Marc Riddell wrote:
But, in the context of WP, how does this apply? How does what two people say to each other on their personal Talk Pages disrupt the Project? For that matter, in that two-way conversation, if it is one person flailing at the other, can¹t that other person simply not respond? How does what one person writes in this Mailing List disrupt the progress of an issue being discussed? Simply ignore it or, as computer challenged as I am, even I know where the DELETE button is :-).
I suppose if someone had a note on their user page - "no need to be civil here", then it could be an exception to the general rule. I don't think there are very many people in that category though. One of the interesting aspects of online communication is that body language and nonverbal cues seem to be more important than anybody ever realized - misunderstandings in online interaction happen far more, and are more likely to spiral out of control. For instance, somebody could be saying something nasty-sounding in person, but they're smiling and relaxed while saying it, so you know they're probably leading up to a sardonic joke. Satire without a smiley face is routinely taken seriously, no matter how well-written. People who are good editors, but take other people's statement to heart, can get so upset that they no longer want to work in WP, and that's certainly a loss to the project. So the civility rule is partly about backing down to a level that reduces hurt and misunderstandings across a broad range of individuals.
The civility rule is also for one's own self-protection - everything you say online is publicly visible and recorded forever. I don't know about other people, but I've had things I've written online quoted back at me in job interviews - fortunately they were good things!
Stan