Excellent work moderators and also all those who have added suggestions–beautiful, thanks!
Re: #14 new”
“One way to improve the discussion is by discovering ones that are already happening. Please spend some time browsing the topics here before replying or starting your own, and you’ll have a better chance of meeting others who share your interests.”
I think this is a really good point, especially since it seems there are increasing numbers of topics/discussions that are repeats, some even with the same or nearly the same discussion title. Obviously in a forum with so many discussions and topics a certain amount of overlap in discussions can’t be avoided, and it’s also not always easy to find and know whether a topic is already on the forum, and hence that one’s topic, idea, question or comment would be better placed in the earlier discussion. Or sometimes if a topic is very long, it’s better to start another one.
But I wonder what could be done to encourage and make it easier for everyone, especially new people (who aren’t familiar with past discussions) to pay attention to this guideline? It might be good to mention the search function. However I know sometimes I’ve searched for a topic but still can’t find it (even when I’m trying to find a previous discussion I’m remembering and want to go back to it). Sometimes this is because I’m not searching the exact right title or terms, or it could be that I’m remembering a topic that came up but was ‘hidden’ somewhere in another discussion, etc. One thing I’ve found helpful in discussions is when someone who recalls another discussion related to the topic posts a link to it.
Although implicitly covered in many other of the guidelines (eg #s, new version, 31, 33, 23–28, 17, 19, 59, 79, 81, 83 as well as in @Erika_ODonnell’s excellent suggestion of incorporating the ‘Advice to Rahula’ MN 61), I would like to see an explicite mention of the type of sarcasm that is really a mask for ill-will (or even subtly attacking). To me, some of what might be called sarcasm is not a problem at all, for example types falling under the category of humor (without ill-will) such as ironic or ‘real-life’ humor (which I quite enjoy) but I’ve also seen sarcasm on SC Discourse that really just seems to be a cover for an attitude of arrogance, superiority and even at times ill-will toward another person (so in that way, passive-aggresive though usually someone engaging in this does not recognize it as such…. but maybe they might be able to see they’re being sarcastic). Often this type of behavior seems to get worse as disagreements in discussions go on and on.
Also somewhat related, I recall a post by @sujato, probably in a discussion on trolling, in which he mentioned that it was unlikely in this type of forum that one could convince another of one’s view. If I find that post I’ll be more specific but I really agreed with it and thought it was helpful for people to consider when continuing to press a certain point. There’s definitely a time for ‘letting go’ (even of something that seems important)! In fact there’s a sutta (sorry, can’t recall which at the moment) about ‘right speech’ where the Buddha explicitly outlines when to make an effort ‘correcting’ (or something similar) someone and when to simply practice equanimity.
I liked the following ( #14 old guideline), and wonder if it or something similar could be kept (perhaps added to #19, new guidleline)
“Be respectful of the topics and the people discussing them, even if you disagree with some of what is being said.”
By the way, I’ve always found it helpful when the moderators explicitly mention something in a discussion such as posting a ‘warning’ or friendly reminder or other things like saying they’re moving the discussion to another category or asking people to start a new discussion, etc. I think it’s a good reminder for all of us of what to pay attention to. Speaking of this, I remember there were recently some suggestions about making these guidelines much more visible on the site (or even always accessible via a link on each page) and I’m hoping the moderators will do that.
One last thing–I remember some time ago a member posting that he didn’t use the ‘like’ button and @sujato replying that it was valuable to do so though I can’t recall all the reasons why or how ‘likes’ specifically relate to the posts–does it make discussion/comments show up in a different order or…? Can someone explain more about this? Obviously I realize it’s a nice thing to let people know you appreciate (or particularly like or are grateful for) their post but what else is is significant, in terms of how the site operates, about ‘liking’?
Jut thought of one other suggestion, that is to say something along the lines of being a good example to others in how and what you post. This would certainly be in line with what the Buddha taught! I thought of this in reading @cjmacie’s post which pointed to how behavior can degenerate. And thanks to our moderators and so many others who are excellent examples!