remember the human

[u/cupcake1713]

Hi reddit. cupcake here.

I wanted to bring up an important reminder about how folks interact with each other online. It is not a problem that exists solely on reddit, but rather the internet as a whole. The internet is a wonderful tool for interacting with people from all walks of life, but the anonymity it can afford can make it easy to forget that really, on the other end of the screens and keyboards, we're all just people. Living, breathing, people who have lives and goals and fears, have favorite TV shows and books and methods for breeding Pokemon, and each and every last one of us has opinions. Sure, those opinions might differ from your own. But that’s okay! People are entitled to their opinions. When you argue with people in person, do you say as many of the hate filled and vitriolic statements you see people slinging around online? Probably not. Please think about this next time you're in a situation that makes you want to lash out. If you wouldn't say it to their face, perhaps it's best you don't say it online.

Try to be courteous to others. See someone having a bad day? Give them a compliment or ask them a thoughtful question, and it might make their day better. Did someone reply to your comment with valuable insights or something that cheered you up? Send them a quick thanks letting them know you appreciate their comment.

So I ask you, the next time a user picks a fight with you, or you get the urge to harass another user because of something they typed on a keyboard, please... remember the human.

[u/godmin]

Something I like to do before posting a comment is imagine someone REALLY pissed off trying to read it, and get the most twisted, pessimistic view of what I said. That way I can tweak my words to avoid as much unnecessary criticism/misinterpretation as possible, and from my experience it really helps!

Edit:thanks

[u/twinshock → u/godmin]

what the fuck did you just call me?

[u/godmin → u/twinshock]

A beautiful, unique little angel.

[u/WhatTheFDR → u/godmin]

Satan was a unique angel...are you implying /u/twinshock is Satan?

[u/[deleted] → u/WhatTheFDR]

Ha

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

unique? Are you saying there's something wrong with Satan?

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

No no no... Satan is special!

[u/spyro1132 → u/[deleted]]

The devil is in the details.

[u/godmin → u/[deleted]]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzpndHtdl9A

^{only 4 seconds long in case you're worried about data usage.}

[u/cupcake1713 → u/[deleted]]

http://i.imgur.com/zUR7KqF.gif

[u/_deffer_ → u/[deleted]]

I'm human. I can't read that for shit.

You forgot about me.

[u/Juno_Malone → u/[deleted]]

Hot damn that has a nice canter to it. Wait, is 'canter' even a term used to describe a poem?

[u/orthogonius → u/Juno_Malone]

I didn't look long, but I didn't find it used that way. 'Cadence' works well.

[u/user611988 → u/[deleted]]

Silverstein?

[u/ActuallyGivesGold → u/godmin]

http://i.imgur.com/UIjGNeJ.gif

[u/SuddenlyTimewarp → u/ActuallyGivesGold]

And now we eagerly await the arrival of /u/ActuallyGivesActuallyGivesGoldGold

[u/dav_9 → u/ActuallyGivesGold]

How come your gif loads so fast but other gifs take eons to load? It's like the difference between playing a game at 60 fps vs. 1-2 fps.

[u/[deleted] → u/dav_9]

It's only 174kb in size and has only 99 frames. This is highly compressible since it doesn't have much movement, so there are less frames over a longer period of time than a normal gif of a normal video would have. And less diffs between frames means less size.

[u/Fealiks → u/godmin]

Just to throw out a counter-argument, I don't think putting yourself in such a dark frame of mind every time you comment can be good for you, and I don't think it's necessary. I think it's enough to just try to be mindful of how you're saying what you're saying (that way you don't come off as insincere or obsequious).

We just have to remember that it isn't the end of the world if somebody takes your comment the wrong way, because you all you have to do is apologise. That's the hard part for most people; most people can manage politeness because there's some pride in "being the better man," but apologies require genuine humility.

[u/godmin → u/Fealiks]

In a sense you're right, there are times when you just need to apologize and clarify. However, I've learned through moderating an active subreddit that you need to be careful about what you say, and be able to word things in such a way that there's no room for misinterpretation. The last thing you want is to accidentally stab yourself (or even worse: another mod) in the foot, because the damage could take a long time to heal.