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This page is an official policy on Lostpedia. It has wide acceptance among editors and is considered a standard that all users should follow. When editing this page, please ensure that your revision reflects consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page. |
In order to maintain a better community at Lostpedia, a policy on personal attacks has been instituted.
Basic expectations[]
Lostpedia expects all users to be able to edit safely without being the victims of personal attacks. Any user initiating in an attack of this kind can and will be banned depending on the seriousness of the language. A personal attack can range from a racist remark to threats of violence or vandalism. Whilst we try to maintain the assumption of good faith whenever possible, deliberate attempts to bully or belittle editors will not be tolerated.
Avoid strong language in edit summaries[]
All edit summaries should be written in a neutral non-inflammatory style. Examples:
| Bad summary | Better summary |
|---|---|
| Fixing spelling, learn to spell! | Fixing spelling |
| No debating in theories. Try reading the theory policy?!?! | Deleting debate per theory policy |
| Fixing another idiotic use of the word heretofor | Simplifying sentence |
| Deleting stupid sentence that pissed me off | Deleting sentence (see talk page for details) |
What to do when you are the victim of a personal attack[]
Ignore it. There is little point getting bogged down in a flame war online, as nobody ever really wins. Indeed, many experienced users simply agree that to get involved in such a trivial argument is "beneath them", understanding that the rules of conversation are much different on the Internet than in face-to-face communication.
What you should do is contact a SysOp, leaving them a brief note explaining what has gone on. The attacker may then try to hide the evidence by removing it, but rest assured that on a wiki, no edit can be hidden. Punishment will be enforced by a SysOp, and it is best to simply let them judge whether the attack is unprovoked or whether the attacker had, at some level, a justification.
Whatever the basis behind the attack, action will be taken, as there is no excuse for users to resort to verbal abuse. However, there is a degree of leniency in whether a SysOp will choose to simply warn a user, or ban them for however long the administrator sees fit. This choice of punishment is entirely at the SysOp's discretion, though a decision may be appealed to another SysOp if anyone feels that a verdict was unjust. Long-term bans are discussed on the Sysop forums.
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