Housekeeping: Once Again, Please Play Nice

It's come to my attention that once again, the comments section is becoming less friendly than it should be.

I get it. We live in really polarized times -- and it's seemed to be this way for darn near a decade, maybe longer. Furthermore, politics spills over into the automotive industry, and we cover stories that involve how policymakers are making decisions that affect this industry. For example: How the Biden administration -- or the Trump administration before that -- is implementing fuel-economy requirements.

Since we cover politics, and politics often leads to strong emotions, I understand that some folks get a bit fired up.

We're also covering the UAW strike pretty heavily, and labor vs. management always leads to flared tensions.

Finally, there was a unique issue earlier this month. Our parent company gave us Indigenous People's Day off. I wrote a basic housekeeping post explaining why we'd not have content on that Monday, and it was picked up by a site with an audience that, uh, is pretty much against the idea of having that day as a holiday (at least instead of Columbus Day). A lot of traffic came our way from angry folks who felt the need to express their feelings about the holiday -- and many of these folks were likely new to our site and unaware of our commenting rules and how we've tried to cultivate a welcoming community.

We do moderate comments. Our system changed last year and we're continuing to work on how to make it better, but Corey, Adam, and I still check. I pop into the queue several times a day myself.

It's not an exact science -- some comments exist in a gray area, and I tend to err on the side of approval -- but we are working hard to bring down the toxicity on our end.

But we also need your help. Even if we made perfect moderation decisions and never missed a comment that breaks our rules, it's up to you to play nice. It's our sandbox, and that's the price you pay to play in it. You don't have to pay money to use this site -- though we'll never complain if you click on the ads or make a purchase when we do product reviews -- but we do ask that if you come here to comment, you play by our six rules. They are linked above and here.

I won't rehash them all here, you're adults who can click through and read. The ones that stand out to me right now, at this moment in time, are number one and two. Please stop with the personal and ad hominem attacks, and please, please stop with the racism and outright bigotry. I am seeing a lot of both, and it needs to stop.

When I moderate comments, I am happy to approve comments that take issue with an opinion I've offered, that question my approach to writing a post, or that argue against my personal political beliefs. I've even approved comments that cite information that's factually wrong. I also approve those comments that question how this site is managed. What I am tired of seeing is people attacking one another with personal insults. For example, there was a particular line of attack one commenter aimed at others recently that was homophobic in nature and earned that person the banhammer.

In other words, disagreement with each other or our staff is fine. What is NOT fine is the level of personal attacks and insults. We instituted the rules above in order to keep the comments section a pleasant place to spend time, and if you don't play by those rules, you'll make the experience worse for other users. And you will face consequences.

OK, that's enough said on the issue. I appreciate the handful of you who reached out directly.

Now go forth and comment to your heart's content. All we ask is you be civil.

Thank you.

[Image: Mircea Moira/Shutterstock.com]

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