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 | This page in a nutshell: If someone is in a legitimate content dispute with you, don't call them a vandal. It makes you look stupid. |
Vandalism (n.) – Willful damage or destruction of any property with no other purpose than damage or destruction of said property.
It includes youths who break the windows of a house during a riot; it doesn't include someone who destroys a house in order to create a highway, no matter how bad of an idea the highway is.
The same concept exists on Wikipedia. An editor committing vandalism is one who tries to compromise the integrity of Wikipedia just to get a kick out of it. It does not include misguided or obtuse editors who change a page because they genuinely want to improve it. If you are referring to such edits as "vandalism", then you are misusing the word.
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