 | This is anessay oncivility. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one ofWikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not beenthoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
 | This page in a nutshell: Any personal attack – no matter how light or severe – is wrong. Don't do it. |
TheWikipedia:Civility policy states the following (as of July 18, 2017):
Civility is part of Wikipedia'scode of conduct and one of itsfive pillars. The civility policy describes the standards expected of users and provides appropriate ways of dealing with problems when they arise. Stated simply, editors should always treat each other with consideration and respect. They should focus on improving the encyclopedia while maintaining a pleasant editing environment by behaving politely, calmly and reasonably, even during heated debates.
Wikipedia's civility expectations apply to all editors during all interactions on Wikipedia, including discussions at user and articletalk pages, inedit summaries and in any other discussion with or about fellowWikipedians.
Simply being "not as mean as the next editor could be" is no excuse for being uncivil. Note that "editors should always treat each other with consideration and respect" and not "editors should almost always treat each other with consideration and respect, unless it would be really funny not to" – treat editors with respect.
While severity may come in to play for any final decision toward action against uncivil behavior, just being "less severe" does not make it okay. One editor may believe such an attack is "weak" but another may see it differently. It is best to avoid any personal attack, no matter how weak.
Even if the person doing the attack does not mean to, it can still be considered disruptive. FromWikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Portals#Good faith and disruption:
Inappropriate behaviour driven by good intentions is still inappropriate. Editors acting in good faith may still be sanctioned when their actions are disruptive.
A weak or less severe personal attack is still a personal attack. Don't do it.