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Revision as of 22:54, 19 August 2005

This is a failed proposal. Consensus for its implementation was not established within a reasonable period of time. If you want to revive discussion, please use the talk page or initiate a thread at the village pump.

This particular article is being proposed as a guideline, not a policy.

The term wikistalking or wiki-stalking describes a pattern of editing behavior in which one contributor intentionally follows and makes changes to the edits of another solely for the purpose of harassment or disruption.

Definition

According to a recent decision of the Misplaced Pages Arbitration Committee

"The term "wiki-stalking" has been coined to describe following a contributor around the wiki, editing the same articles as the target, with the intent of causing annoyance or distress to another contributor. This is distinct from following a contributor in order to clear repeated errors."

(however, in the text below, 'stalking' is used to refer to simply reading other people's contribution logs. This dichotomy may need resolving)

Wikipedian viewpoints on stalking

The practice of wikistalking is considered very objectionable to some editors, though others find the practice of monitoring user contributions vital in maintaining a quality encyclopedia, including when this is done through the monitoring of one's own watchlist. Critics of wikistalking often distinguish the practice, which is conducted for the purpose of harassment, from normal editor monitoring for constructive purposes such as removing vandalism or correcting errors.

While wikistalking can be very annoying, every editor gets followed from time to time. Editors may expect unusually frequent amounts of "stalking" or following when they are the subject of a nomination for Adminship or promotion to a similar position of authority. While being followed it might be wise to have impeccable behaviour, but you already were behaving impeccably anyway, right?

"Following" does not necessarily mean "stalking"

The practice of following the contributions of other editors should not be categorically rejected. Although it is highly discouraged to follow a contributor who simply clashes with your beliefs, or for purposes of harassment, trailing a public nuisance to Misplaced Pages is considered by some contributers as a commendable sign of your dedication. For example, following an anonymous vandal so that (s)he understands that vandalizing or degrading Misplaced Pages is a fruitless hobby is not considered to be "stalking". There are many such vandals, so editors often find a need to systematically follow them. There are many legitimate reasons for following the work of another editor, but it is a good idea to have a reasonable justification in mind when doing so. Editors on either side of this situation are encouraged to review Misplaced Pages:Vandalism, WP:Neutral point of view, Misplaced Pages:No personal attacks, Misplaced Pages:What Misplaced Pages is not, and other applicable policies.

"Bad" stalking

Notwithstanding the practice of deterring vandalism or removing advertising, stalking does bear an ill reputation for a reason. In general, one should try to assume good faith. Following editors who don't have track records of vandalism or other editing in violation of Misplaced Pages policies and guidelines could be viewed as an inappropriate or disproportionate response to their actions.

It is argued by some that wiki-stalking is an abuse of the user-contributions function on Misplaced Pages. This is a tool that otherwise serves valuable purposes in combatting vandalism and problematic users, but like any tool it can be abused when used in excess or with malicious intent. Stalking can be problematic because it can exhibit incivility, subject individual editors to unwarranted harassment, and violate the request that all wikipedians should assume good faith about other editors. Sometimes a stalker conducts himself with the intent of driving another editor away from Misplaced Pages through a pattern of harassing and hostile behavior. This practice is considered bad stalking.

Wiki-stalking occurs when an editor abusively trails another editor around Misplaced Pages by way of his or her contributions page and for purposes that are not constructive to the encyclopedia's content or conducive to its collaborative environment. It entails an evidenced distinctive editing pattern in which one editor continuously follows another editor over an extended period of time and a wide variety of unrelated articles for the purpose of making excessive "followup" changes to the original editor's work. These changes are done for the purposes of harassment, disruption, and dismantling legitimate contributions of the stalked editor for reasons that are not in compliance with Misplaced Pages policies or guidelines. Recent wikistalking precedents have established that even minor "followup" changes of this type can be considered stalking when their purpose is specifically for harassment or disruption.

False accusations of stalking

There may be a number of reasons why someone wrongly claims another person is cyberstalking them. Some new users are not aware of the watchlist, or of the easy access all readers have to the contributions of all users. They feel the act of being watched is bad cyberstalking even though this is not the case in most cases. Bad faith users such as vandals may claim that those who are pursuing them in the best interests of wikipedia are in fact stalking them.

New users who believe they are being followed should be aware that the project is collaborative and that editors frequently check each other's work. In the event that a user believes he or she is being unduly followed, that user should politely communicate with the other editor by way of article and user talk pages before making allegations of stalking. Often times a simple case of misunderstanding may exist that can be resolved by discussion. Remember to assume good faith.

Wiki-stalking precedents

Wiki-stalking has been a part of at least two Arbitration Committee proceedings.

The Recycling Troll (TRT)

The The Recycling Troll (TRT) matter occured from February to March 2005. The incident involved an editor who was banned for an overall pattern of trolling including stalking of one administrator. User:Jimbo Wales wrote in his final decision, Misplaced Pages:Requests for arbitration/David Gerard, Neutrality, Cyrius,

Because the Recycling Troll was making a pest of himself by harassing RickK and hammering the mailing list with facetious strawman arguments, I see no reason for us to make a big deal of it.

are in place to help us write the encyclopedia. Going around pestering RickK pointlessly and writing inane messages to the mailing list are clearly not attempts to help us do that, but are rather just someone disrupting wikipedia to illustrate a point. So I'm blocking User:The Recycling Troll indefinitely. He's been a very successful troll, he's caused a lot of trouble, and he's most likely a sock puppet anyway.

Also reported on here: Misplaced Pages:Misplaced Pages Signpost/2005-03-14/Recycling Troll

Skyring

In a separate case decided August 12, 2005, Misplaced Pages:Requests for arbitration/Skyring, a user was found by the WP:ArbCom to have committed "wikistalking". The committee voted 5-0 that:

The term "wiki-stalking" has been coined to describe following a contributor around the wiki, editing the same articles as the target, with the intent of causing annoyance or distress to another contributor. This is distinct from following a contributor in order to clear repeated errors.

On 13 June User:Skyring followed User:Jtdirl, editing a large set of articles that had recently been edited by Jtdirl (see contributions for 13 June). While it is not possible to fully assess intent, this action, and some of the edit summaries used, seem designed to provoke: "enfeebled minds", "Some professional standards, please!", "A common pattern for this editor to produce poor English", "Low quality of Irish editor"

User:Skyring is banned from Misplaced Pages for one year for wiki-stalking and acting in bad faith towards other contributors, as demonstrated in evidence.

Dealing with Wiki-Stalking

1. If you are being stalked in a harassing manner by another user, the first thing you should do is politely approach him/her about it. Inform that editor of your concern and objections and ask him/her politely to stop. It is possible that he/she may not even realize this behavior is harassing to you and a simple polite note could resolve the situation. Also keep in mind that the other editor may have a genuine reason for reviewing your work or it could be a simple matter of misunderstanding.
2. If step 1 doesn't work and you still believe that the editor is engaged in stalking of the "bad" type, politely inform the stalker of Misplaced Pages's anti-stalking precedents.

See also

• Cyberstalking
• Wiktionary definition of "stalk"

• Misplaced Pages failed proposals
• Misplaced Pages essays