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a guide to tone indicators
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Tone indicators are shorthand for words used to convey tone, which the Cambridge Dictionary defines as "a quality in the voice that expresses the speaker's feelings or thoughts".

The tone of someone's voice can be joking, or serious; it can be teasing, or threatening. It can be negative, positive, or neutral. It can be sexually suggestive, or entirely friendly. Tone can do so much to change the meaning and implications of a sentence.

Be patient. If you didn't use a tone indicator, people might ask for one, or misinterpret you. Just politely explain, move on, and keep in mind to use a tone indicator for clarity next time.

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Tone can be especially difficult to parse for neurodivergent people. This is not to say that neurotypical people never misunderstand tone through text, or even face-to-face, because they do — but that neurodivergent people may experience and interpret tone differently.

Tone indicators aren't anything new. The tone indicator "/s" has a well-precedented use, spanning years on Reddit. As early on as the 1580s, there have been tone indicators; Henry Dunham, an English printer, created a backwards question mark, "⸮", which he dubbed the "per-connotation point*. It was meant to indicate rhetorical questions. Today, we would use "/rh" or "/rt".

Not all neurodivergent people need, or even want tone indicators. They might feel as though they're being condescended to, or infantilised. Every person is different.

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What does "neurodivergent" mean?
"Neurodivergent", often abbreviated as "ND", refers to having different mental or neurological function from what is considered "typical" or "normal". The opposite is "neurotypical", which would be to have "typical" mental/neurological function. Examples for neurodivergence : ADHD, autism, dysgraphia, dyslexia, dyspraxia, OCD, synthesia, tourette syndrome and many more

When should I use tone indicators? Whenever you're saying something that's tonally ambiguous. That is, it could be interpreted many different ways. "I hate you. /j" If you're joking around with a friend, and don't actually dislike them. "I hate you. /srs" If you're being serious, and legitimately hate someone. Don't use the /srs tag as a joke, ever. Tone indicators can be used in text, emails specifically use them anywhere that tone is ambiguous, and hard to pick up on.

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Never use tone indicators as a joke/mockingly. It defeats the entire point of tone indicators, strips a safe space from neurodivergent people, mocking tone indicators is discomforting and it's just lazy humour. Example's of something like this can be : Example:
Person A: "People who like mint chocolate chip ice cream.. you're are on thin ice /lh"
Person B: "WTF, why are you racist?! /srs"
Person A: "Wait, what did I even say? /gen"

Don't make fun of tone indicators, or the people who need them. They serve a good purpose, and help prevent misunderstandings.
Neurodivergent people aren't dense, lacking in reading comprehension, or whatever ableist slur you can throw at them.

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It's great to use tone indicators but using them in excess may come as condescending. Usually using one or two is fine!
Example:
Person A: "Ah, thank you so much! /gen /pos /srs"
Person B: "You don't have to use so many tone tags, I can understand you :) ! /gen /nm"

Try to remember to include tone indicators in the original post. Often, you will see people who forget to tag their post appropriately, and will only comment "/j" or "/c" long after people respond to the original post. It might seem harmless if it's just song lyrics, or a funny copypasta, but in other cases it can cause alarm or even induce anxiety.