Dialectic
Oct 12th, 2004, 05:20 AM
We thought it might be useful to post the exact instructions we give our moderators. This is what they've been told, and this is how we operate.
Moderation Guidelines
From the beginning, the Fighting44s promised intelligence, wit, and emotional sincerity.
These guidelines provide a loosely-defined set of actions and attitudes for maintaining and encouraging cognitive and emotional health.
This is by no means exhaustive, but addresses the most common types of abuse and actions to take. If we ever add or edit these guidelines, I will edit this post, and then I'll reply to the thread to tell you that this post has been changed.
The driving force behind our actions should be compassion; this said, sometimes compassion is a kick in the ass, and we must always make the health of the whole forum our priority.
The following is a list of types of inappropriateness for which to watch out. They are listed roughly from easily-identified to more subtle/ complex.
1) Pornography, both written and visual. This is to be deleted immediately, with a brief explanation that it is inappropriate. What exactly is pornography? Even though the US courts couldn't come to an exact definition, they went by "I know it when I see it." In our case, we will permit no photos/ illustrations/ descriptions of explicit sex acts if they are gratuitous. Something inappropriate would be, "I wanna fuck that bitch up the ass and make her ... etc." We will also not permit anything "almost explicit" (ie. a clip from a porn video that doesn't show any actual nudity or penetration, but the people depicted are clearly naked and/or having sex).
2) Explicit Violence, both written and visual. Some people talk about beating heads and kicking ass, and if the comment is wry or ironic or clearly facetious, we tend to allow thus, but anything that seriously advocates or describes graphic violence is not permitted. Also, if a joke is particularly bad and annoys you, feel free to delete it.
3) Personal and Racial attacks. Anything which seriously attacks character, race, gender, etc. is not permitted, and is a sign that the poster is someone to watch.
4) Thread/Forum-inappropriate post. Some people post random subjects under random threads and forums. When this occurs, move/ split the post to the appropriate place. It is up to you whether you wish to leave a "shadow thread" or not.
5) Proposals which attempt to represent 44s. An example of this is the "44 Constitution" which we could not condone in any way. While we support creativity and energy, when people specifically want to speak and design for us, this presents problems with regard to legal accountability and intellectual property. Also, many people do not have a clear understand of what 44s is about: they believe we are advocates, they believe we are an AM support group, they believe we are actually militant. We all know this is not the case, and we cannot be represented as such if we can prevent it.
6) Useless posts. These are posts which aren't funny or insightful, and have no significant or worthwhile content. Angi came up with a great example: "I like girls with jiggly boobs and I hate CCBs."
7) Excessive bitching and negativity. This is fairly difficult to identify, as we do want people to express their feelings and find support. This does not, however, give them the right to gratuitously insult other groups and act like victims or babies. Also, trends must be observed: one or two posts of bitching and negativity may pass; if these turn into multiple threads, however, they have to be discouraged, locked down, and/ or deleted.
Methods of Moderation
In all cases, make sure it is known who did the moderating.
1) Discouragement with no changes. Follow a questionable post with a post discouraging the content/ tone without making any changes. Your post makes it obvious who you are.
2) Discouragement with changes (splitting or edits or deletions). Depending on the severity of the offending post, you may wish to split/ move it somewhere else, edit it, or delete it. In the case of edits/ deletions, make sure you say who you are, and give a brief explanation in the post of why the post was modified.
3) Banning. Moderators do not have the ability to do this. If you feel someone should be banned, tell Lopan or I why.
As I said, this summary is by no means exhaustive, and if you have any questions at all, please feel free to ask.
Moderation Guidelines
From the beginning, the Fighting44s promised intelligence, wit, and emotional sincerity.
These guidelines provide a loosely-defined set of actions and attitudes for maintaining and encouraging cognitive and emotional health.
This is by no means exhaustive, but addresses the most common types of abuse and actions to take. If we ever add or edit these guidelines, I will edit this post, and then I'll reply to the thread to tell you that this post has been changed.
The driving force behind our actions should be compassion; this said, sometimes compassion is a kick in the ass, and we must always make the health of the whole forum our priority.
The following is a list of types of inappropriateness for which to watch out. They are listed roughly from easily-identified to more subtle/ complex.
1) Pornography, both written and visual. This is to be deleted immediately, with a brief explanation that it is inappropriate. What exactly is pornography? Even though the US courts couldn't come to an exact definition, they went by "I know it when I see it." In our case, we will permit no photos/ illustrations/ descriptions of explicit sex acts if they are gratuitous. Something inappropriate would be, "I wanna fuck that bitch up the ass and make her ... etc." We will also not permit anything "almost explicit" (ie. a clip from a porn video that doesn't show any actual nudity or penetration, but the people depicted are clearly naked and/or having sex).
2) Explicit Violence, both written and visual. Some people talk about beating heads and kicking ass, and if the comment is wry or ironic or clearly facetious, we tend to allow thus, but anything that seriously advocates or describes graphic violence is not permitted. Also, if a joke is particularly bad and annoys you, feel free to delete it.
3) Personal and Racial attacks. Anything which seriously attacks character, race, gender, etc. is not permitted, and is a sign that the poster is someone to watch.
4) Thread/Forum-inappropriate post. Some people post random subjects under random threads and forums. When this occurs, move/ split the post to the appropriate place. It is up to you whether you wish to leave a "shadow thread" or not.
5) Proposals which attempt to represent 44s. An example of this is the "44 Constitution" which we could not condone in any way. While we support creativity and energy, when people specifically want to speak and design for us, this presents problems with regard to legal accountability and intellectual property. Also, many people do not have a clear understand of what 44s is about: they believe we are advocates, they believe we are an AM support group, they believe we are actually militant. We all know this is not the case, and we cannot be represented as such if we can prevent it.
6) Useless posts. These are posts which aren't funny or insightful, and have no significant or worthwhile content. Angi came up with a great example: "I like girls with jiggly boobs and I hate CCBs."
7) Excessive bitching and negativity. This is fairly difficult to identify, as we do want people to express their feelings and find support. This does not, however, give them the right to gratuitously insult other groups and act like victims or babies. Also, trends must be observed: one or two posts of bitching and negativity may pass; if these turn into multiple threads, however, they have to be discouraged, locked down, and/ or deleted.
Methods of Moderation
In all cases, make sure it is known who did the moderating.
1) Discouragement with no changes. Follow a questionable post with a post discouraging the content/ tone without making any changes. Your post makes it obvious who you are.
2) Discouragement with changes (splitting or edits or deletions). Depending on the severity of the offending post, you may wish to split/ move it somewhere else, edit it, or delete it. In the case of edits/ deletions, make sure you say who you are, and give a brief explanation in the post of why the post was modified.
3) Banning. Moderators do not have the ability to do this. If you feel someone should be banned, tell Lopan or I why.
As I said, this summary is by no means exhaustive, and if you have any questions at all, please feel free to ask.