Training modules/Dealing with online harassment/slides/why-do-you-need-to-care-about-harassment

Basics: Why do you need to care about harassment?

Online harassment has been an issue for a long time, almost since the launch of the internet itself. Areas of the internet where many people converge and communicate openly with each other – for instance, forums, multiplayer games, and social media – are particularly susceptible to it. Harassment and bullying can lead to distress and depression in people subjected to those things (pdf link). In a survey published by the Pew Research Center in 2014, almost three-quarters of adults using the internet have seen someone be harassed in some way online. Two in five have experienced it first-hand.

A culture of harassment has been one of the major criticisms of the Wikimedia community since its inception in 2001. Researchers from the Palo Alto Research Center in 2008 found that less-active editors who make two to nine edits a month were seeing their edits reverted up to three times as often than they had been in 2004. But it's not only low-volume editors who encounter harassment – long-term contributor David Shankbone wrote in 2008 that "if you become a target on Wikipedia, do not expect a supportive community."

When vulnerable types of users are targeted by harassment, this can lead to a lack of diversity in editors and a lower quality of content. When users have their privacy compromised, it is likely that their involvement with online projects like Wikipedia is greatly reduced or stops altogether.

The Trust and Safety team at the Wikimedia Foundation (shortened to "T&S") is working to improve these processes on our end, but the majority of harassment complaints will be seen by the community first. It can be complicated to deal with often complex and subtle harassment claims and cases. This module will help prepare you for the best ways to deal with them.