How does the tone checker decide?
Each listed word adds or subtracts points: warm words add one, tense words subtract one, harsh words and put-downs subtract three, and the total sets the label.
| Label | Roughly means |
|---|---|
| Warm | Several words of thanks, praise or care, nothing harsh |
| Friendly | A little warmth, nothing tense |
| Neutral | Plain information, or warm and tense words that balance out |
| Tense | More disappointment or frustration than warmth |
| Harsh | At least one put-down aimed at a person, or a very negative total |
A few extra signals lower the score a little: two or more words in ALL CAPS, and repeated question marks. Three or more exclamation marks get a note but no penalty, because people use them for excitement too.
Negation is handled for the simplest cases. "Not happy" counts as tense, and "not bad" stops counting as negative. Anything more subtle than that is beyond a word list.
What should I do with the suggestions?
Treat them as options, not corrections: pick one, write your own, or keep your wording if you meant it.
Most suggestions swap a label for a description. "Stupid" becomes "I don't follow this part", which keeps your disagreement and drops the insult. Some phrases, such as "nobody asked", get the suggestion to skip the reply entirely, because there is no kind version of a dismissal. The guide to handling negativity covers when not replying is the better move.
Where does the tone checker go wrong?
It misses context: sarcasm, in-jokes, quotes of someone else's words and cultural differences in directness.
- "Oh great, another Monday" scores as warm because of "great".
- Quoting a rude post to criticize it will flag the rude words you quoted.
- Friends who call each other "clown" affectionately will see Harsh.
- Non-English posts are mostly read as Neutral, since the lists are English only.
So read the highlights, then trust your own judgment about the person on the other end.
When is a tone check most useful?
Before replying to someone you disagree with, and before posting anything written while annoyed.
Those are the moments when a single word can change how the rest of the post is read. If the checker says Tense or Harsh and you did not mean it to, rewrite in the composer and check again.