Wikipedia:Don't accuse someone of a personal attack for accusing of a personal attack

This is an essay on civility. 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.

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This page in a nutshell: Don't retaliate if accused of a personal attack. Return to the discussion of the issue at hand.

Sometimes, Wikipedians argue. Even though we don't have mastodons anymore, human nature is such that sometimes they still all get hot under the collar every now and again, and have a tendency to accuse each other of personal attacks. Whether founded or not, this often leads the attackee (or one of his or her allies) to reply that this accusation is itself a personal attack. And around and around the argument goes, and everyone is now only arguing about arguing.

All of this, of course, accomplishes exactly nothing but to demonstrate the thin skin of editors, chew up the talk page archives (especially that of the Administrators' Incident Noticeboard) and act as a time waster. Editors are urged to return to the discussion of the issue at hand, and to continue writing a useful encyclopedia.