Help:Don't WikiTree While Angry
Categories: WikiTree Help | Courtesy and Community Rules
"Don't WikiTree While Angry" is an important rule in our community.
Contents |
What is "DWA"?
Don't WikiTree while Angry (DWA or DWWA) means:
- Whenever writing something on WikiTree or to another WikiTree member check yourself before clicking "send". Do you feel any negative emotions? If so, put it down and come back to it later. If you still feel emotionally charged, don't send the message. Ask for help from someone else.
Stopping the heated communication and asking for help is what we call Stop, Drop, and Roll. This is elaborated on in the Problems with Members procedure.
Our community has decided that DWA is essential for productive and enjoyable collaboration. We share an important mission — connecting the human family — and our subject matter can be highly emotional. Strong feelings about WikiTree are natural. This makes it all the more important to be calm and careful when dealing with each other.
What is "WikiTreeing"?
We playfully use To WikiTree as a verb. It's meant to encompass all of the following:
- Creating or editing anything on WikiTree.
- Communicating with another WikiTree member about WikiTree, in any context.
The second point includes any sort of communication, whether it be private message, comments on profiles, e-mail, G2G, Facebook, etc.
If you're communicating with another WikiTreer about WikiTree, it's WikiTreeing and DWWA applies.
When You See Anger
When you see a message from a WikiTreer who is clearly angry, what should you do?
Please don't ignore it. It's important for neutral third parties to intervene in heated situations. The angry member is more likely to listen to you than the person who is the target of their anger.
If the angry member is experienced on WikiTree and you know they're familiar with this rule, you could just post/send something like:
- Hey Joe, [[DWA]] my friend! :-)
If the person may be unfamiliar with the rule, or you want to be cautious, you could post/send something like:
- Jane, you sound really upset. I can appreciate why you would be. Are you angry right now?
After they reply, or if they don't reply, you can follow up with a link to this page.
Note that when used in a profile comment, [[DWA]] with the double brackets creates a link that redirects to this page.
If it's in G2G or e-mail, you should use the full URL <https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/DWA>.
Thank you for helping to make WikiTree a friendlier place!
When You Slip Up
Every member violates the DWA rule sometimes. The fact that it's so common and easy to do is exactly why it's an important rule that needs to be talked about.
We need to feel comfortable saying "DWA" to ourselves and each other. Often.
There is no shame in admitting you've done it. If you admit the mistake and apologize, other members will thank you for being a big person.
If you think that a member is intentionally ignoring the rule, after being told about DWA, see Problems with Members.
This page was last modified 20:28, 8 October 2021. This page has been accessed 6,673 times.