User:Viriditas/Don't hold articles hostage
 | This is an essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
 | This page in a nutshell: Don't hold articles hostage to your POV with maintenance tags. Use tags judiciously with the goal of resolving the problem on the talk page and improving the topic. |
Maintenance tagging is intended to raise an issue to a wider audience for cleanup and repair. An editor will often add a tag because they cannot easily fix the problem. Editors who tag articles are expected to create corresponding talk page sections describing the problem and if at all possible, to suggest a reasonable solution. Tags are meant to be used as an interim fix, not as a permanent addition.
Hostage tagging[edit]
Controversial articles that attract dispute will often appear littered with maintenance tags. These tags may accumulate over time due to the good intentions of multiple editors. However, the maintenance tagging process can also be abused. In isolated cases, POV pushers will use maintenance tags to hold an article hostage to a particular minority POV. This strategy results in a badge of shame, making it appear that there are serious problems with an article that might otherwise be perfectly acceptable.
The strategy of the Wikipedia article hostage taker involves forcing other editors to agree to their demands. Hostage takers will remove the tags only if other editors agree to their POV, no matter how fringe or extreme. If their demands are not met, the maintenance tags will be permanently affixed to the headers of every section and inline text as a badge of shame intended to ward off editors and decrease readership.