Discussion: Guidelines for forum posts

[Dot Matrix]

One of the subjects discussed at the Mentors Meeting on 13 November was the need for forum posting guidelines -- how to minimize drama and libel-liability (which can exist in various European countries) while keeping the forum open for free expression.

During the meeting, Sherrie Melody suggested a simple list:

It doesn't have to be complicated -- something like no grid bashing, no personal attacks, no swearing

Deuce Halsey commented:

I think the Kitely forums would be well served by having a "Business Casual" atmosphere: keep it professional, but with a bit of fun now and then

Tully McLeod came up with this suggestion as a possible guideline:

We want the Kitely Forums to be a positive place dedicated to building communities and solving problems. As such please keep the tone of your posts positive and be considerate of other users. You are welcome to discuss problems and express legitimate concerns; however, we request that you avoid insults, personal attacks, and overtly negative expressions.

What are your thoughts?

Do you have examples of other forum guidelines and practices that might help foster a positive, welcoming, supportive community?

Let's hear them!

[Dundridge Dreadlow]

Or just follow Wheaton's Law

[Constance Peregrine]

While Wesley Crusher was fun in TNG-)), I rather like Tully's idea.

otoh, I am not much of a fan of rules, especially when they are not my own rules for my own way to live:P

I will stay out of this conversation from here on tho as I will not make rules for others, as I do not feel qualified to do so.

If they become too restrictive or are used abusively [by whatever methods are decided upon in reporting] then I will simply stop contributing to this forum. Slippery slopes such as this kind of thing tend to become are not to my liking.

I saw this happen in hypergridbusiness for a few months when Maria pointed out, during one of the heated article commenting drama fests [disclaimer: yours truly has participated in some of those for my own reasons]...that people could flag comments with disqus, her comment system [which I use and do like, btw]. It then turned into people getting flagged all over, Maria was not able to keep up with approving [aside from the whole thing causing her to have to do her own filtering], conversations were so nonsensical due to this many just stop commenting, and, as they all do, it finally fizzled out anyways.

I personally think people sometimes get upset, have bad days, or moments, have issues that just bug them, are physically sick and grumpy or terse, sometimes and only occasionally let of steam in public places, and it usually runs it's course soon enough, most often if others just leave them alone and don't flame the darn thing more.

In other words, people, for the most part, are simply... human.

[Deuce Halsey]

I was a big fan of Tully's statement when I first heard it, and my opinion hasn't changed. I would only suggest mentioning two other specific areas that should be excluded: religion and politics. I'm a long time member of a older players gaming group in an MMORPG called RuneScape. Other than following the game TOS, our major exclusions from our group's online chat and offline forums are "no religion and no politics" and it serves us well.

Discussions of real life religions and politics almost always wind up becoming heated since those are two topics that are so personal to many people that they have a hard time being objective about them. We are dealing with virtual worlds here, which among other things can serve as an escape from real life problems and issues. As such it doesn't make much sense to drag real world problems and issues into the virtual worlds with us.

BTW, I not suggesting that people who happen to run a religiously or politically-themed virtual world should not be allowed to announce events in those worlds here on the forums. I'm only talking about barring substantive discussions of these topics in the Kitely forums.

Oh and by the way, although I liked ST:TNG, I hated the annoying Wesley Crusher character with a passion. But it turns out that Wil Wheaton himself is a classy, intelligent, interesting and (most importantly to me) funny guy. I think he's also a pretty darned good actor, since he portrayed the annoying Wesley so well that a lot of people hated the character. I hadn't seen the PAX clip before, but from my experience it is representative of his real life persona.

[Marstol Nitely]

Hmm, all sounds very subjective to me. What exactly would be considered an overtly negative tone? Business casual, really? I'm going to be paid? No swearing? I wasn't aware that there had ever been a problem with swearing. Would "no grid bashing" extend to Second Life? Because not even Ilan pulls punches when it comes to them. I'm not saying I disagree with him. Just trying to make a point.

Having been involved in the thread Ilan posted that was an example of "grid bashing," I would like to point out that thread was a response to others coming onto the Kitely forums to call out Kitely and Ilan. I'd also like to point out that sometimes uncomfortable discussions lead to resolving conflicts. And why exactly aren't we allowed to point out what we see as historically bad decisions by other grids? Isn't that a way to avoid repeating the same mistakes?

I've stated many times I prefer Kitely because people are treated like adults, and I think there are a lot of people who feel the same way. I've raised two daughters and encouraged them both to have a voice, not tried to muzzle them. This sort of thing and the fact that it was discussed at mentors meeting rather than being brought up here makes me want to go grid shopping. How's that for overtly negative?

[Dundridge Dreadlow]

In addition to my earlier post on Wheaton's Law.. add a little Bill & Ted..

Be excellent to each other.

[Sherrie Melody]

Discussions of real life religions and politics almost always wind up becoming heated

Yeah, there's a reason why there's a warning in the PRS section on SLU, Not for the faint of heart. Heck, just look at comments in any news site under any article that discusses religion or politics. Heck, just listen in on many family gatherings (where religion and politics haven't been banned yet) this coming holiday. It can bring out the beast in a lot of people. Shame too. Those are topics that are worth discussing, if done properly. I don't actually have an opinion though, on whether they should or shouldn't be allowed in our forums. I would say, if they are allowed, there should be a specific sub-forum for them, and that a fair warning, SLU style, be included to indicate "enter at your own risk."

Oh and by the way, although I liked ST:TNG, I hated the annoying Wesley Crusher character with a passion. But it turns out that Wil Wheaton himself is a classy, intelligent, interesting and (most importantly to me) funny guy. I think he's also a pretty darned good actor, since he portrayed the annoying Wesley so well that a lot of people hated the character. I hadn't seen the PAX clip before, but from my experience it is representative of his real life persona.

I always thought Wesley was a sweetie And I like seeing Wil pop up here and there outside ST:TNG.

[Marstol Nitely]

Here's an idea. Why don't we try to act like real people, not try to model our interactions after fictional characters.

I also think that SLU is a very bad example of what a civil forum should be like. I don't know what their rules are, but it's one of the most inhospitable areas I've had the misfortune of mentioning Kitely in. I spent maybe a day there before being turned off forever.

[Sherrie Melody]

Here's an idea. Why don't we try to act like real people, not try to model our interactions after fictional characters.

Just speaking for myself, I don't do that.

I also think that SLU is a very bad example of what a civil forum should be like. I don't know what their rules are, but it's one of the most inhospitable areas I've had the misfortune of mentioning Kitely in. I spent maybe a day there before being turned off forever.

If you are referring about my references to SLU, I did something terribly wrong if you think that I think that it's a civil place. I made mention of the warning they have in their PRS sub-forum, as Deuce was talking about the hazzards of political and religious discussions.

[Marstol Nitely]

Do I really have to post snippets of each conversation for people to know what I'm referring to? It's not that long of a thread. Did I write that you act like a fictional character Sherrie? No. Then I didn't mean you.

With the SLU stuff I did. I just didn't understand why you use them as an example of how things could/should be done. Maybe it's because I don't know what a PRS sub-forum is.

I also don't understand why people are suddenly intent on shutting down any sort of free speech when it hasn't been a problem in the past. If you would like to discuss specifics of things that have gone on in the forums bring it on, but this loose characterization of what you folks think should and shouldn't be allowed is alarming to me.