not align. If suspensions on other SE sites have not made the message clear, nor have Steven's comments from what I saw, then you may have to adjust your expectations.