 | This is an essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
 | This page in a nutshell: Speaking plainly and calling a spade a spade is uncivil, unproductive when applied toward other editors, and may cause the offending editor to be blocked. |
| "What do you expect of me? I've always been one to call a spade a spade." "Fine," said Yevgenia. "But don't imagine that's always a virtue." |
One of Wikipidia's most important policies is that one must be civil towards others regardless of circumstances. On Wikipedia, we inevitably deal with a few extremely difficult people. It can be tempting when dealing with such individuals to "call a spade a spade" by negatively characterizing them or their actions. However, doing so is unacceptable. Although editors who consistently engage in trolling are trolls, and editors who consistently vandalize are vandals, do not label such editors "troll" or "vandal." Strive toward a harmonious resolution that adheres to Wikipedia process. This means you should not be blunt since bluntness is easily interpreted as incivility. If the behavior is too problematic for resolution among the editors present use the dispute resolution process.
Suppose you're dealing with someone trying to force some bad edit into an article. Even if they are making a "bad" edit because they are a bad person you don't have to call them a bad person. Judiciously correct such edits as they are made. (Be restrained in doing so; continually undoing or revising others' edits constitutes edit warring.) Labeling of other editors as "POV pusher". "disruptive", "tendentious", and the like should not be done and may even get you blocked. Similarly, the edit itself should not be labeled as POV-pushing, disruptive, or tendentious as such adjectives are implicit criticisms of the person who made the edit. Even in cases where you are correct about another user or their edits, such accusations are often perceived by the other editor as offensive and therefore they are disruptive to the process of harmonious editing. Courtesy and respect for the person and the assumption that their actions are in good faith must always be extended.
In the same way, it is unacceptable to label groups of people or their ideas negatively, even if those groups are not actively editing on Wikipedia. Do not inflame a situation by talking, for example, about how implausible the subject of an article is, or how only uninformed people take it seriously. Those who believe that the earth is flat or similar propositions are sincere in their beliefs and nothing should be said that could cause them distress. Foster an atmosphere of respect for others and acceptance of their beliefs, no matter how illogical or unreasonable. All views should be treated with respect and acceptance in discussions on talk pages and in edit summaries.