Wikivoyage/Form of address in articles
Wikivoyage is a travel guide and not a collection of personal travel reminiscences. This article gives advice on using personal pronouns.
'I' and 'We' in articles[edit]
First person pronouns ("I", "we", "me", "us", "mine", "our") should not appear in travel articles, nor should the writer him/herself be referred to ("The author believes that..."), because lots of authors collectively contribute to our articles. If you have important information, be brave and write it down. Writing ("I think...") is a little sad. If you write something in error, sooner or later it will be corrected. See also Neutral point of view for more specific information on the appropriateness of statements of opinion in our articles.
Exceptions[edit]
Of course, there are exceptions, but these lie outside the Namespaces:
- When you address a Wikivoyager, for example "Welcome to Wikivoyage, we hope you enjoy contributing here".
- When writing on an individual user's Talk page, the person is, of course, being addressed directly.
- On your own User page you will obviously write only about yourself. In fact, it's obligatory!
'You' in articles[edit]
In some situations, to avoid outrageous circumlocutory constructions, you may also address the reader directly.
Normally, our editors copy Queen Elizabeth II and choose the neutral pronoun "one" in travel descriptions. If you really need to address the reader directly in a travel article, informal language is preferred.
(Editors speak informally to each other. So all articles in the Namespaces use informal language.)