Maintaining an open and thriving commenting community is an important part of the work we do here at The Retrograde. Comments are an important way for our readers to express their opinions on community happenings.
To keep our commenting sections welcoming, inclusive, and useful, we ask that you post in accordance with our commenting guidelines and moderation policy.
Commenting guidelines
Who we want to hear from
We want to hear from anyone who has thoughts on the issues and topics we cover in our news, life and arts and opinion posts.
What we want to hear about
If you have an opinion about the content in an article, share it. If you were hoping to find coverage of an event or issue you don’t see, suggest it. If you think we’ve made a mistake or ought to rethink something, tell us. If you have something to add you think people should see with an article, then post it. If you have a question about something we’ve written, ask away.
Our expectations for our commenters
We expect you to approach conversations in good faith and your fellow commenters with goodwill and the benefit of the doubt. We ask that you extend these same considerations to our work and the writers responsible for it. We expect you to abide by the moderation policy laid out below and to be custodians of the community. If you suspect that a comment is in violation of the moderation policy, report it, and we’ll review it. If you think someone has made a great point, tell them so.
What our commenters can expect from us
We promise to read every comment that comes in and to make a genuine effort to answer questions and concerns as appropriate. Although we can’t always reply, we promise to make sure that your feedback and questions get seen by our writers and editors. We promise to actively moderate our comments in accordance with the policy below to ensure that conversations are welcoming and helpful.
Moderation policy
Comments on The Retrograde are actively moderated by the The Retrograde management team. We believe in transparency, and we will never remove comments solely for expressions of criticism or dissenting opinions. However, we have rules, the violation of which will result in the removal of your comments and/or the banning of your account to prevent future posting. These actions are taken at the discretion of the management team; when in doubt, the team will err on the side of maintaining the health and integrity of our commenting sections. If you think your comments have been removed in error or your account has been banned unfairly or mistakenly, please reach out to us using our contact form. Mistakes do happen—neither our spam filter nor our moderators are perfect.
- The following will result in a comment’s removal and/or account suspension:
- Personal attacks
- Discriminatory language
- Inflammatory language
- Spam posts (including self-promotion, posting of affiliated or referral links, astroturfing, misinformation, and PR pitches)
- Red flags: Red flags do not immediately result in the removal of your comment or the banning of your account; however, they will put our moderators on alert and have them checking to see if we do need to take action.
- Profanity in comments and usernames: Do not use profanity to attack, discriminate or intimidate other users.
- Monopolizing conversation: Comments should encourage dialogue and promote a positive experience for everyone involved. Debate is permissible, but attempting to prohibit other perspectives is not.
Updated 11/11/2024 at 2:40 a.m.