In addition to language questions, I also feel that anyone who plans to be active in discussing culture and politics ought should be open about their own background.

This is so that others can understand how well founded the person's view is; whether they have a personal experience or a personal stake in the matter.


  • Has the person learned his info from CNN or Wikipedia?
  • If he's writing about a place; does he live there, or was he there on holiday 20 years ago?
  • Maybe he's from a neighbouring country and has a well-informed outsider's perspective. That too can be interesting, if it is clear.
  • Is he writing about a cultural phenomenon he has participated in regularly?
  • Has the person got personal experience of a certain practice, ideology etc? Or did his parents have that experience?


Other participants can sometimes glean this type of information from location or alternatively if the person mention it at the outset.

But without a little bit of background, comments can be misleading or just uninteresting.

It goes without saying that the more personal experience somebody has of something, the more relevant and interesting are there comments.

If a person (and yes, I have a particular person in mind) chooses not to reveal his location, background or native language, then he can not expect to be treated as a genuine source of reliable information.