All the posts I make here go automatically to Twitter, and since those include the Jesus and Mo posts, which regularly get reported as “offensive” (those posts are also removed in Pakistan thanks to the cooperation of WordPress), many of my completely apolitical and  innocuous posts get a “trigger warning”, like this one from yesterday. Below is how I see it:

Feeder cam gets great bird shots https://t.co/v5za3MeXtG

— Jerry Coyne (@Evolutionistrue) October 16, 2021

But some people, like reader Cate, see it (and many other of my tweets) as below: having “potentially sensitive content”. You have to click “View” to see the links and other things (in this case, a picture of a bird).

Cate went through the “change settings” procedure, which I replicated; this enables you to always see the full tweet with “sensitive content” without clicking “View”. I’ve added screenshots; her sequence of steps, which is easy, is indented.

Ok, here’s the maze they put you through:

On the lefthand side menu of Twitter, choose “More.”

 

From that menu, choose “Settings & Privacy”:

Then “Privacy & Safety”:

Now click the arrow to the right “Content you can see” –and check the box next to “Display media that may contain sensitive content.”

The comments on this site have, on average, gotten more splenetic and insulting in the last year, though of course most readers are, as always, civil and polite. I attribute the rise in vitriol to peevishness induced by the pandemic, something that’s afflicted even me. But that is no excuse to call people names, and you won’t get a “pandemic pass” if you try to make comments like this, from one “Robert Ottley”:

In reply to GimmePaws. [JAC: GimmePaws was also rude, as you’ll see at the link]

Totally agree. At least as regards Covid, I am afraid the moron is Jerry Coyne. Why does he continue to display the spurious Covid ‘Cases’ dashboard. Why not contextualise it with all the other causes of daily death especially including those due to withheld or delayed healthcare.

Needless to say, this one didn’t appear, and Mr. Ottley, or whoever he is, won’t be commenting here again. This is only one example of several like these I’ve received in the last week or so.

It amazes me that people come over here and insult not just the host, but each other; and it’s getting worse. I urge you to do two things:

1. Read the “Roolz”, or guidelines for commenting, on the left sidebar or here. Obey them.
2. Reread your comment before you post it, ensuring that it is not insulting to the host or to other commenters.

This isn’t one of those sites where people delight in gutting each other. I can recommend other websites if you feel you need to take out your venom on others.

You normally have 15 minutes after you make a comment to edit it. A few readers have reported that this isn’t working for them. I asked my webmaster to look into it, and here’s the report:

I did check into it, and the edit function seems to work for me with Chrome, Firefox, Safari under normal circumstances unless I enable Private/Incognito Mode — and I’m not sure there will be a fix for that.

It could also be affected by ad blockers and browser settings that prevent saving cookies, or if a comment is held for moderation it won’t show up right away and therefore likely won’t be editable.

I’ll do more research and see if there’s another solution, and I can reach out to the plugin developer as well. I’ll keep you posted.

If you’re still having problems, weigh in below. We aim to please!

Normally you have 15 minutes to edit your comments after you post them. I have one email from a reader who says this function isn’t working. If it’s not working for you, either, please let me know in the comments, and I’ll work on having it fixed if it’s a general issue.

—Mgmt.

Perhaps it’s the pandemic making people peevish (I am one such victim), but I’ve noticed lately that some commenters are calling each other names, saying they’re ignorant, and generally making unconstructive comments that are meant to denigrate somebody else.

As you know, I don’t like that kind of discourse, so please don’t engage in it. If you think someone has made a dumb argument or weak or insupportable points, say so, but do it civilly, and explain why. I don’t like one-on-one altercations, especially when accompanied by personal insults, on my site.

I ask those of you who may have done this to please review the commenting rules (“Da Roolz”) on the left side of the screen, or go here.

I fully understand that someone’s comments may make you mad, but I urge you to resist the temptation to engage in insults, impugning someone’s knowledge, etc. Our purpose here is discussion, learning, enlightenment, and entertainment. And yes, also disagreement. Just do it civilly, please.

I will give warnings if I see it, and repeated violations will lead to you being kicked off and directed to websites where altercations and insults are the usual fare.

Once again I must remind commenters of two things.

1.) Please follow the commenting Roolz listed here. Follow them scrupulously. If you are new here, read them before you post.

2.) Do not dominate threads. Rule #9 says this:

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.

People are blithely ignoring this. Remember, the thread is for everyone, not for individual people to dominate. It disturbs me to see an individual commenting over and over again, as if they want to control the discourse.

3.) Be civil. Do not call the other commenters names, accuse them of being dishonest, or liars, or any other nasty epithet. If you have a strong disagreement with someone’s ideas, go after the ideas, not the person.

Thank you.

I suppose I’m bawling up a drainspout here (to steal a phrase from Mencken), but if you’re commenting on this site, please read Da Roolz (the commenting rules), which you can find here or on the left sidebar. We’re getting a lot of new commenters who bull their way in, expecting this site to be like Ph*rnyg*l*, in which all kinds of rudeness is not only tolerated, but is de rigueur.

Nope, not here. You must be civil and not insult either other readers or your host. And don’t start crying “free speech!” if you’re banned.  I repeat Rule #22:

Finally, do not cry “censorship” if I don’t post your comment. I reserve the right to trash comments that are hyperreligious, hyper-creationist, uncivil, trollish in nature, or otherwise inappropriate.  There is no “right” to have every comment you make published on this site. If that is “censorship,” then it’s also “censorship” when the editorial section of a newspaper doesn’t publish some readers’ letters in the interest of keeping a civil and interesting atmosphere. I try to use as light a hand as I can consonant with keeping an atmosphere of civility and sanity. If you have something to say that I won’t go along with, you are free to start your own site. Readers who are obnoxious and keep making the same argument again and again, adding nothing new, will be considered trolls and subjection to sanction.

I blame the onslaught of peevish, splenetic, and uncivil people on the pandemic. But, virus or not, they won’t be tolerated.

Just a reminder to readers—actually, two reminders.

First: do be aware of how often you post on a thread. “Da Roolz“, or the commenting guidelines, say this:

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.

I can raise the limit to 15%, but to my mind some threads are being dominated by people who can’t resist posting over and over. This tends to intimidate others who think that “regulars” get preference. I’d prefer you to combine your comments if possible.

Also, be aware that I get several hundred emails a day—so many that I either forget some or don’t have time to acknowledge, much less answer, everyone.  My suggestion is that if you have things to send to me (and I do appreciate links and tips, which inspire many of my posts), please do so only once every two or three days. Otherwise I’m in danger of losing things. The exceptions include errors, typos, and other things that should be corrected immediately.

Thanks!
—Mgmt.