Chapter 11. Handling Incivility and Personal Attacks
In an ideal world, Wikipedia editors would discuss only content and would post only well reasoned, informative comments. They would assume, unless faced with overwhelming evidence, that other editors were also editing and commenting in good faith. Personal attacks would never occur.
Unfortunately itâs not an ideal world. Bad things do happen to good people. This chapter shows you helpful ways to respond to incivility and personal attacks directed against you or other editors. It also discusses what you should do if you slip up and use uncivil words, or worse, attack someone personally.
Note
If youâve just experienced severe incivility or a personal attack, flip to âInitial Responsesâ on Initial Responses.
Enforcing Norms of Conduct
This chapter lays out some step-by-step processes for dealing with problematical editors. First, you need an understanding of Wikipediaâs rules regarding its editorsâ behavior, and how those are enforced. With that understanding, youâll find it easier to understand the step-by-step process.
The Norms
Wikipediaâs rules for behavior center around two policies and a guideline. Experienced editors often mention the trio all in one breath: WP:CIVIL, WP:NPA, WP:AGF, or even just CIVIL, NPA, AGF.
Wikipedia:Civility (shortcut: WP:CIVIL). Being rude, insensitive, or petty makes people upset and prevents Wikipedia from working well. Be careful to avoid offending people unintentionally. For example, ...
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