User blog:PyroNacht/Forgotten Concept: Assuming Good Faith

''Hi guys! Today, I wanted to go over what I consider a "forgotten" concept here on Fandom. In our times in chat, we often overlook the fact that we are not assuming good faith- for instance, whenever somebody with a semi-shady username enters, people assume they're there to troll. So, without further ado, I'd like to discuss the topic of Assuming Good Faith.''

What Is Assuming Good Faith?

 * As covered here, assuming good faith is believing that somebody who might have made an error is not doing anything out of ill will. Essentially, the fact of the matter is, assuming good faith means you are giving somebody the support that they are not trying to be a burden on the community, but rather, attempting to help it in some form. However, many people tend to believe the worst in people (negativity is far easier to approach than positivity, unfortunately!), and that can potentially be damaging for some communities.

My Personal Experiences

 * There are two instances where I have questioned the policy on my time on Fandom, truth be told.


 * One instance is when I was a newer user, and I was extremely suspicious of every new individual that entered the Warriors Wiki chat-room. I immediately thought I could tell if they were going to vandalize pages or troll or whatnot. However, in doing so, I turned out to be wrong on multiple occasions. See, if you assume the worst in somebody (and they end up knowing..), then they're going to feel less inclined to work with the community due to the unfriendly factor.


 * Another instance is where the assuming good faith was not placed on me- ironically enough, the user that did this is now one of my best friends. But when I first joined Central, he accused me of being the Alaska troll (apparently that had been a thing in 2013 during my absence). Personally, I felt rather attacked and angry, so I chewed him out. He then realized that he had made a mistake and apologized and now we're best friends.

Believing in People

 * I personally think that the amount of belief placed in certain individuals can make or break a community. If too many users get involved in what they think they know, then a community can easily fall apart when the truth comes out and feelings get hurt. Personally, I live by the "innocent until proven guilty" sort of logic in my life- and even though I tend to give many second chances in my own life, I still prefer to place faith in people as I would want them to place faith in me.

In Conclusion

 * Don't assume the worst in people. They might actually surprise you.
 * Diplomacy is the key to understanding others- you cannot fight fire with fire and expect something good to come out of it.