Thanks to Vet Park Junkie, I have a guest editorial to post today. That’s a good thing since I am in Boston working on my other-other day job.
By Vet Park Junkie
Below are my wishes for posting behavior on yourct.com. Sometimes, I get frustrated seeing stuff that I felt was addressed long ago. The list is from decades of posting, comments on this blog, and Turfgrrl’s stated preferences.
- Threads have topics. Read the intro posted by Turfgrrl. Believe it or not, it takes work and thought to start a thread. It’s now your turn to use your brain.
- Be respectful of others, some use considerable energy to create their posts.
- Keep your post related to the topic. Before you tap “Submit Comment,” think. Off-topic posts are disruptive and disrespectful to those who are participating.
- Read all of the posts in a thread before posting anything.
- Posts commenting on spelling or grammar are trite. Also, don’t assume a poster’s first language is English.
- I don’t care that you know how to swear.
- Jumping from thread to thread and dumping your load in each is diarrhea.
- Don’t join fights. Ignore disruptive posts. A response encourages the behavior and will kill the thread. Note: some people incite emotions for just this reason.
- If you’ve just written an emotional response. Stop. Re-read the post that sparked your comment. Perhaps you misread it. If not, stop and re-write anyway. Imagine, you could be humorous or clever or …
- Rants say more about the person writing the post than anything that he or she is trying to communicate.
- If you must attack, use poetry. Don’t expect a response, though.
- Slander is bad. It’s called Libel in a blog. Posting private information on someone is bad. Remember that we’re taught to act civilized for a reason.
- Avoid “Me, too!” posts.
- Do not include a long article in a post. Include a link instead. Also, when someone uses a link, don’t do the favor and post the article under the assumption that no one has read it. We know how to follow links.
- ALL CAPS indicates shouting.
- Use references and give credit for quotes. Don’t plagiarize.
- Don’t expect blogging to resolve your personal issues.
- Keep your post related to the thread topic. Wait for an “Open Thread” for your unrelated posts.
- Keep your post related to the thread topic. Ask Turfgrrl to open a new thread if you think that one is needed.
- Keep your post related to the thread topic. If you’re posting on the same issue in thread after thread after thread, you gain more enemies than converts. If you’re posting on the same issue in thread after thread after thread, get help. If you’re posting on the same issue in thread after thread after thread, as TG said “Start your own blog.”
Didactic? Yup. Do I expect behavior to change? No, not really. Perhaps, just perhaps, someone will exercise a bit of self-editing.
