Don't be a jerk
Don't be a dick. If people abided by this, we wouldn't need any other policies. This is a corollary of ignore all rules.
Fundamentals
"Don't be a dick" is the fundamental rule of all social spaces. Every other policy for getting along is a special case of it. Although nobody is empowered to ban or block somebody for being a dick, it is still a bad idea to be one.
No definition of being a dick has been provided. This is deliberate. If a significant number of reasonable people suggest, whether bluntly or politely, that you are being a dick, the odds are good that you are not entirely in the right. Note also that being right about an issue does not mean you're not being a dick. Dicks can be right — but they're still dicks.
Telling someone "Don't be a dick" is something of a dick-move in itself, so don't bandy the criticism about lightly. It is also an assumption of bad faith to cite this policy when Don't be dense is sufficient (See that page for advice on citing it).
Why is it a bad thing?
Generally speaking, if you are being a dick, the likelihood of whatever point you are trying to make (or whatever you're doing) reaching the ears of your intended audience dramatically diminishes. Why? Simple: no one likes listening to dicks, no matter how correct or in the right they are, and dicks often offend their listeners.
Remedies
If you've been labeled as a dick, or if you suspect that you may be one, there is hope. The first step is to realize that you are being a dick. Ask yourself what is causing you to be one. Change your behavior and your mode of presentation. If needed, apologize to anyone who you may have been a dick to. It's okay! People will take notice of your willingness to cooperate and will almost always meet your efforts with increased respect.
Additional notes
Open source software projects don't suffer as badly — "There are clearly Complete Strops that end up in module-waving at twenty paces, but the social sanction of 'You're being a twat and that's not going in the distribution' appears to work." [1] Small wikis and open-content spaces tend to have only the rule: "Don't be a dick and I'm who determines whether you're being one." This method, however, does not scale to one the size of Wikipedia.
See also
- Don't disrupt Wikipedia to make a point
- No personal attacks
- It is sometimes claimed that "Don't be a dick" is merely shorthand for w:Wikipedia:Civility and w:Wikipedia:Assume good faith.
- WikipediAhimsa
- Wikipedia:Don't Be Evil
External link
- What Makes A Fuckhead? (David R. Kendrick) ("dick" in the context of this article having originally been a euphemism for "fuckhead"; warning: also contains strong language)