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2:08 PM

A: Etiquette for posting civil and informative comments

Another way to make a comment more friendly is, when possible, to cast it as a question rather than a statement. Consider the difference between: (Answer) doesn't work because of X. and When you do that, how do you account for the problem of X? It could well be that X isn't a problem -- ...

^^ I just came across this post by @MonicaCellio (via creepy chat searching, FTR). I think it's a good tool to keep in mind, and one that I intend to use more in my corrective comments in the future. There are also good points in other answers there. In general, corrective comments, especially to new users, should err on the side of friendliness in tone.

Monica Cellio

2:27 PM

@IsaacMoses A lot of what I said there I learned here on Mi Yodeya, by the way. (I now wonder what's in this creepy chat search, since I didn't mention Mi Yodeya there. :-) )

1 hour later…

Seth J

3:38 PM

Too localized?

Q: Should a Rabbi apologize for a comment that could be misunderstood?

If a prominent Rabbi (meaning someone who heads a community or institution, not just anyone who has semicha) makes a statement that is technically halachically correct/acceptable but is easily misconstrued or misunderstood. If that comment becomes public knowledge, meaning it is posted online and...

Double AA

@SethJ I'm thinking not constructive. "As it currently stands, this question is not a good fit for our Q&A format. We expect answers to be supported by facts, references, or specific expertise, but this question will likely solicit debate, arguments, polling, or extended discussion. "

Monica Cellio

You're asking specifically about apologizing, but would this question work better if it asked "what steps should he take?". I mean, it sounds like apologizing, while relevant, isn't his top priority -- correcting the mistaken impression would be, no? — Monica Cellio 22 secs ago

I was writing that while @DoubleAA was commenting here.

As it stands I think it's not a good question. I think it could be turned into a good question along the lines of "how should a prominent member of a community respond when his actions unintentionally reflect badly on that community?".

Monica Cellio

4:06 PM

@IsaacMoses oh, never mind -- I think I know what you did. Second-order search result, then? :-)

Isaac Moses

4:49 PM

@MonicaCellio Search -> Find interesting result -> Look at associated transcript for context -> Find interesting link -> read it

Monica Cellio

@IsaacMoses yup, that's what I eventually figured out. :-)

Isaac Moses

@MonicaCellio A nice component of MSO: a lot of people from different disciplines working together to define best practices in civil, productive discourse (of a particular form). It's awesome to have lessons learned here combined with lessons learned in other communities, and then have the combined best practices flow out to all of them. (Well, plus, with the way you span SEs and meta-SEs, you're partially a one-person embodiment of that.)

2 hours later…

Monica Cellio

6:38 PM

@IsaacMoses yes, I try to follow MSO to glean the wisdom of the network. But the main page turns over in 4-5 hours most of the time so I miss tons of stuff. Still, whatever we can get...

It's also interesting to see how different sites work, and I may be weird in scanning a new-to-me site's meta almost immediately after looking at their front page. And sometimes I find myself in an odd place; a couple days ago I actually created a C.SE account so I could ask a question, which led me into their chat room, which had a lot of meta/policy stuff happening...

(And I created an account on Islam for the sole purpose of bookmarking some of their meta posts. :-) )

Isaac Moses

@MonicaCellio I do the same thing - looking at a new site's meta.

Double AA

7:04 PM

@IsaacMoses @MonicaCellio I often check the badge page to see how mature a site is. If they have few/many gold/silver badges...

Monica Cellio

@DoubleAA huh. I never thought of that, but it's an interesting perspective. Thanks!

I also tend to look at the top-users view (all-time) -- what's the range of rep and more important what clustering is there. Does a site have 2 or 3 top people and a bunch of 101s, or a good middle range, or what?

Isaac Moses

@MonicaCellio @DoubleAA For site activity proxies, I like to look at the age of the bottom question on the front page as well as the spacing in time between the top few questions on /questions?sort=newest

Double AA

@IsaacMoses Is the Mishkan question set for reopening?

I haven't really been following but you seem to have.

Isaac Moses

@DoubleAA I voted so.

Double AA

@IsaacMoses Your wish is my command.

Isaac Moses

7:11 PM

@DoubleAA It's not long. Why don't you read it and see what you think?

@DoubleAA Thanks for the vote of confidence and the mod-action, anyway. :)

Double AA

@IsaacMoses He's asking why we don't build a Mishkan today, because the idea of a Mikdash is a later innovation?

Not bad actually. Where does the Torah say its current command will be superseded with a command to build a stone structure?

Anyway, I have cooking to finish. I wanted to make sure it didn't stay closed for too long and get the OP disappointed about the system.

Isaac Moses

@DoubleAA Right. I think that's a worthy question. When you get a chance, take a look at his comments (previously part of the question). There's some interesting stuff there, but would take more spadework than I'm willing to invest right now to incorporate them properly.

@DoubleAA Thanks for your help. May the sweet taste of your acts of chessed seep into your Shabbat food.

(Except the savory dishes, which you may not want to be too sweet. Then we want the chessed to impart a nice umami taste, perhaps.)

Monica Cellio

@IsaacMoses :-)

2 hours later…

Isaac Moses

9:05 PM

@DhoweedYaAgov, I just happened to notice that one of my FB friends Liked this: facebook.com/pages/Jewish-Thessaloniki-and-the-Balkans/… Maybe you'll find it useful to your quest.

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