I've heard it both ways

@rpepperpotshipssciencebros please forgive me for this one

Passion and desire and shame and sadness don’t signal that you have to change everything immediately, though. These are sensations that don’t require solutions. Your primary job, in the face of renewed lust for life, is to tolerate the shame of joy.

Because embarrassment is sometimes just a sign that you’ve never lived out in the open before, you’ve never cared more about a feeling than you care about how you’re coming across, you’ve never prioritized happiness over control.

This is why it’s good to take risks that might embarrass you regularly. Because every time you dare to embarrass yourself for the sake of who you are, you’re teaching your body to prioritize joy. You’re teaching yourself to let go of seeming better than the things you love. You’re showing yourself how to feel where you are — to soak in the cool fall air, to breathe in the moon, to love every lopsided moment of your glorious, flawed life.

cicada radio

TLDR: In ten days last month, the Wikimedia Foundation fired the longtime lead developer of MediaWiki and disbanded the team whose entire job was to listen to volunteers. Most of the people they fired were union organizers. Wikipedia’s editors are now threatening to strike in solidarity. The Foundation is sitting on $296 million in reserves and a freshly profitable AI revenue stream. This is a confrontation with global implications.

> Hello! I have donated, what I can and when I can over the years, despite being on an extremely limited income. It saddens me greatly to see that Brooke Vibber and the members of the Community Tech team were let go. I know that the public stance is that the Wikimedia leadership supports unionization attempts, but this action seems to prove that those are hollow, meaningless publicity statements that are not backed by actions or policy. I will be withholding future donations until I feel that Wikimedia has shown that they support unionization. I hope employees manage to unionize soon - and that nobody else's position is questionably terminated. In the modern era of AI disinformation, actual humans willing to put in the work - and coordinate and assist the many, many more who do it FOR FREE - are a precious resource that should not be so easily thrown away.

and got back a form letter:

Thank you for your email and for your support of the Wikimedia Foundation and free knowledge.

Thank you also for sharing your concerns. I am happy to provide you with more context and information about the recent events.

The decision to disband the Community Tech team is not in any way connected to recent discussions about unionizing, nor have we terminated any staff for their participation in those discussions. The Foundation respects the right of staff to unionize if they vote to do so.

Earlier this month, the Wikimedia Foundation restructured the way the organization supports the Community Wishlist initiative, a forum for the volunteer editors behind Wikimedia projects to suggest and collaborate on improvements to our product and technology.

The decision to restructure followed internal assessments dating back to September 2025 on ways to make our Community Wishlist work more effective and to improve our support for volunteer editors. We learned from these assessments that it is rarely possible to fulfill community wishes through a single team due to the vast breadth of the software we support and the number of channels through which we receive wishes. The restructuring shifts the management of the Community Wishlist from a single, sometimes siloed team (formerly known as the Community Tech team) to the full Product and Technology Department — ensuring that community wishes can be acted on by teams who are specialists in many different areas.

As part of this restructuring, the Community Tech team was disbanded, and six roles were impacted. The Foundation has been committed to supporting the affected team members during this transition in various ways. The team members are currently still working at the Foundation and are receiving internal support to identify and apply for open roles at the organization.

Regarding Brooke Vibber’s departure, as a general practice, and out of respect for individual privacy, the Foundation does not share details about personnel matters. This applies consistently in all cases. We recognize that this can be frustrating, but maintaining this standard is important for everyone. However, we do want to reiterate that the Wikimedia Foundation does not take employment actions in response to union activity. We respect employees’ rights to organize and engage in protected activities.

You may also wish to read our CEO Bernadette Meehan’s update to the community here.

I hope that information assuages some of your concerns. Please don’t hesitate to get back in touch if I can be of any further assistance, and thank you again for your support.

sincerely,

Kristie Robinson