Sheep voting

This image is from w:en:User:SebastianHelm/Sheep vote. It had previously been moved off the Wikipedia: namespace. suspected to be POV, but hoped that it will be useful and appropriate here tobecompletedinacarandthenitwilltakeyoualongtimetodoit.

Sheep vote is a vote on Wikipedia which seems to be cast just to go along with the flow. E.g., on RFA, this can typically be a vote such as "Support because x, y, and z are supporting."

Speculated reasons for sheep voting include:

• Agreeing with the previous voters' reasoning.
• Because everyone else has.
• Being nice.
• Making friends.
• Fear of retribution.
• Being a sock puppet.
• For the sake of trying to further an attempt to break a record (see this page and this page on the English Wikipedia)

Sheep voting may also be tangentially related to or mistaken for editcountitis.

The opposite of sheep vote is wolf vote. These votes are much rarer.

Speculated reasons for wolf voting include:

• Eating sheep (neutralizing their votes).
• Grumpiness.
• A desire for fame (also known as Herostratus vote).
• Eccentricity.
• The genuine belief that a candidate supported by support voter(s) X cannot possibly be worthy (Guilt by association)

There is no policy preventing sheep or wolf voting, except by sockpuppets, although it is discouraged.