The photo wasn't aimed just at you. But, generally at the debate about defining at what point "soft pedaling" becomes "no effort spinning" become "coasting" becomes "lack of pedal movement".

In general I am a bit of an "outcome" based individual. Subsequently, I don't get too concerned about whether someone "feathers their brakes while still exerting effort against the pedals" or "soft pedals/coasts for a couple seconds". As long as the "outcome" is a gadual and smooth adjustment to their speed and position in the line.

I hear what others are saying about the messege that any change sends back through the group. But, to be honest, I pay just as much attention to the sound of the brakes on the bike ahead of me as I do their feet turning, as well as their shifting.

The idea that an amateur paceline is going to start to worry about some of these concerns as much as some of the respondents suggest really does start to move toward working together at a level that the pro's spend some considerable time training together to achieve.