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Counter-vandalism is a crucial activity on Wikipedia. Like in all areas, people participate in it with enthusiasm — checking diffs, reverting edits, and warning and reporting users. It's a thankless and important job, but occasionally some users take it too seriously, by irrationally demonizing vandals. So please, don't act like vandals are your sworn enemies.
Vandalism is obviously to be discouraged, but most of it is not worth getting worked up about. The vast majority of vandals are either trolling or bored, and it usually takes only a few seconds to reverse whatever changes they've made; the impact of their edits is negligible.
Why you shouldn't write curse tablets
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Overzealous counter-vandalism is counterproductive. Being overly enthusiastic or revert-happy often leads to mistakes, which make the whole process less efficient. Premature reporting can make noticeboards harder and less enjoyable for admins to work at, and in worse cases can lead to sanctioning of the reporting user. Acting unnecessarily dramatic about vandalism also feeds the trolls and will probably make other people (not the vandals) more likely to ignore you. No-one is personally responsible for clearing up vandalism; everyone is welcome to volunteer, but that's exactly what it is: volunteering. You are not obliged to revert anything any more than the next person is.
Editing too quickly can also lead to blatantly incorrect actions. This risks scaring off good-faith editors, doing actual irreversible damage. The world should not be viewed solely through Huggle, and it never hurts to have a deeper look on-wiki to double check something before making a decision.
Being serious
editThis is not to say that all forms of vandalism should be treated with equally light weight. There are some more serious forms of vandalism that should be dealt with immediately and firmly, but those will not be elaborated on here.[1] You should know them when you see them.
What this all means
editAlthough this essay is facetious in some places, there is a core message: don't get overly wrapped up in counter-vandalism. At the end of the day all anyone is doing is adding or removing text on a website, and we have very established practices for dealing with it. Take things lightly, don't stress about vandals, and always go for dark chocolate.
Related content
editNotes
edit- ^ Having said that, this essay still does largely apply, even if to a lesser extent.