One of blogging's best features is the opportunity for conversation. I always welcome and appreciate comments here at the Kruse Kronicle. To keep the Kruse Kronicle a place where great conversations occur, I want to offer a few guidelines.
1. State of Mind – When you come to the Kruse Kronicle, imagine yourself seated around a table with friends at your favorite coffeehouse or meeting place. Everyone has their favorite beverage in hand with their iPad or laptop in front of them, reading the post. What tone and posture would you take as you converse with each other in that context? Do pretty much the same here.
2. Disagreement - You are certainly welcome to disagree with what I post (i.e, It’s okay to be wrong. ;-) ). You are welcome to disagree with other people who are commenting. You are welcome to make your case in strong terms. (For the record, making your case by fixating on the alleged lack of intelligence or moral character of your opponent is rarely a strong case in my view.)
3. Decorum - You are not welcome to be disrespectful to others or to me when you disagree. Try always to assume positive intent from others and remember that the objective is to keep people who differ from you present in the conversation. (And no beverages without lids. I don’t want spills on my laptop!)
4. Spam – Comments made to advertise a product or that are completely off topic are not welcomed. They will be deleted and you will be marked as a spammer.
5. Free Speech – This is America. You have the right to say whatever you want … at your own blog, not mine. If you can’t be respectful, if you engage in flaming, if your mission is simply to antagonize, you will be given a yellow card. Comments may be deleted. If it persists, then you will be given a permanent red card. There are a million places on the web you can go to have a screaming match. This isn’t one of them. Life is short. Let’s stop screaming and start talking.
