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Let's suppose that a certain user makes me wonder if he/she should be trusted or not and I wish to discuss this on meta. Perhaps some people would recommend flagging right away, but the idea is that I'm not sure if the person in question is doing something wrong.

However, if I decide to make a post that implies some sort of public shaming, which is not quite right. How should I address such situations? Can one talk about such a thing here without problems?

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    \$\begingroup\$ If someone did something shameful, then they deserve to be shamed. If they didn't, then there is nothing shameful about it. Also, others will have different opinions of what is shameful or not. \$\endgroup\$
    – Olin Lathrop
    Jul 9, 2017 at 22:09
  • \$\begingroup\$ Perhaps you should clarify what you mean by whether or not a user here should be "trusted". Trusted to do what exactly - not deliberately give false information? The voting system usually fixes that pretty quickly. I guess it's unclear to me why you would expect to trust a user here any more or less than anyone else you've never met or have any relationship with... \$\endgroup\$
    – brhans
    Jul 10, 2017 at 20:38
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    \$\begingroup\$ @brhans I was thinking about the case in which someone responds to one of your questions using a technical level above your head but not with the intent to help, but rather to mock you. \$\endgroup\$
    – Daniel Tork
    Jul 11, 2017 at 12:32
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    \$\begingroup\$ Well, part of the SE Be Nice Policy is to assume good intentions - so you shouldn't jump to the conclusion that someone has the intent to mock just because they use big words - sometimes it's easy to forget that not everyone has the same education and/or experience as you do. If someone gets an answer or comment they don't understand - they should just ask for clarification. There's no shame in learning. \$\endgroup\$
    – brhans
    Jul 11, 2017 at 12:49
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    \$\begingroup\$ @brhans I didn't jump to any conclusion. I just wasn't sure. That's the point of the "Should I discuss this here?" question. \$\endgroup\$
    – Daniel Tork
    Jul 11, 2017 at 16:39
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    \$\begingroup\$ It's either one loud braggart hater of newbies or the one user that posts very questionable answers with much technobabble that's sometimes correct. Hmm. Public discussions of either would not end well. If you have serious misgivings about someone, best thing you can do is contact the Community Moderators via the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of any page. \$\endgroup\$
    – Passerby
    Jul 12, 2017 at 4:25
  • \$\begingroup\$ Everyone is entitled to an opinion, unless it contradicts the Laws of Nature. Experience speaks louder than theory most of the time and this demands more detail to be clear Those that don't understand become judgemental. Although a simple answer is best it often flies over the heads of many readers with unstated assumptions. When in Doubt ask the person in question, never assume unless you have great certainty to back it up and do so. \$\endgroup\$
    – Tony Stewart EE75
    Jul 18, 2017 at 23:20

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You are overthinking this. Everything anyone writes here is public. If they don't want something pointed out and talked about, they should have thought of that before posting it publicly.

If you want to discuss any particular passage, regardless of who wrote it, link to the source question or answer here, and ask what you want to ask. If the part you want to ask is small enough, copy it into the question here, but still provide a link to the question or answer it appeared in so others can look at context.

If you object to something that was written, object to the post, not the user.

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    \$\begingroup\$ the last statement is as it should be, objective, not personal. +1.5 ;) \$\endgroup\$
    – Tony Stewart EE75
    Jul 18, 2017 at 23:25
  • \$\begingroup\$ To echo TonyStewart.EEsince'75, it should be OK to point out what you didn't like from the post, but don't attribute (malicious) intent to the person that posted it. (From the fact @DanielTork asked this "meta" meta question first, and his responses, I don't think he would do this). \$\endgroup\$
    – TripeHound
    Jul 20, 2017 at 15:18

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