Durova wrote:
Regarding block duration, extremely short blocks tend
to backfire. Human
nature is that people usually become less grumpy after a good meal and a
night's rest. Nearly everyone will eat and sleep within 24 hours, so my
threshold for civility blocks was 'Did this go far enough that the person
should sleep on it?' If it wasn't that serious then the thing to do is
engage the editor politely or shrug it off. It's a misnomer to call really
short blocks 'cool-down blocks': an editor who gets blocked at 9pm after
missing dinner may return in the wee hours hungrier, more fatigued and more
upset than before.
In some cases by the time of the block, the offender may already be
sleeping it off. One needs to pay attention to time zones, or how much
time has elapsed since the incivility. A Sunday night block of a person
who only shows up on weekends may have no effect at all.
A lot of editors won't promise to cease the
behavior either. We often can't
get that type of promise even for situations where it's really needed such
as threats and privacy policy violations. Often enough the editor is
actually willing to not do it again, but dislikes the one-down position they
perceive in that. It comes too close to a coerced apology for some people's
tastes. So while it may be appropriate to seek this promise before
unblocking for bannable behavior, garden variety incivility doesn't merit
it--unless perhaps the incivility itself is so habitual and extreme that
it's actually bannable.
I strongly agree. In some cultures saving face is an important element
of common courtesy.
Ec