If you’re adding a disclosure already, surely having it be a disclaimer also isn’t more distracting?
I agree with this. But my sense is that only a small fraction of the comments which include a disclaimer are also comments which include or should include a disclosure. So the fact that it’s not more distracting to have both than only a disclaimer doesn’t influence my general thinking about disclaimers much.
There’s also the separate argument that adding disclaimers runs the risk of changing expectations about what can be inferred from posts that lack them. Other things equal, I would prefer to support the conversational norm that no one is speaking in a professional capacity unless they say so explicitly, or is otherwise obvious from context.
I agree with this. But my sense is that only a small fraction of the comments which include a disclaimer are also comments which include or should include a disclosure. So the fact that it’s not more distracting to have both than only a disclaimer doesn’t influence my general thinking about disclaimers much.
There’s also the separate argument that adding disclaimers runs the risk of changing expectations about what can be inferred from posts that lack them. Other things equal, I would prefer to support the conversational norm that no one is speaking in a professional capacity unless they say so explicitly, or is otherwise obvious from context.