Wikipedia:Civility/Workshop

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Warning This page is not policy. This workshop sub-page is for collaboration on the Wikipedia:Civility policy page.

Contents

[edit] When and why does incivility happen?

See also: Wikipedia:Wikiquette

Incivility happens, for example, when you are creating a new page, and another user tells you, "If you're going to write a pointless page, could you spell-check it?" And escalation occurs when you reply, "Get lost!" This style of interaction between Wikipedians drives away contributors, distracts others from more important matters, and weakens the entire community.

Incivility can occur during an edit war, when editors have different opinions, or when there is a conflict based on power.

As the community grows larger, editors may not know all other editors, and may not perceive the importance of each individual to the project.

In a larger community editors may be more able to hide less than positive reputations than is possible in a smaller community.

Sometimes, a particularly impolite user joins the project. This can also aggravate other editors, and impair the collaborative environment. Editors may find themselves becoming upset in such an environment, and may themselves engage in less than civil behaviour.

Editors may use insults in the heat of the moment during a longer conflict. The person who made the insult may regret having used such words afterwards.

In other cases, insults may be deliberate and could be used to either distract other editors from the issue, or to simply drive them away from working on the article or even from the Wikipedia project itself.

It is also reasonable to assume that certain editors may lack civility under pressure of external variables in their personal life, or lack of sleep, which generally lowers one's capacity for judgement, and can lead to speaking your mind in socially unacceptable ways. Take a break from the issue if your judgment may be lowered by any of these factors.

[edit] Dealing with incivility

See also:Wikipedia:Etiquette

[edit] The community's role in reducing incivility

Several policies and guidelines seek to lessen the disruption and drama caused by incivility and problems with editors not listening to each other. Policies such as our No Personal Attack policy, and Harassment policy set firm lines in the sand, which anyone crossing cannot expect to escape retribution for. The three-revert rule seeks to place firm limits on edit-warring. Blocks allow disruptive editors to be prevented from editing, and topic bans allow otherwise productive editors to be prevented from editing the few pages or topics which regularly incite them to disruptive behaviour.

For broader issues, page protection allows admins to stop editing on an article in heated and unproductive dispute, to allow editors to calm down, and the the mediation cabal exists to step in and attempt to solve the root of problems between editors, or suggest compromises.

[edit] Personally reducing the impact

See also: Wikipedia:Be nice; Wikipedia:Apology

  • Balance criticisms by providing a constructive comment as well.
  • Do not reply to offensive comments. Forget about them. Forgive the editor, and do not escalate the conflict.
  • Alternatively, respond to perceived incivility with greater civility and respect. Many editors will then moderate their tone to match yours.
  • Please. Thank you. I'm sorry. You're welcome. You're a good person and I know we'll work this out. Treat your fellow editor as a respected and admired colleague, who is working in collaboration with you on an important project.
  • Walk away. Wikipedia is a very big place. Just go edit somewhere else for a while and return when tempers have cooled.
  • You do not have to like an editor as a person to appreciate that they are also working for the good of the project. If you do not like a fellow editor, try not to hold that fact against them.

Mediation regularly involves disputes in which one party feels injured by the other. The apology is a form of ritual exchange between both parties, where words are said that allow reconciliation.

For some people, it may be crucial to receive an apology from those who have offended them. For this reason, a sincere apology is often the key to the resolution of a conflict: an apology is a symbol of forgiveness.

The examples should be embedded in the section they apply to. Please feel free to edit this.