To not raise the status of the pointer-outer, we could require that the pointing out is done anonymously.
To make it formal, it might be useful to make it part of the UI: rather than posting a reply in free text, you would click a “bad language” button and mark a checkbox for the policy you consider violated. Reducing the bandwidth of the channel in this way might make it harder to communicate elaborate moves in a social-status game using it.
Not lowering the status of the pointed-out speaker seems harder: one could make the whole exchange not publicly visible, but would a private message be sufficient to enforce the guidelines, especially since there might be disagreement about what constitutes a violation?
Allow anonymous posting, with a checkbox. Not really anonymous, you have to be logged in, but non-mods don’t see ID.
Anonymous posts don’t display until a mod explicitly permits them.
Special rules for anonymous posts: be very polite, be very on-topic or validly critical of another poster’s delivery. Posts without extra effort to politeness beyond the norm will be summarily junked.
Result: this gives us criticism with no status modification, it also gives us posts with on-topic views which a poster might have good reason to disown in public, but still consider true.
To not raise the status of the pointer-outer, we could require that the pointing out is done anonymously.
To make it formal, it might be useful to make it part of the UI: rather than posting a reply in free text, you would click a “bad language” button and mark a checkbox for the policy you consider violated. Reducing the bandwidth of the channel in this way might make it harder to communicate elaborate moves in a social-status game using it.
Not lowering the status of the pointed-out speaker seems harder: one could make the whole exchange not publicly visible, but would a private message be sufficient to enforce the guidelines, especially since there might be disagreement about what constitutes a violation?
It seems that if you buy this policy, no UI change would be necessary. Just a policy of sending PMs rather than making it public would suffice.
I would generalize, as follows:
Allow anonymous posting, with a checkbox. Not really anonymous, you have to be logged in, but non-mods don’t see ID.
Anonymous posts don’t display until a mod explicitly permits them.
Special rules for anonymous posts: be very polite, be very on-topic or validly critical of another poster’s delivery. Posts without extra effort to politeness beyond the norm will be summarily junked.
Result: this gives us criticism with no status modification, it also gives us posts with on-topic views which a poster might have good reason to disown in public, but still consider true.