Wikipedia:Ultras

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: Ultra editors are overly enthusiastic about a topic, even disregarding some Wikipedia policies, but edit in good faith. Remember to be civil when encountering them.

Ultras are groups of sports fans, usually of association football teams, noted for their fanatical support. (Fans is short for fanatics.) Ultras sometimes display their support for the team by setting off flares or smoke bombs or other very visible behavior. Some groups of ultras are hooligans and fight with the supporters of other teams, but most ultras simply show their support for the team, possibly in interesting or extreme ways.

Wikipedia has editors and groups of editors who are ultras, fanatics in their support for a particular topic. Some of the topics that have ultra support include film and television areas. Certain directors and actors, and certain studios, certain networks/platforms, certain shows, and certain franchises seem to have groups of ultra-loyal editors. A characteristic of film ultra editors is that they are enthusiastic in their support for articles on films that are planned or in production, or for their favorite television series and channels. Sometimes they try to put articles into article space that do not satisfy film or television notability guidelines, or mention their favorite media in detail where it may not be appropriate (i.e. detailing the media in excitement on a sober article such as the article detailing media properties changed and affected by 9/11), but they are acting in good faith, if overly enthusiastic good faith.

Just as sports teams have ultras following the team at the stadium, they also may follow the team in Wikipedia. Teams that do not satisfy the guidelines of the highest tier of professional play have editors who want to create articles on their players and the team.

Ultra editors, because of their persistence on topics that do not appear to satisfy the notability guidelines, and because they disregard neutral point of view, are sometimes mistaken for paid editors. Editors who are single-purpose accounts who seem to ignore notability and neutrality should be asked whether they have a conflict of interest. However, if they say that they do not, and that they are fans, the good faith assumption is that they are fans. That does not mean that notability, neutrality, or generally sticking to a single account should be disregarded, but it does mean that ultras may be persistent or even disruptive for reasons other than conflict of interest.

See also