 | This is an essay on Policies and guidelines. 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: Sometimes Wikipedia policy, guidelines, and ideas are not always followed. When this inconsistency occurs, it does not necessarily mean that the "rule" not enforced is wrong or has no support of consensus. Sometimes inconsistent enforcement occurs in both the real world and in Wikipedia. |
Wikipedia is a multilingual, web-based, free encyclopedia based on a model of openly editable content. It is the largest and most popular general reference work on the World Wide Web, and is one of the most popular websites by Alexa rank. Initially an English-language encyclopedia, versions in other languages were quickly developed. With 5,743,394 articles, the English Wikipedia is the largest of the more than 290 Wikipedia encyclopedias. Overall, Wikipedia comprises more than 40 million articles in 301 different languages and by February 2014 it had reached 18 billion page views and nearly 500 million unique visitors per month.
Sometimes, the users break the rules. When that happens, sometimes it is ignored and sometimes it is reported where the community comes to a decision on any action. There are policies, guidelines, and even essays assembled by users and editors worldwide to assist in this process. Still, sometimes there are disputes and inconsistent enforcement of rules on Wikipedia. Selective enforcement is nothing new to the world. Sometimes it is a good thing, sometimes it is a bad thing... but it happens.
Sometimes inconsistent enforcement occurs in both the real world and in Wikipedia. When that happens, it does not mean that the "rule" was wrong or has been overturned.
When you encounter inconsistent enforcement
editWhat to do
edit- Determine first if it's a big deal or a small deal. We encounter inconsistent enforcement all the time. In your particular case, does it have a significant impact? If not, maybe you should just ignore the entire issue and move on.
- Keep a cool head. Some great tips can be found at Wikipedia:Staying cool when the editing gets hot.
- Ask. There are a lot of editors, a lot of polices, and a lot of guidelines. Feel free to ask in good faith about any differences that you have observed.
- Get help You can visit Help:Menu/Asking questions where there are all kinds of amazing editors who are really waiting for you to come ask your question!
What not to do
edit- Don't make the issue bigger than it is. Taking a small issue and making it bigger can be disruptive to Wikipedia and the process of building an encyclopedia.
- Don't make the issue smaller than it is. Conversely, don't ignore a real issue. We have policies and guidelines for a reason.
- Don't accuse editors for "ganging up" against consensus. Accusations such as this can strike emotions and take the focus off the real issue.
- Don't respond in an uncivil way. There is no bad interaction on Wikipedia that any uncivil action will not make worse. Seek to avoid escalating the event through uncivil comments.
Key factor
editA key factor for determining if action is warranted is the policy Ignore All Rules: "If a rule prevents you from improving or maintaining Wikipedia, ignore it." Perhaps the "selective enforcement" actually makes Wikipedia better in this case--good! Perhaps further action is needed to make Wikipedia better--then take whatever steps you need to take toward that goal. "Making Wikipedia Better" is our ultimate goal.