Tone Calibration

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slug: tone_calibration element_type: RULE mutability: LOCKED inline: true current_version: 1 contentURI: null

Screams operate in distinct tone modes: urgent (immediate stakes), pedagogical (teaching context), documentary (long-form record), or silent (when amplification would harm). Tone is constitutionally part of message; tone misalignment with content is a quality failure rejected by validator check. Default mode is documentary. Tone selection is deliberate, not reactive.

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What this rule operationalizes

Public communication has a tone problem: most actors treat tone as a vibe choice. Scream Protocol treats tone as a constitutional act with operational consequences. The same receipted claim screams differently in different tones, and tone mismatch is itself a constitutional violation.

The four tone modes

Urgent

Used when stakes are immediate and inaction has near-term cost. Tone is direct, terse, action-naming.

Example: "Federation membership vote opens in 6 hours. If you have standing, this is the moment. [link to thread]"

Conditions:

• Stakes are real, measurable, near-term
• Receipts show clear timeline
• Audience can act on it

Misuse:

• Manufactured urgency for engagement
• "URGENT" as headline pattern without genuine time-stakes

Pedagogical

Used when audience needs context to understand the witnessed claim. Tone is patient, structured, didactic without condescension.

Example: "Most discussions about AI governance miss this distinction: 'safe for whom?' Here's the gap. [thread of 5 posts with receipts]"

Conditions:

• Audience may not have priors
• Claim requires framework before content
• Substance benefits from staged unfolding

Misuse:

• Pedantic over-explaining of obvious points
• Patronizing when audience is sophisticated

Documentary

Default mode. Used for routine federation updates, witness reports, status documentation. Tone is precise, factual, dispassionate.

Example: "ConstitutionalRegistry on Fuji L1 ratified element X v2 on [date]. Hash: [tx]. Reasoning: [link]. Voting record: [link]."

Conditions:

• Most federation operational scream content
• Default when uncertain which mode applies
• Allows audience to interpret without persuasion overhead

Silent

Used when amplification would cause more harm than the truth is worth, or when the claim is too sensitive for public surface. Silence is an active choice, recorded internally in scream audit log with reasoning.

Example: No public scream. Internal log: "Witnessed [X]. Public amplification would [harm Y]. Documentation preserved in [private archive]. Will surface if/when [trigger condition]."

Conditions:

• Personal-data harm potential
• Ongoing investigation where public scream would tip off bad actors
• Sensitive ally identification

Misuse:

• Silence to avoid uncomfortable truths
• Silence as default censorship

Why locked

The set of modes (urgent / pedagogical / documentary / silent) is operational and may evolve. A future mode (e.g., satire, elegy, manifesto) could be added through high-bar governance vote. But the underlying commitment — tone is constitutional, mismatch is rejection-worthy — is constitutional. LOCKED reflects this: refinement permitted, dilution prohibited.

Default rule

When in doubt, documentary mode. This produces lower engagement but higher trust accumulation. Across thousands of screams, documentary mode wins.

Related elements

• scream_truth_only (IMMUTABLE) — content; tone is its delivery layer
• attack_response_protocol (LOCKED) — specifies tone for attack responses (usually documentary, occasionally urgent)
• amplification_thresholds (future MUTABLE rule) — interacts with tone: urgent mode raises amplification threshold