housekeeping on titan

Last night we passed over 10,000 hits on this thing, and it occurs to me there are a few housekeeping items I should deal with (you’ll get a real post about actual possibly interesting things later).

1. Please feel free to comment here. I am okay with off-topic, digressive conversations and love when people who do comment here chat amongst themselves! I ask that you be a little bit careful when I’m talking about stuff involving marginalization, but mostly, despite my ability to crank out endless words about me, I am interested in the way people experience in the world, often particularly if those people aren’t like me. So don’t feel shy!

2. I am okay with anonymous commenting, but I can’t guarantee I will always leave it on. I will act to protect myself from trolls and bullies (as I define them) if need be. And, if you do comment anonymously, can you sign some name or initial or something to your post so I can keep track of different anonymous commenters in the same post? I won’t nuke you if you don’t, but it makes my life easier.

3. Pseudonymous identities are go! If you need to be more than one person here because of pen names, stage names or the fan/pro divide, I’m okay with that too, unless I discover you’re doing it for the express purpose of behaving badly. Don’t cause weird drama here, okay?

4. While my desire to discourage various types of bias is very real, I am also not interested in being a language cop here in part because appropriate language differs based on a wide-variety of circumstances, not all of which I am capable of knowing at all times. Sometimes I will approve comments that may be offensive to some people. Sometimes I’ll let you know I’m uncomfortable with what was said when I let that comment through. Sometimes, I may not have time to or may have not yet found the language in response at the moment you see the item in question. Do not assume my allowing a comment is my approval or endorsement of everything in it.

So, if you see something that bothers you, say something. This includes disagreeing with me or pointing out when you think I’m showing my ass. I promise to listen to you. I can’t promise what happens after that. I am always interested in erring on the side of kindness and clarity, while also feeling like in this space each person who comments here is their own primary editor responsible for the consequences of their words; WordPress gives me the ability to edit your comments — I will not do this, because I don’t want the responsibility or the murkiness.

5. Feel free to link anything you see here wherever you want. Don’t quote me without attribution. Don’t quote commentors without asking for their permission first.

6. If I ask you, in a post, not to do something in comments to that post, come on…. don’t do that thing in comments (we’re going to test this later today — are you ready?). This sound obvious, but seems to be an enticement to people to do that thing (I’ve been guilty of it too on other people’s blogs).

7. Need to ask me something? Comment here or email racheline [at] gmail [dot] com — now and forever.

8. Cool?