I’ve looked over the proposal that was submitted for changing and clarifying and enforcing the rules of the site and I am going to post the full content of the proposal below the fold.
There are a few different points to address. The first is defining what it means to be a prick. I have heard some criticism of using the term but it has been in place for so long, I think we should just stick with it. In the past I defined it as doing something you wouldn’t do if you were a guest at a dinner party. Yeah, you might get drunk and boisterous and argumentative, but you wouldn’t yell slurs at the hosts or tell the other guests they are f*cking pigs. The basic definition still stands. But there are also specific concerns that have been raised. Advising someone to seek psychological help can be a debating device, but if you are making it into a personal attack it is inappropriate. Telling someone they’re a moron is asking for a flamewar. We want to try to keep these threads as civil as possible. But it is only vicious, personal, and sustained attacks that are strictly forbidden. And the advice crew came up with a pretty good set of procedures for dealing with a problem member.
I want to add a little preface to it. If you see two members starting to get into it, there are three things you can do. You can make a comment reminding them to keep it civil. You can issue a ‘2’ warning rating to their comments (or a lower rating depending on egregiousness), and you can contact me or other site administrators either by email or tracking us down on the site.
Please don’t take it all on yourself to resolve a flamewar. Remind, warn, and report.
Site administrators will look into a report and issue a warning if it is deemed the rules have been broken.
A second offense will bring a 24 hour suspension of posting privileges.
A third offense will bring a two-week suspension of posting privileges.
A fourth offense will bring banning.
An appeal of a banning can be made after six months. The administrators will be the judge.
The advisory group suggested setting up a community board that would act as as arbitration body. They put a lot of effort into thinking about how to do this and so I put a lot of consideration into it. I do not believe it is workable and I think it could cause some problems, perhaps more problems that it can solve. The only thing I can be certain of is that I will be here. A board would rely on the retention of its members and their availablity, and it is not something I want to have to worry about maintaining and keeping fully staffed and managing. I’m still open to ideas on arbitration for banned members. But unfortunately I don’t think we can use the system that was suggested. They did a great job trying to make a system that would work and I applaud them for that.
There is one other issue, and that is privacy. Some of us are anonymous, some are semi-anonymous, and some of us go by our real names. Regardless of what status someone has, any effort to disseminate personal information about a member, particularly about someone’s employment, but about anything, without that member’s consent is strictly banned. Sharing of personal email without consent is banned. Doing these things can lead to an immediate permanent banning with no appeal.
You cannot do these things even if it would point out that a member has misrepresented themselves, you cannot do it in revenge, you cannot do it to try to win an argument. If you do it, I will consider the precise circumstances, and banning is the most likely outcome. Even if a member is a public figure or is doing nothing to hide their identity, you cannot use that as an excuse for divulging personal information about them, even if that information is readily available through google. It is totally off limits.
Do not post pictures of people without their consent, and if they complain please notify an administrator and we will erase it.
If, at any time, you feel like you have been indiscreet in posting about yourself or another member please advise me. I will help you resolve your privacy concerns.
Many sites strictly prohibit the deletion of a diary by the author. I do not, but I highly discourage it. It is very poor form to erase a diary that people have commented in. If you ever become disenchanted with the site and decide to leave, please do not ask for your diaries to be deleted. I will delete anything that might create problems for your privacy or future employment, but I will not destroy all the comments or the public record of your history here.
There may be some topics I have forgotten to discuss. So I open the floor for feedback. Based on possible modifications from feedback, I will post these rules in the Frequently Asked Questions or may even create a link for rules that people can use for easy reference.
I want to thank everyone that put time, thought, and effort into trying to make this a better site.
The proposal I worked from is below the fold.
Site Rules of Conduct
It is hereby resolved that the site rules of conduct shall be that vicious ad hominem attacks are forbidden. Vicious is defined as ANY use of profanity in an attack against another member, ANY suggestion that a person needs to seek psychological counseling unless they are asking for personal opinions and interventions from the community, and ANY SUSPECTED outing attempts. This does not mean that all personal criticism or joking is forbidden. It means that if you attack someone in a way that is vicious, as determined by community consensus, you will pay. You also may not engage in any other kind of prickish behavior. Prickish behavior is defined as . . . . [Still need to define this term], as determined by community consensus. Community consensus means the views of the site owner [Executive] and those with administrative privileges, in consultation with the Community Board.
The first offense shall result in a warning from the Community Board
Second offense shall result in a temporary blocking of the member for a period of twenty-four hours in order to have a cooling down period.
Third offense shall result in a temporary blocking of the member for a period of two weeks in order to have a cooling down period. A Community Board email shall be send to the member documenting the third offense and understanding that the next offense report will result in a permanent blocking of their IP address and cancellation of their membership to the site.
Fourth offense will result in a permanent blocking of member’s IP address and membership. A Community Board email shall be send to the member documenting the fourth offense and understanding that their IP address has been permanently blocked, cancellation of their membership to the site with instructions that a request for re-instatement of site membership can occur six (6) months from the date of the fourth offense via an email petition that must be approved by two-thirds majority of the Community Board. The Site Owner [Executive] will review the Board’s findings and make the final determination on the re-instatement request.
A Community Board shall be nominated and elected (in a poll and subject to yearly renewal) by the membership to serve as an arbitration body or to act and represent for the benefit of members as opposed to management, similar to the minority party in congress, and to act on the behalf of the Site Owner [Executive] when he is not present.
The Community Board will consist of nine elected site members. Age or length of membership shall not be limiting factors to election on the Community Board. Maximum length on the Community Board will be 12 months. The Site Owner [Executive] is not eligible to be elected as a Community Board member. The Community Board shall meet weekly and their attendance shall be electronically recorded. The Community Board weekly meeting minutes will be posted on the website and accessible to registered members only.
Six or more Community Board members can reach decisions by single majority vote and be allowed to take immediate binding action up to and including a two week time-out for a repeat offender. Six out of nine Community Board members’ votes (two-thirds majority) are required to recommend permanent banning of a site member and shall be to the Site Owner [Executive] for review or veto. There will be a minimum of ten days cooling off period for the entire Community Board and Site Owner [Executive], which may run concurrently with a two week suspension for the repeat offender.
A Quick Response Team (QRT) comprised of three Community Board members shall be able to recommend temporarily suspend a member from posting for twenty four hours. This action must be recorded and provided to the Site Owner and designated Site System Administrator via email within one (1) hour after the decision has been determined to facilitate the suspension process.
Enforcement of the rules for suspensions shall be strictly enforced. ANY use of profanity in an attack against another member, ANY suggestion that a person needs to seek psychological counseling unless they are asking for personal opinions and interventions from the community, and ANY SUSPECTED outing attempts shall result in an immediate temporary blocking of the member for a period of twenty-four hours and forward to the Site Owner [Executive] and Community Board for an emergency meeting to determine the recommended course of action.
Such rules shall be prominently posted on site so that all are aware.
