 | This is an essay. 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. |
Any user who deliberately attempts to damage Wikipedia is a vandal. A vandal who intentionally makes non-constructive edits with the goal of provoking an angry reaction from other users is a troll. It is generally best to deny recognition to all such ill-intentioned individuals. It can be difficult to determine, though, whether a particular non-constructive edit is deliberate, or whether a deliberately non-constructive edit is intended to provoke anger. Many edits that appear to be inappropriate are actually well-intended. Some apparent trolls are actually inappropriate attempts to prove a point or to challenge Wikipedia policy.
Unless there is clear evidence that a particular user or a particular edit is ill-intended, however, Wikipedia users are expected to assume good faith.[a] Given the difficulty in determining intention, it is necessary to engage with other editors over points of dispute and to reach a consensus. Unfortunately, this sometimes means giving ill-intentioned editors the attention that they seek.
In short, sometimes you must feed the trolls until you can ascertain their intentions.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).