On 3/20/06, Angela beesley@gmail.com wrote:
On 3/20/06, Cormac Lawler cormaggio@gmail.com wrote:
Hi all, as the title suggests, I'm writing about etiquette. Specifically, whether it's ok to delete valid questions or comments from a talk page (in the particular case I'm talking about, deleting a question from their own user talk page).
What about when the question is from a troll? Would the advice about [[don't feed the troll | not feeding trolls]] mean might actually be a good idea in some cases?
Even if the question wasn't from a troll, should people be forced to communicate with others when they really don't want to? If there's an issue with an article, that can be brought up on the article talk page, where it would be wrong to delete it, but I think users should have some control over whether or not they want to respond to messages on their talk page.
Angela.
Yes, I agree that we cannot *force* people to answer other questions. But what I am saying is that we should be encouraging as *good practice* a spirit of listening. In the case of a troll, I fully reserve the right to ignore that person. But in the case of a lengthy question posed directly to a person (deliberately avoiding the particular page I was disputing to avoid people thinking badly of this person while we debated a point), and then that person simply deleting my question, I think this is very bad practice. It smacks of someone holding their hands over their ears and shouting "I'm not listening".
I agree that we can't decree "Thou shalt answer all questions put unto ye". That's why I see this as a guideline, not a policy - we enforce a code of civility, but encourage an attitude of etiquette.
Cormac
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