Friendly block

From Rationalwikiwki

A tradition unique to RationalWiki, the so-called friendly block is a common event - in fact, far more common than any other kind of block.

Sysops often slap each other, and non-sysops, with short blocks, often utilizing strange block comments. Ideally friendly blocks should take place only between consenting adults.

Sometimes new editors are briefly blocked as a form of irritation initiation rite. The newcomers probably won’t notice it unless they happen to try and save something during the short time that the block operates.

New sysops are also encouraged to "practice" their new blocking skills by randomly blocking a few better-known editors.

There is a case for practicing blocking. The following happened to a sysop on another Wiki. She noticed that the user page of the respected site owner had been vandalized. She set about blocking the vandal. (It looked like the work of an immature boy but it may just have been a girl.) She had never had reason to block anyone before. By the time she had worked out what she needed to do and filled in the “reason for block” and the “duration of block” sections someone else had blocked him. No harm was done but there could have easily been 20 blanked pages, which would have been tedious to revert. A short autoblock is a good way of practising without anyone feeling threatened, if one is in an environment where a short block might make someone feel threatened.