Training modules/Dealing with online harassment/slides/wwyd-what-counts-as-actionable

What would you do?: What counts as 'actionable'?

This module will periodically present you with “what would you do?” scenarios - hypothetical accounts of difficult situations. The goal in these sections is not to test whether you arrive at an objectively "correct" single answer, but rather to give you a chance to think about the different types of situations you may encounter, and the many issues and decision points that affect any eventual outcome you settle on.

User A contacts you to indicate that they feel unsafe because of the way User B has conducted himself in an on-wiki talk page dispute. In reviewing the talk page, you see some minimally aggressive discussion where User B is dismissive of User A's opinions and suggestions without giving a lot of explanation. Several edit summaries may be considered personal attacks, referring to User A's comments as "stupid" or "trolling," while User A's comments appear reasonable.

On deeper review, you find a long history of disagreements between User A and User B, including an incident the previous year where User B complained about personal attacks from User A to local administrators and it was recommended that User A avoid antagonizing User B. What further context could be useful to you in determining your appropriate response?

What if, all other circumstances being the same, User B had resorted to stronger language in the current confrontation? What if in your review you discovered that User A had been following User B's contributions?

If you were in this situation... what would you do? Leave your thoughts here.