Comment and reply without shouting by accident
Put your words in the right place, for the right people, and correct them afterwards.
Under any post there are three boxes you can type into, and they look almost identical. They go to quite different people, and that is where most of the awkwardness on these services comes from.
Anything you would lower your voice to say — about health, about money, about somebody else in the group — belongs in the third one. The first two are the village square.
Key points
- Tell a comment, a reply and a private message apart before you type
- Answer one person under a busy post so everybody knows who you meant
- Keep anything private out of the village square
- Correct or remove your own words afterwards, without a fuss
What to remember
- Reply attaches your words to one comment. Comment puts them at the bottom of everything.
- Big text is a setting on your device. Capitals are a tone of voice on theirs.
- You can always edit or delete your own words. You can never touch anybody else’s.
Try this
Find something you posted or commented on in the past and press the three dots beside it. Look at what is offered — Edit, Delete, and often more. Knowing that is there takes most of the fear out of writing anything.
Practice: Comment and reply without shouting by accident. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.