take your time. I have been rather distressed by the pace at which this issue has developed and I’d much prefer a considered approach.

And I say this as a queer person who has found Micro.blog to be a great and supportive service. 🏳️‍🌈

@jeremybakernz Thank you so much. The pace really is hectic. I got some good advice to slow down and I’m taking it to heart.

Tricky situation. His feelings are real, but the receipts he offers thin, the conflict of interest apparent. On top of that, this is a transnational discussion, but one that sees no shades of gray. One contractor’s desire to have something optional in a product placed before him is a far cry from it being a demand that the question not be asked in the first place. And we are not talking about making pronouns a fireable offense, as they will likely soon be in our federal government. I’m not sure what can be gained by arguing, though. My default is usually to acknowledge someone’s hurt because that matters more than my own sense of wounded pride.

You’ve designed Micro.blog to downplay political differences, but you’ve also integrated it into a broader blogosphere and fediverse. The proof of concept might be less in avoiding such conflicts than in knowing how to take it on the chin without incurring undeserved reputational damage.

@drwalt Everyone else does, though. And I was going to write about this before I even saw his post.

@drwalt it’s been my experience that people who loudly demand apologies are often incapable of gracefully accepting one.

seeing this insanity over the last day makes me not want to be on micro.blog. Are people not allowed to have different opinions? If they do have different opinions do they get an unhinged Adam beat down or banned from the platform?

Thanks for posting this. I’ve seen so many posts today about a thing-that-happened and hunted through a hundred comments without having the slightest clue what the thing-that-happened is. I was just about ready to post about avoiding micro.blog until whatever happened blows over. Now I at least have an idea. (And I’m shocked at how fitting this Augustine quote is!) Love what you’ve built here and hope you get all the support you need for what you’re doing

It feels like an emergency but it’s not an emergency. It’s important and right to talk about these things and it’s still not an emergency. It’s okay to take it slow and to think and regulate from fight/flight feelings before taking the next step. Deep breath! 😮‍💨

@michaelfransen This is very unusual. We should be able to have respectful differences but this is a unique case, and from a moderation standpoint weird because it’s directed at me.

@JohnBrady My uncle had a similar pattern where he hated quoting anything in a previous email. It was old school, like “In regards to your letter dated…”

@sim0ne Thanks. Fight/flight is exactly what I was feeling yesterday. I tried to tell my brain what was happening but no luck. 🙂

the fact that you noticed where you’re at and what Brian (I have named my brain Brian) won’t let you do is a great place to start. At least you’re not operating blindly!

@tinyroofnail I don’t think I’d read that quote before, but it is now saved. Thank you!