[WikiEN-l] Harassment sites

[Daniel R. Tobias]

On 16 Oct 2007 at 12:01:39 -0700, Will Beback 
<will.beback.1 at gmail.com> wrote:

> What form of dealing with it do you recommend?

The vast majority of the time, "just ignore it" is the best course of 
action.  Trolls thrive on attention and are eager to provoke 
overreactions on the part of their targets; when you go ballistic 
about them, you're only giving them what they want.  If you ignore 
them and go about your business like they're not there, they'll 
usually get bored and go away.  On the other hand, sometimes you may 
be mistaken in perceiving trolling or harrassment in an activity that 
has a reasonable purpose, and you'll only antagonize otherwise 
productive editors by fighting them.  Either way, looking the other 
way will work out best for both you, the others involved, and the 
community and encyclopedia as a whole.

In the handful of cases where stronger action is needed, you're best 
off doing it intelligently; make a calm, discreet report to whatever 
authorities are applicable who can deal with a possible threat in a 
similarly calm, rational way.  As the Hitchhiker's Guide says, don't 
panic.


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