 | This is an essay on the Consensus policy. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
 | This page in a nutshell: Consensus is built by the strength of arguments, not by their frequency. Only make your point once in a discussion, and trust other editors to reread what you've written or ask for clarification if they need it. |
Wikipedia is based upon the written word, and the MediaWiki software in particular is good at keeping a record of those written words. This is particularly important to keep in mind when building consensus, be it for making a controversial article change, deleting an article, or selecting an administrator for the site. Editors who feel strongly for a particular position sometimes fall into a repetitive pattern, saying the same thing again and again in different ways, under the false assumption that the only reason consensus isn't building in the desired direction is because other editors don't understand that point that's being made.
The truth of the matter? The other editors understand you just fine, they just don't happen to agree with you.