303 votes
Accepted

To reach out: on Monica, the Lavender community, and the future of the Stack Exchange network

Thank you for this heartfelt, encouraging message, and for being willing to have the conversation that preceded it instead of just walking away. We need more of that at Stack Exchange. It's too easy ...
Monica Cellio's user avatar
112 votes

If you're gonna talk Politics, you must respect those who disagree

TL;DR: Don't go into chat without thinking about the other side. Don't be a Sith. I've never been particularly involved in politics. Sure, my age is a major factor in that, but I consider myself ...
HDE 226868's user avatar
101 votes

To reach out: on Monica, the Lavender community, and the future of the Stack Exchange network

I go by ‘they’, and I speak for myself, not on behalf of all queer folks. What I understand of Monica's position—based previously on public TL leaks and now on what heather has relayed—is a little ...
Squeamish Ossifrage's user avatar
82 votes
Accepted

Does the Be Nice policy require SE users to "be nice" to people who are not SE users (e.g. public figures)?

Let's read that "be nice" policy: Whether you've come to ask questions, or to generously share what you know, remember that we’re all here to learn, together. Be welcoming and patient, especially ...
Shog9's user avatar
  • 445k
80 votes

NSFW video and annoying animated advertising on Music SE

SE has already subverted their no animated ads policy in the past few months, which finally led me into installing AdBlock Plus. I think it's time for everyone to enable their ad blocker on SE now, ...
iBug says Reinstate Monica's user avatar
74 votes

If you're gonna talk Politics, you must respect those who disagree

One of the problems with political discussion is that they tend to escalate to heated debate and eventually insults and personal attacks. In some cases, people may be offended enough to flag political ...
bwDraco's user avatar
  • 11.5k
71 votes

Is there a list of ChatGPT or other AI-related discussions and policies for our sites?

This answer is a community effort. Please edit in links from your site's Meta! Meta Stack Exchange Pro: Could ChatGPT be a viable way to answer people's questions? Con: Ban ChatGPT network-wide ...
70 votes

If someone is hurt by a literary reference, should it be removed?

Let me preface this by saying that we've got to understand that someone somewhere will find something offensive in what you write if they really want to, no matter how tenuous, they'll find a way. I ...
Script47's user avatar
  • 17.2k
52 votes
Accepted

Does Stack Exchange insist on a special language for posts? Please describe

English is a living language; it changes slowly but constantly. Old words take new meanings, new words replace old, and sometimes old uses resurface in new contexts. Also, sometimes there are emoji. ...
Shog9's user avatar
  • 445k
44 votes

Does the Be Nice policy require SE users to "be nice" to people who are not SE users (e.g. public figures)?

This sounds like hair-splitting to me. The Be Nice policy is certainly geared toward being nice to other users as that's the common case. But it seems weird to classify the people you ought to be nice ...
Jon 'links in bio' Ericson's user avatar
42 votes

If you're gonna talk Politics, you must respect those who disagree

I don't think this behavioral pattern is limited to politics at all. Generally, in respectful discourse, it is unacceptable to denigrate others because of their opinion if you want to continue to ...
Magisch's user avatar
  • 25.6k
38 votes

Is swastika really treated as offensive even when it's used for religious purposes in profile pictures or chat?

When you say "fag" - some folks going back more than a couple of generations will wonder if you're referring to a cigarette. Colloquially, however, most people will interpret the word as a pejorative ...
Tim Post's user avatar
  • 181k
38 votes

Show your work: one simple trick to make meta effective

Treating good questions with the appropriate attention is the best way to help people change in the way you want Thanks for this useful guidance, I agree with everything. Except... ...what happens ...
Sklivvz's user avatar
  • 36.3k
35 votes

To reach out: on Monica, the Lavender community, and the future of the Stack Exchange network

I'm just a random onlooker, but I'm really happy to see this development, and I'd like to thank @heather for approaching Monica and having this discussion, Monica for being open to it, and Journeyman ...
aditsu quit because SE is EVIL's user avatar
33 votes

If someone is hurt by a literary reference, should it be removed?

No, this is getting absurd. But your head isn't quite above water here either @iBug. Please consider this correction in light of the fact that I am speaking as somebody who used Niemöller's poem ...
Caleb's user avatar
  • 23.5k
31 votes

Style guide to avoid condescension in answers

What you tried to edit is not condescending to the reader. The first post, about Git, is encouraging. It says "once you know how", and then goes on to explain how. It promises the reader ...
jscs's user avatar
  • 24.6k
30 votes
Accepted

Having 'nice' text - are we too strict?

No, we're not too strict. The rest of the Internet went overboard with their fake politeness. The questions and answers here are not for you, specifically. They are for the many visitors who follow. ...
rene's user avatar
  • 85.7k
29 votes

If you're gonna talk Politics, you must respect those who disagree

Isn't there a limit though? If someone says 'You know, Hitler (yeah, Godwin's law...) had a point - maybe we would be better off without the Jews...' The notion that I should somehow go 'Hmm, that's ...
pauljwilliams's user avatar
28 votes

If you're gonna talk Politics, you must respect those who disagree

There's two similar but very divergent views in discourse on a contentious issue That viewpoint is wrong Lots and lots of people are wrong on a great many things. This is neither new, nor uncommon....
Machavity's user avatar
  • 24.9k
28 votes

Pinging etiquette

Since this is about me, I will answer. Is there a ping etiquette? Not that I know of. Ping etiquette should follow what would be socially acceptable in real life situations. If you would jump ...
anongoodnurse's user avatar
27 votes

Show your work: one simple trick to make meta effective

This seems to take care of the 80% use-case (shall we say), but it doesn't seem to address the more long-standing, venerable, and received discussions which... Don't immediately lead to a resolution (...
Makoto's user avatar
  • 57.5k
27 votes
Accepted

Is it OK to edit others' posts based on (extreme) personal feeling?

No, it is not okay to edit posts based solely on your own personal feelings. This curated collection of questions and their answers is not meant for you alone, nor is it tailored to you specifically,...
rene's user avatar
  • 85.7k
27 votes

To reach out: on Monica, the Lavender community, and the future of the Stack Exchange network

I post this today in an attempt to reach out a hand, and to ask all of you to do so as well, to ask Stack Exchange to do so as well. Just picking this sentence to stress how important it is for the ...
JJJ's user avatar
  • 4,417
26 votes

If you're gonna talk Politics, you must respect those who disagree

My 2 cents: I largely agree with what Shog9 said and I'll add a different perspective, being a non-US citizen living in another country. Premise I don't use chat; not only on SE network. Maybe because ...
LorenzoDonati4Ukraine-OnStrike's user avatar
25 votes

Can I be successful using Stack Exchange?

I think your friend just had a bad experience. He said that the Stack Overflow a clique and when he was a member every question and every answer was hit with negative ratings almost the minute ...
HDE 226868's user avatar
24 votes

Does the Be Nice policy require SE users to "be nice" to people who are not SE users (e.g. public figures)?

The "Be Nice" policy is there not merely to protect individuals but also to protect the purpose of the site, by ensuring that the SE community does not create hostile environments that would drive ...
MetaEd's user avatar
  • 793
24 votes

Does the Be Nice policy require SE users to "be nice" to people who are not SE users (e.g. public figures)?

I believe that it should. There is nothing about the "Be nice" rules that implies that we're being nice only to the people we are interacting with. I'd specifically like to point out one section of ...
Catija's user avatar
  • 102k
24 votes

If someone is hurt by a literary reference, should it be removed?

The poem "First they came to ..." is used around the world not to refer to the Holocaust, but to critisize the attitude "they may be evil, but they came for others, not for me, so I don't care". It ...
Athari's user avatar
  • 10.2k
23 votes

Can we increase the filters of what is posted on these sites to prevent extreme NSFW?

The problem here is not the filter. No matter how strict you set a filter, there will always be a way to go around it. Or, in the worst case you end up blocking a lot of false positives. The problem ...
Patrick Hofman's user avatar
23 votes

If someone is hurt by a literary reference, should it be removed?

You should always care about how your posts might affect others That is part of being part of a community. Words and actions have effects on people, and if we want to work together we should be trying ...
Rubiksmoose's user avatar
  • 6,636

Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible