[T]hey put pressure on the people you’re talking to to either call Crocker’s rules too (giving you carte blanche to be rude to them), otherwise they look uptight or something.
This should be strongly rejected, if Crocker’s Rules are ever going to do more good than harm. I do not mean that it is not the case given existing norms (I simply do not know one way or the other), but that norms should be established such that this is clearly not the case. Someone who is unable to operate according to Crocker’s Rules attempting to does not improve discourse or information flow—no one should be pressured to do so.
The problem is, the more a community is likely to consider X a “good” practice, the more it is likely to think less of those who refuse to do do X, whatever X is; so I don’t see a good way of avoiding negative connotations to “unable to operate according to Crocker’s Rules”.
… that is, unless the interaction is not symmetric, so that when one side announces Crocker’s rules, there is no implicit expectation that the other side should do the same (with the associated status threat); for example if on my website I mention Crocker’s rules next to the email form or something.
But in a peer-to-peer community like this, that expectation is always going to be implicit, and I don’t see a good way to make it disappear.
As I’ve mentioned before, I am not operating by Crocker’s rules. I try to be responsible for my emotional state, but realize that I’m not perfect at this, so tell me the truth but there’s no need to be a dick about it. I am not unlikely, in the future, to declare Crocker’s rules with respect to some specific individuals and domains, but globally is unlikely in the foreseeable future.
Here’s my part too: I don’t declare Crocker’s rules and do not commit to paying any heed to whether others have declared Crocker’s rules. I’ll speak to people however I see fit—which will include taking into account the preferences of both the recipient and any onlookers to precisely the degree that seems appropriate or desirable at the time.
I don’t know about getting rid of it entirely, but we can at least help by stressing the importance of the distinction, and choosing to view operation by Crocker’s rules as rare, difficult, unrelated to any particular discussion, and of only minor status boost.
Another approach might be to make all Crocker communication private, and expect polite (enough) discourse publicly.
This should be strongly rejected, if Crocker’s Rules are ever going to do more good than harm. I do not mean that it is not the case given existing norms (I simply do not know one way or the other), but that norms should be established such that this is clearly not the case. Someone who is unable to operate according to Crocker’s Rules attempting to does not improve discourse or information flow—no one should be pressured to do so.
I agree with you in the abstract.
The problem is, the more a community is likely to consider X a “good” practice, the more it is likely to think less of those who refuse to do do X, whatever X is; so I don’t see a good way of avoiding negative connotations to “unable to operate according to Crocker’s Rules”.
… that is, unless the interaction is not symmetric, so that when one side announces Crocker’s rules, there is no implicit expectation that the other side should do the same (with the associated status threat); for example if on my website I mention Crocker’s rules next to the email form or something.
But in a peer-to-peer community like this, that expectation is always going to be implicit, and I don’t see a good way to make it disappear.
Well, here’s me doing my part: I don’t declare Crocker’s rules, and am unlikely to ever do so. Others can if they wish.
As I’ve mentioned before, I am not operating by Crocker’s rules. I try to be responsible for my emotional state, but realize that I’m not perfect at this, so tell me the truth but there’s no need to be a dick about it. I am not unlikely, in the future, to declare Crocker’s rules with respect to some specific individuals and domains, but globally is unlikely in the foreseeable future.
Here’s my part too: I don’t declare Crocker’s rules and do not commit to paying any heed to whether others have declared Crocker’s rules. I’ll speak to people however I see fit—which will include taking into account the preferences of both the recipient and any onlookers to precisely the degree that seems appropriate or desirable at the time.
I don’t know about getting rid of it entirely, but we can at least help by stressing the importance of the distinction, and choosing to view operation by Crocker’s rules as rare, difficult, unrelated to any particular discussion, and of only minor status boost.
Another approach might be to make all Crocker communication private, and expect polite (enough) discourse publicly.