Gumball Gumption posted:

Honestly a really chill response, thank you and it's not a big deal it's just a style of posting I see here a lot and drives me nuts. I don't know what to call it and I don't really know how to explain it but I really do think that little interaction is a great example of one of the things I think really derails threads, starts fights, and gets very little attention.

One person posts a belief or idea they have about a subject, the next poster reads it and picks up something between the lines that they find so offensive that this just has to be trolling and then reacts accordingly, and the discussion quickly goes off the rails as two people post earnestly at someone who they're absolutely convinced has to be trolling. And that poo poo when it's not caught and told to knock it off it just builds and builds because both posters become absolutely convinced they're not just right but the good guy in this position.

I'm not even sure if there's a great way to make rules around it but if we're trying a softer touch I think mods and IKs need to push back on situations where posters read between the lines and then jump to conclusions instead of at least asking the other poster to explain their position. Part of civil debate is allowing people the ability to rephrase and explain their position since we can all really recognize that the written word is not perfect at expressing meaning.