RE: My etiquette rules for authoring at Steem
I think your rules do make sense. I agree that if we're posting or commenting we should have something meaningful to say. Doing either for the sake of just getting things out there is probably not the best tactic. If it goes on very long, people tend to tune it out.
I'm actually glad to see most people are polite in their writing on Steemit. The ones that aren't stand out like a sore thumb. I can't say I've found myself in the middle of an argument yet, but there are ways of going about a conversation that can keep it from getting out of hand.
I agree, though, we should never be fearful of being flagged for what we believe to be true. In some cases, though, it's just best to walk away.
I've found myself having off topic conversations more than I care to admit, but usually it's with the individual who wrote the post, but otherwise, I agree, we should respect the thoughts of the author and stay on topic.
I always read through every post and comment I make at least once, but I come from a newspaper background and so editing is one of those things I just do. It's amazing how words I did not type or misspell show up. :) I'm sure it wasn't me! Unfortunately, there's no one else to blame it on.
There are two extremes: at one hand the very heated and aggressive arguments. Tears are shed, ad-hominems are frequently used, sometimes it goes as far as death threats and physical violence. That's like the Internet I grew up with. The other extreme is the echo-chamber effect where people with different points of view simply does not interact with each other, and where those that do interact with each other always agree and support each other - and if someone comes with any criticism, they are moderated away, downvoted or flagged into obscurity. The latter is a growing trend; we're seeking out similar-minded people on the Internet, it's often more comfortable to just walk away if we see something we disagree strongly with, and the social networks are to some degree encouraging this trend. With Steemit, there is even an economical intensive to agree with everyone.
Both those extremes are very bad, ideally we should find some middle ground. Friendly arguments where one exchange viewpoints and arguments in a rational and polite manner is both good and needed, hence I think it's important to reach out and tell when disagreeing with things, rather than to simply ignore it and walk away.