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Do not make personal attacks anywhere in Modern Wikia. Comment on content, not on the contributor. Personal attacks do not help make a point; they only hurt the Wikipedia community and deter users from helping to create a good encyclopedia. Derogatory comments about another contributor may be removed by any editor. Repeated or egregious personal attacks may lead to blocks.

Why Personal attacks are harmful[]

Contributors are often members of opposing communities, and wish to have their viewpoints included in articles. Through reasoned debate, contributors can synthesize these views into a single article, and this creates a better, more neutral article for everyone. Every person who edits an article is part of the same larger community.

The prohibition against personal attacks applies equally to the community. 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. Modern Wikia 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 a modern society.

Avoiding personal attacks[]

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 looks like original research", is not a personal attack. Or sometimes you could say instead—"The paragraph inserted here [DIFF] into the article looks like original research", which also is not a personal attack, and avoids Second Person (grammar), and the DIFF cuts down confusion. Similarly, discussion of a user's conduct is not in itself a personal attack when done in the appropriate forum for such discussion (e.g. the user's talk page, WP:WQA, WP:ANI).

Editors should be civil and adhere to good wiki etiquette when stating disagreements. The appropriate response to inflammatory 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.

What is considered to be a Personal Attack?[]

There is no rule that is objective and not open to interpretation on what constitutes a personal attack as opposed to constructive discussion, but some types of comments are absolutely never acceptable:

  • acial, 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.
  • sing someone's affiliations as an ad hominem means of dismissing or discrediting their views—regardless of whether said affiliations are mainstream. Note that although pointing out an editor's relevant conflict of interest and its relevance to the discussion at hand is not considered a personal attack, speculating on the real life identity of another editor may constitute outing, which is a serious offense.
  • inking to external attacks, harassment, or other material, for the purpose of attacking another editor.
  • ccusations about personal behavior that lack evidence. Serious accusations require serious evidence. Evidence often takes the form of diffs and links presented on wiki. Sometimes evidence is kept private and made available to trusted users.
  • 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 Modern Wikia 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. (see:Blocking Policy)

These examples are not exhaustive. 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.

Responding to a Personal Attack[]

  1. Try to calm the user down and figure out the problem.
  2. If user does not comply or understand then report problem to an Administrator
  3. If user is still not complying or understanding then report problem to Modern Wikia Security.
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