Wikidata:Community behavior training

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Wikidata is a community built around the mission to collect, organize, and share free data about anything relevant. When joining Wikidata we commit to learn from the data, and from our interactions with each other. On this page you will find information about how to train yourself to become a highly valued community member, and how to help others in their own training. We expect you to take this information seriously, abide by it, and participate in the community behavior training process.

Community building

We encourage you to follow these recommendations. They can help you contribute to the growth of the project, your own personal development, and that of others:

1. Assume good faith. We're are all committed to help the project. By assuming good faith we give each other the necessary freedom to contribute to the project in a way that is unique to each one of us.
2. Engage in conversations with Wikidata community members. Find WikiProjects relevant to the topic you work in, and use on-wiki channels like talk pages and the Project chat to actively engage with other Wikidata editors. Or, if you feel more like it, give the social media channels a try.
3. Ask questions. There is no such thing as a "stupid question". The only way to know what is behind the actions or opinions of other community members is to ask questions. By asking questions you also show interest and appreciation for other community members.
4. Answer to questions someone else asks you. Take some time to help other users, especially if they overcame their shyness in asking. If you don't know the answer, a simple "I don't know" is always better than no reply at all! When you answer questions you are not only fulfilling someone else’s curiosity, you are also making them aware of who you are and what you need. Address the points raised.
5. Diversity is a plus. We are a diverse community, with people contributing from all corners of the world. Take some time to consider that a divergence is not necessarily a source for conflict, but a way to expand consensus. The more diverse our community is, the more valuable the data, as it will reflect a wider range of interests and perspectives.
6. Feedback is a gift. Give it well, receive it well. When you receive feedback, don't be discouraged. Take it seriously, take some time to read through it, understand the point of view of who provided the feedback, maybe ask for clarifications. It will help you to make your own work better! When you give feedback mention what you appreciate of their work, what bothered you of their actions, and be open to find together a satisfactory way for both of you.
7. Explain your actions. Especially when you revert an edit on a sensitive item, please explain your reasoning to the user and remember that Wikidata has the possibility of hosting conflicting data, provided that each statement has at least one reliable source.
8. Be bold, support boldness. Don’t expect anyone to tell you what to do or how to solve problems, make suggestions and follow them through. If you notice that something needs to be done, be proactive and take the initiative. Engage the community, and when others ask for participation or support, help them succeed. If you oppose a path, propose a different one.

Unwholesome strategies

Sometimes editors do not know how to express their needs or ideas in a respectful way and resort to behaviors that the Wikidata community finds unacceptable. These include:

1. Personal attacks, harassing, threatening, stalking, outing, doxxing, etc. of other contributors. There is no excuse for this, so don't do it. Instead, be aware that in the Wikidata community you cannot “win”, “defeat”, or “punish” anyone, and any attempt to do so will have negative consequences for yourself.
2. Vandalisms. Do NOT engage in deliberate attempts to damage or compromise the integrity of Wikidata and/or its data. Our systems have evolved to deal with attacks efficiently. You have no chance to damage the project. Either you come here to collaborate with us, or you are not welcome at all.
3. Bad data and/or sources to deliberately push your point of view or to hurt Wikimedia projects. Remember that Wikidata has the possibility of hosting data acknowledged to be false or wrong, provided that such statement is marked as "deprecated". Failing to mark false/wrong data as such can be considered a vandalism, and treated as such.
4. Narcissism. The fact that you think you are right doesn't make you right. Instead, listen to others and work collaboratively, rather than idiosyncratically.

Your own well-being

If you are not in a good state, it will reflect on your behavior and it will have a negative impact on the community. We expect you to listen to your needs, and that you come up with strategies that benefit you and the community. These include:

1. Disengage. Consider whether you should take a break from a dispute, announce it if necessary. Taking a deep breath and sleeping on it often helps. You can always return to the discussion later, but at least you will return without an inflamed temper.
2. Discuss informally. Connect informally with other editors through the official social media channels and share your situation with them.
3. Be aware. Take a moment to breathe and to notice if you are under the effect of biases, or strong emotions. Put things into perspective.
4. Do something fun. Like participating in a flashmob, playing a game, or going for a walk.

Communication

The way you communicate has an impact on the community. When expressing yourself consider the following:

1. Make factual observations. Do not judge actions, just describe them.
2. Explain the impact it had on you. If something makes you happy, angry, sad..., then say so, but only if it is genuine. Bonus points if you can explain the reason.
3. Say what you need. People are generally more open to help if they can understand your motivations.
4. Make requests, not demands. Nothing must be done, however if it makes life better we might do it.
5. Be concise.

Content disagreements

If there is an action that you don’t understand or do not agree with, or if you revert each other, the first step is to approach the concerned editor either on their talk page or on the item talk page.

If you are unable to find a consensus with the other editor, seek more input on the project chat.

Always ping the concerned editors, and the related WikiProject if there is one that covers the topic.

Community training

If you feel that an editor is communicating or behaving in ways that are not aligned with the spirit of the community, you are encouraged to start a thread on this talk page, so that the community can discuss, ask questions, and take measures if necessary.

The purpose of this page's talk page is to gain insight on the issue, and to take action based on it. If you are invited to participate in a training thread, take it as an opportunity to learn how you can be more effective in the Wikidata community.

After a reasonable period of discussion, anybody can propose a follow-up action to help the involved parties to continue editing Wikidata without causing further friction. For instance, users can be asked to stop their interactions with specific users until they understand by themselves what went wrong in their interaction, or refrain from editing certain topics until they acknowledge their biases. Ideally the involved users should understand why their behavior was problematic, and how the proposed action can help them improve.

Proposals for action need to be supported by at least two uninvolved editors before they can be marked as accepted.

Limited resources

While the will of the community is to help everyone improve, the resources to do so are limited. If a user does not put effort following the indications of the community, does not react promptly to communication, or if the challenges that the user brings to the community are beyond its capacity to accommodate them, then the user will be asked to leave for a period of time, or indefinitely.