Talk:Anonymous (hacker group)/FAQ

Many of these questions arise frequently on the talk page concerning Anonymous.

To view an explanation to the answer, click the [show] link to the right of the question.

Q1: I have an issue with Anonymous being referred to as a "group".

A1: The purpose for the disambiguation in the title is so that readers know we are not talking about Anonymous (the concept of being unknown). If you have a better suggestion, please include it in your comments.

Q2: Why isn't the most recent activity associated with Anonymous presented here?

A2: Wikipedia is not a news service or a promotional space for events. Important topics related to Anonymous may be included once they have become notable and are reported upon by verifiable media sources known for accuracy. These sources can then be cited within the article.

Q3: Why isn't an important topic related to Anonymous included in this article?

A3: This article is a work in progress. A topic related to Anonymous may simply go unnoticed by Wikipedia editors, lack notability, lack verifiable citations, or all of the above. If a topic related to Anonymous is notable, please help by editing and include it in the article if you can, but remember to try to confirm the accuracy of the topic with verifiable citations. If you wish to remain anonymous then just type what you would like to see in the article on the talkpage, so others can cut and paste for you. Try to tell us the web address, book, newspaper, or wherever you found the information, this will help your edit to last longer.

Q4: A particular wing of Anonymous is not liked, respected, or appreciated by another wing of Anonymous. Some consider specific sub-groups to be a splinter organizations, and no longer part of Anonymous. As such, their actions shouldn't be attributed to Anonymous. Why isn't this contention mentioned in the article? Why aren't the actions by these groups excluded from this page?

A4: See answer to previous question. There is currently no way to discern in clear terms who comprises various sub-groups of Anonymous, and individuals may only be judged by their actions in a given situation. A "member" of Anonymous may act as a cause oriented figure in a particular project, and then switch to other projects or non-participation in minutes, without a paper trail to document this. This often presents media sources with confusion, leaving attribution of actions unclear. Lacking citation, this article cannot discern which individuals and sub-groups are and are not members of Anonymous at a given time, and which actions are and are not attributed to Anonymous. Strict sourcing is necessary to reference activities as ventures carried out by Anonymous. This article may reference schisms and group infighting, but cannot exclude any wing of Anonymous from representation if verifiable sourcing is provided.

Q5: Can I leave a message for Anonymous here?

A5: Sorry, but no. This talk page is only for discussing improvements to the Anonymous article. The members of the group do not monitor this page and therefore will not see any messages directed to them. Messages left for Anonymous will be removed as violations of WP:NOTAFORUM.