I wanted to remind readers of the “Roolz” (the commenting rules) for two reasons. First, there are some new commenters who should read them, as some people violate them from the get-go (e.g., calling other readers names or being generally uncivil).
Second, even long-time readers who know the rules should be reminded about the frequency-of-posting recommendation. Here’s rule number 9 (wasn’t that a Beatles song?)
9. Try not to dominate threads, particularly in a one-on-one argument. I’ve found that those are rarely informative, and the participants never reach agreement. A good guideline is that if your comments constitute over 10% of the comments on a thread, you’re posting too much.
The ten percent guideline is there to prevent people from commenting over and over again, as some try to do. Although I vary in how hard I enforce it, I don’t like to see someone posting, say, three comments out of the first ten that appear. Of course, as comments accumulate, the rule becomes less and less relevant, but be aware that if you make comments, they should generally constitute about 10% of what’s there at the time you comment. One way to avoid violating the guideline is to wait a while until comments accumulate, and then have your say.
Although I tolerate and sometimes like one-on-one discussions, they should generally be limited to four comments total (two each). Persistence in the face of fact can be construed as obtuseness, which is frowned on.
Oh, one more thing: please don’t leave comments consisting only of a link. At least add a few words about what the link refers to, or what it says.
Thanks!
The Beatles song was Revolution 9, but George Harrison did release an album called Cloud 9.
Me, I prefer Penhaligon’s LP [Love Potion] No.9, if you can find any.
Thanks for Da Roolz!