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Eliah Kagan
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What is the appropriate tone/voice for a non-mod giving suggestions?

I recently tried to give some advice on improving and eventually closing this RabbitVCS question: https://askubuntu.com/questions/516486

This included:

  • suspecting the question was a duplicate, and saying as much once the facts were clear to me
  • downvoting an incorrect answer, explaining why
  • asking a new user to add more content

I'm satisfied with my judgment and politeness. [1] But I do want to make sure I am speaking with the correct voice, given that I am not a moderator, just a fellow user who is more familiar with AU and this piece of software in particular. Given all that I saw my options as:

  • Singular / plural voice - I chose singular since I speak for myself not the moderators or "the community"
  • Firm or open tone - I tried both :)
  • Prodding for more effort or just leave them be - I chose to prod (this is my biggest concern)

Given these parameters, were my choices appropriate given my role? Without straying too far into opinion territory, are there other parameters / community guidelines to consider?

FWIW I don't intend to make a habit of this, I just like seeing people installing a broken version of tools I like! :D

[1] If you disagree I am very much open to feedback, but please leave it in comments, as that is not the focus of this question.

lofidevops
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