Wikipedia:IP editors are human too

This is an essay on attitudes to unregistered users. 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.

Shortcuts WP:HUMAN WP:IPHUMAN

This page in a nutshell: Unregistered users can edit articles and participate on talk pages in the same way as registered users. Their input is just as important in building consensus.

Many users believe that unregistered users' sole contributions to Wikipedia are to cause disruption to articles and that they have fewer rights as editors compared with registered users. Studies in 2004 and 2007 found that although most vandalism (80%) is generated by IP editors, over 80% of edits by unregistered users were not vandalism.^[1] As current policy stands, unregistered users have the same rights as registered users to participate in the writing of Wikipedia.

Because of these misconceptions, edits by unregistered users may be mistakenly reverted and their contributions to talk pages discounted. This practice is against the philosophy of Wikipedia and founding principles of all Wikimedia projects. When dealing with unregistered contributors, the rule to remember is: IPs are human too.