New policies on our Facebook pages will ask for goodwill from all
By Andrew Harris
Many of we social mediates have been guilty of discourteous or condescending comments, using words as a weapon in our little silent wars that can never be won. The wisest among us, and the youngest, read the threads of others, but don’t participate in the “likes” or comment. They read comments like an ever-worsening pile up on the highway, watching friends and family crashing head on into the heap, lots of wincing.
We here at the Sun are dedicated to providing one of the most robust public forums in our community. Some really great debates and some really funny and witty comments take place. Friends can leave a last digital footnote on an obituary post and strangers can congratulate a youth sports team that won the big game. Lots of good comes from our Facebook forums, and…….
Lots of soul sucking circular bickering between various factions, personalities, and trolls. National and State politics is the typical catalyst for viatorial over almost any subject. Name calling, baseless accusations, regurgitated soundbites, slander, vulgarity, and slurs erupt over even innocuous headlines that include a political figure. As someone who has spent more time in a pub than the average bloke, the back and forth resembles a drunk divorcing couple at 1:45am after a full night of drinking cheap tequila.
Let’s have a reset and hope for a better back and forth in the future.
New user guidelines for all Sun Facebook page users are intended to make our conversations “teen friendly,” more interesting and less caustic, and more enjoyable.
- PG-13 is the new standard. If your comment isn’t appropriate for my teenager, it will be deleted
- No personal attacks, no vulgarity, no baseless accusations
- Better bickering: Debate is an art form, arguing is annoying. If you are moved to engage with another user about a comment or subject, do so like Socrates, not like a slap boxer.
- More humor, less hubris. Some of our regular commentators don’t just have interesting takes on the subject at hand, but they are hilarious!! Good natured humor, witty comments, and clever play of words will be celebrated and rewarded.
As of this missive, our moderators will delete any comments that are not PG-13, are not related to the topic, or are caustic. Comments that are deleted will stand as a single warning, a second instance of nastiness will result in banishment from future comments on our platform.
On the other side of this coin will be the creation of a big honor, “Socrates of the Sun,” for a commentator with the most wit, insight, and constructive commentary.
It is my honor to bestow this honor on a regular commentator who gives opinions, reactions, and rebuttals with clever use of language without mudslinging. Tony Hilliard is nominated to this high honor for leading by example, fostering intellectual debate, and often with wry humor.
Thank you for considering this latest effort to keep the Sun social media sites a community-minded forum. Feel free to send us nominations for the honor of “Socrates of the Sun,” and feel free to report slander, slur, and vulgarity to via our Facebook Messenger
