Mandatory waiting period

[Mike]

If an online post provokes a strong negative emotional reaction in you, and you feel compelled to respond... how long should you wait before typing/posting your response?

[Iantha]

I usually wait until my strong reaction has faded so that I can put a competent response together and mostly avoid the emotional response. However, by the time that emotional reaction goes away I hit the "Fuck it, it's an online argument and not that important" stage and just end up not posting at all. Which isn't a bad thing.

[El Jefe]

A good solid 30 seconds or so. I like to be reasonable.

[Kyle]

[Kyle]

Oh- unless it's Hauze. Then I'll tell him he's being a dick and to stop threadshitting.

[El Jefe]

[Tahlvin]

[Mike]

I find some of my best responses come when I don't have time to respond immediately, and I wind up getting to stew on it for an hour or so before I can get back to it. By that point, most times I've decided it's not worth it, but if I still feel a need to respond after than long, then I've also had time to really organize my thoughts and get rid of most of the passive-aggressive (or aggressive-aggressive) elements of my response.

[Phoebe]

That almost never happens. Seriously just almost never happens. I believe the last time it happened I typed something crazy, deleted it, deleted the whole account, deleted the app from the phone, hid the phone, etc. Feelings just don't come into the back and forth of online discussion.

[El Jefe]

[Mike]

[mimekiller]