Just about all of us are already on the same page with stuff like being kind to each other, and not posting racist stuff, and all that, so we don't really need "rules" in the traditional sense. 99% of us already know what's cool and what isn't, so I'll skip the basics and mention some things that are specific to this forum.
* Please avoid politics. First, I don't think online political debates have ever changed anyone's minds. ("But Mike! This topic is really important and needs to be discussed!!!")
But more importantly to the forum, when politics gets discussed, people start concluding "That guy is an idiot!", so they put him on Ignore, and thus no longer see his posts in normal discussions. That's bad, because there are people on the far left, as well the far right, who have valuable insight, which shouldn't be ignored just because they vote for the wrong party.
* "I haven't read the whole thread, but here are my thoughts!" - It's obviously poor form to expect people to read your post when you haven't read theirs, right? Right.
* If you start a thread, it's not necessary to respond to every person who replies. - We have a Like button for that. A few response posts is okay, and there often times where you really do need to respond a lot. But replying to everybody clutters (and unnecessarily lengthens) the thread. Plus it gives a distasteful appearance of you "holding court," and making the thread about you, instead of the topic.
* Please proofread your posts. - Not so much for spelling errors or nitpicky stuff, but mostly you should proofread to make sure your post is clear, and people will be able to understand it. And hopefully it will help you notice other things, like if your post in one enormous blob of a paragraph.
* Delete my thread! - It is possible to delete a thread if no one has responded to it, but once people have responded, it's not fair to them to have their posts deleted, just because the person who started the thread changed his mind.
* Please delete all my content! - On rare occasion, a member gets so upset about something (usually a moderating decision I make) that they storm off the forum, asking for their profile to be deleted (which we can do) and that all their posts to be removed, usually out of spite.
Be advised that we will not delete all your posts, and also be advised that if you delete all your posts, we will restore them. We don't do that because we're trying to be mean, but rather it's because if your posts are deleted, then context in all those threads gets lost. Plus a conversation with a bunch of holes in it makes everyone else look like idiots, which isn't fair to them. Nor is it fair to people who may later search a topic, where some of the answers you gave are now gone. (Courts, both American and EU, agree on this.)
Obviously we can make exceptions when there are legitimate reasons for something to be deleted. ("Stalker" is one I've sadly seen a few times.) And of course you can delete your own posts if you change your mind about what you've posted. (We're not trying to be weird about this.) But flouncing off in a huff, and trying to punish everyone else ("Oooo, I'll make them sorry!") is not a good reason.
* Please avoid politics. First, I don't think online political debates have ever changed anyone's minds. ("But Mike! This topic is really important and needs to be discussed!!!")
But more importantly to the forum, when politics gets discussed, people start concluding "That guy is an idiot!", so they put him on Ignore, and thus no longer see his posts in normal discussions. That's bad, because there are people on the far left, as well the far right, who have valuable insight, which shouldn't be ignored just because they vote for the wrong party.
* "I haven't read the whole thread, but here are my thoughts!" - It's obviously poor form to expect people to read your post when you haven't read theirs, right? Right.
* If you start a thread, it's not necessary to respond to every person who replies. - We have a Like button for that. A few response posts is okay, and there often times where you really do need to respond a lot. But replying to everybody clutters (and unnecessarily lengthens) the thread. Plus it gives a distasteful appearance of you "holding court," and making the thread about you, instead of the topic.
* Please proofread your posts. - Not so much for spelling errors or nitpicky stuff, but mostly you should proofread to make sure your post is clear, and people will be able to understand it. And hopefully it will help you notice other things, like if your post in one enormous blob of a paragraph.
* Delete my thread! - It is possible to delete a thread if no one has responded to it, but once people have responded, it's not fair to them to have their posts deleted, just because the person who started the thread changed his mind.
* Please delete all my content! - On rare occasion, a member gets so upset about something (usually a moderating decision I make) that they storm off the forum, asking for their profile to be deleted (which we can do) and that all their posts to be removed, usually out of spite.
Be advised that we will not delete all your posts, and also be advised that if you delete all your posts, we will restore them. We don't do that because we're trying to be mean, but rather it's because if your posts are deleted, then context in all those threads gets lost. Plus a conversation with a bunch of holes in it makes everyone else look like idiots, which isn't fair to them. Nor is it fair to people who may later search a topic, where some of the answers you gave are now gone. (Courts, both American and EU, agree on this.)
Obviously we can make exceptions when there are legitimate reasons for something to be deleted. ("Stalker" is one I've sadly seen a few times.) And of course you can delete your own posts if you change your mind about what you've posted. (We're not trying to be weird about this.) But flouncing off in a huff, and trying to punish everyone else ("Oooo, I'll make them sorry!") is not a good reason.
