Wikipedia:Don't call editors trolls
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This is an essay; it contains the advice and/or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. It is not a policy or guideline, and editors are not obliged to follow it. |
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This page in a nutshell: "Calling an editor a troll can be viewed in itself as disruptive. |
This very brief essay is very similar in spirit to WP:NOSPADE. Calling an editor a troll can very rarely be justified, for the following reasons.
- If the editor is a good faith editor, they become alienated and potentially irritated.
- Accusations of trolling violate the spirit of WP:NPA
- Any editor who some may categorise as a troll may not be viewed as a troll by many others
- If the edits made by an editor cannot be legitimately reverted due to their content, calling the editor a troll is a flat denial of WP:AGF.
It may be derived from this that if an editor displays troll-like behaviour, it should be the content of said editor's edits that are criticised, rather than the editor's general attitude or editing pattern. It is very likely that a troublesome editor will respond better to coherent discussion and assumptions of good faith than to accusations of trolling or disruption.
