Water Cooler Rules

When deciding if a subject or comment is appropriate on Wiki imagine you are standing by the office water-cooler with some colleagues. Would you say there what you are about to write here?

If not, don't write it.

(Thanks to JohnPassaniti)

You're welcome, but actually I believe the water-cooler metaphor originally came from Ward. Regardless of the origin, do realize that WaterCoolerRules doesn't prevent people from bringing up controversial subjects (such as those related to religion, sexuality, politics, etc.). What it does however is limit people to only writing on Wiki what they would say to each other if they were standing face-to-face. You might want to compare this with FidonetRules. --JohnPassaniti

The analogy is good, as far as it goes, and might have gone far enough in preventing the ad hominem attack on Julia Roberts that occurred recently. But there's a big difference between WikiWikiWeb and the water-cooler that I don't need to explain. If I were standing at a water-cooler with a few thousand strangers, I probably wouldn't say anything at all. I've never tried to hurt anyone on Wiki, although I've offended a couple of times (that I know of). Does this mean I should not write anything? --WaldenMathews

No. "imagine you are standing by the office water-cooler with some colleagues", you might talk about religion, you'll probably talk about work. You wouldn't go out of your way to insult someone and if you accidently offended you would retract and apologise, or you and they might leave in a huff. If someone was a bore and tried to pull every conversation around to the previous nights performance of their football team ("Sorry Phil I really cannot see why Joe Smo's 40 yard touchdown run last night is like our network architecture...") you might stop going.

On the other hand if the people at the cooler were talking about a subject you really weren't interested in you wouldn't jump in and tell them to go back to their desks. You would probably just get some water and leave. Next time you came back it might be different.

You would probably just get some water and leave.

Unless it's a ConversationYouCantStayAwayFrom, and then there is a case for a CodeOfHospitality -- MartinNoutch

My problem with this analogy: I never worked in an office with a water-cooler (Austria, Europe). I can only assume that WaterCoolerRules are similar to TalkingAtTheCoffeeBreakRules?. But this talk might also be about the family, the weather, holidays, the children, sports, politics ... I don't think that the majority of WikiCitizens would like this on the Wiki. --HelmutLeitner

I grew up a country lad, so of course there were no water-coolers in the BigBlueRoom. We did however have smoko breaks: boil the billy, hand roll a smoke, take a break. Later I moved to the city, did factory work and such, and there they too had smoko breaks. Only in the last ten years have I worked as a professional in offices with water coolers ... and they don't generally don't have a smoko break, to my sadness.

The WaterCoolerRules are different from the CoffeeBreakRules?, possibly due to the former being ephemeral and accidental moments, while the latter are more ritualised, being regularly scheduled daily events, where absence is the exception, not presence. Talk at the water cooler usually swings back around to work matters, especially if the boss happens past, while shop talk during the coffee break is usually frowned on. Socialising talk at the water cooler is usually brief and opportunistic, and shallow, while great raging debates, including politics and religion, are perfectly acceptable during the coffee break. -- EricScheid

Isn't the water cooler also where certain men in the office (well, some offices at least) gather to talk about ogling women...?

Something to think about. Maybe the analogy isn't quite so apt after all.

I've spent quite a bit of time working in places that had a water cooler, and not once did I ever see people talking around it. Usually they just go to the other person's cubical and chit-chat without waiting for a water break.

watch out for rules and regulations...

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