FAS:No Personal Attacks

From FAS Virtual Worlds Almanac

This page contains text from Wikipedia's article on Wikipedia:No_Personal_Attacks.

Do not make personal attacks anywhere on this site. Comment on content, not on the contributor. Personal attacks will not help you make a point; they hurt the community and deter users from helping to create a good site.

[edit] What is considered a personal attack?

Debate is an essential part of the culture of any wiki. Different contributors often do not agree on some of the content within an article. Contributors often are members of opposing communities who wish to have their viewpoints included in articles. Synthesizing these views into a single article creates a better, more neutral article for everyone. Every person who edits an article is part of the same larger community.

Editors should be civil and adhere to good wiki etiquette when stating disagreements. As a matter of polite and effective discourse, comments should not be personalized and should be directed at content and actions rather than people. However, when there are disagreements about content, referring to other editors is not always a personal attack. A posting that says "Your statement about X is wrong because of information at Y", or "The paragraph you inserted into the article does not seem neutral", is not a personal attack. Or sometimes you could say instead—"The paragraph inserted here [DIFF] into the article does not seem neutral", which also is not a personal attack, and avoids Second Person (grammar), and the DIFF cuts down confusion.

The appropriate response to such statements is to address the issues of content rather than to accuse the other person of violating this policy. Accusing someone without justification of making personal attacks is also considered a form of personal attack. (See also: Engaging in incivility.)

[edit] Personal attacks

There is no bright-line rule about what constitutes a personal attack as opposed to constructive discussion, but some types of comments are never acceptable:

• Racial, sexual, homophobic, ageist, religious, political, ethnic, or other epithets (such as against people with disabilities) directed against another contributor. Disagreement over what constitutes a religion, race, sexual preference, or ethnicity is not a legitimate excuse.
• Using someone's affiliations as a means of dismissing or discrediting their views—regardless of whether said affiliations are mainstream.
• Linking to external attacks, harassment, or other material, for the purpose of attacking another editor.
• Threats, including:

• Threats of legal action
• Threats of violence or other off-wiki action (particularly death threats)
• Threats of vandalism to userpages or talk pages.
• Threats or actions which deliberately expose other Wikipedia editors to political, religious or other persecution by government, their employer or any others. Violations of this sort may result in a block for an extended period of time, which may be applied immediately by any administrator upon discovery.

These examples are not exclusive. Insulting or disparaging an editor is a personal attack regardless of the manner in which it is done. When in doubt, comment on the article's content without referring to its contributor at all.

The prohibition against personal attacks applies equally to all. It is as unacceptable to attack a user with a history of foolish or boorish behavior, or even one who has been subject to disciplinary action, as it is to attack any other user. We encourages a positive online community: people make mistakes, but they are encouraged to learn from them and change their ways. Personal attacks are contrary to this spirit and damaging to the work of building an encyclopedia.