Recently I was reading an article on a popular photography website, something about how to make images look authentic. I had my thoughts on what the author was saying, but it didn’t really occur to me to comment. However, I scrolled down to the comments section to see what others were saying.
The next thirty minutes of my life consisted of a journey down a whirlpool of caustic, childish bickering. Every time I choose to look at a comments section I seem to have this experience. Why do I do this to myself? Am I the proprietor of some masochistic disorder? Do I take pleasure in the drama? I don’t think so. The only reason I can think of is that I am genuinely interested in other people’s experiences and what they have to say. That's my fault.
So if you’re like me, and you think that discourse among adult strangers is actually a healthy thing, possible without digressing into some sort of mud flinging tournament, what do you do? We can either accept the unfortunate but common notion that comments sections are doomed to this kind of behavior. Or, we can come up with a plan.
The plan is to lay out a simple set of rules that helps to promote and encourage the exchange of worthwhile opinion and experience from which we can all learn. Here is what I came up with; a guide to comment section etiquette.
1. If you have something to say, don't.
Ok, rule number one is not quite that simple. What I'm getting at is that we should consider why we actually want to respond to a video, article, comment etcetera. If it’s because we want to point out how stupid someone is, or how much we disagree with them, maybe hold that thought? Try to think of something that adds to a conversation or starts one. If your comment doesn’t do this, don’t say anything.
2. Be careful with your language.
Comments sections, like text messages, lack normal in-person communication cues, such as tone of voice, or facial expression that tell us what someone is thinking. Often, a comment that is meant fairly innocuously is interpreted as an attack because it wasn’t worded with precision. It’s worth the extra time to write good, careful sentences, you’ll think about what you’re saying and possibly find that rule number one applies, which will save you the trouble of commenting altogether! Hooray! Time saved.
3. Do unto others.
This one is really easy. Think about what you’ve written before you hit that “post” button, and if it seems like something you wouldn’t want to read directed toward yourself, consult rule number two, then number one respectively. As with rule one, and two, you may find that you no longer wish to express your opinion, saving yourself time in your day for a nice cappuccino, or a few sets of push-ups, or something else good.
Now that we’ve gotten a bit of fun out of the way, here’s the biggest problem I see: The majority of salty people that live in comment sections, like barnacles on a pier, are not going to be interested in any sort of etiquette guide. The good news is that if the majority of people adhere to high communication standards, and a high degree of respect for others, even when posting anonymously on the Internet, there could be a beneficial knock-on effect.
But Matt, what happens if someone offends me? Or comes after me directly? While it’s unnecessary to handle everybody in our lives with kid gloves, sometimes it can pay dividends to be extra careful with people we have never met before. My advice for when you are the unfortunate recipient of an attack is to simply not respond. Here, we are best served by the age old internet adage, “please don’t feed the trolls”.
