User:Brews ohare/Avoiding catcalls

One cause of bad tempers on Talk pages is the catcall. To illustrate what a catcall is, here is an example:


 * Editor A: This argument is expressed as ... (some detailed points of discussion)
 * Editor B: Yes, but ... (some more discussion)
 * Editor C: Here we go again!
 * Editor D: Buckle up!
 * Editor A: Why don't you two leave us alone. This is a serious discussion ...
 * Editor C: Get a room!

The comments of Editor C and Editor D are not contributions to the discussion going on in this thread; rather they are jeers intended to distract the participants in the thread and possibly intended to draw in hectoring editors so far not involved.

I would suggest that catcalls are inappropriate behavior tending to make a circus out of the discussion. Whether or not the exchange develops into full scale warfare, catcalls should be suppressed ASAP.