Above and beyond the Wikipedia policies and guideline, I hold myself to a personal code of conduct. An outline goes as thus:
- I avoid taking sides in disputes. I follow the spirit of Essjay's neutrality philosophy. Oftentimes I will step in to diffuse pointed debates, or to try to assist in contentious issues, but I do not invest myself in either side. It's divisive, and contributes to a negative atmosphere on Wikipedia.
- I hold myself to a voluntary 1-revert rule, except in the case of blatant policy violations. Revert-warring with people only serves to aggravate content disputes and lengthens them, not shortens them, and can poison the well - scaring others away from editing the article themselves. This is counterproductive, and so instead I discuss contentious changes on the talk page. The exception of course is blatant policy violations, which I feel should be blanket reverted on sight.
- Everyone who contributes to the Encylopedia in good faith I value and respect as an editor. The beauty of Wikipedia is the variety of backgrounds and ways of life of the people who contribute. I cherish all of these editors contributions and strive to help improve them whenever I can, and venerate them when I feel they are perfect.
- Wikipedia is not a collection of everything that ever existed. Some things just aren't encyclopedic, and should be removed. Obvious examples include advertising and attack pages, but it also include vanity pages and non-notable subjects. Also, if it's not contributing positively to the encyclopedia, regardless of other merits, it should be removed.
- Sysop status, or other special rights such as CheckUser, Oversight, or membership in a WikiProject, does not confer immunity to policy. Many users that get these special rights seem to get an ego complex and think that their contributions are somehow more valuable than others, or that their opinions should be weighted more heavily. This could not be further from the spirit of Wikipedia. Every good faith contributor is a valuable and respected part of the community, considered equally with any other good faith contributor.
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