1. Introduction
The moderators have always bent over backwards to avoid banning anyone
from Mind's Eye. This fact remains unchanged for anyone who has proven
themselves capable of meaningful contribution to the group. However,
as the group has grown, so has its appeal to increasingly anti-social
individuals who enjoy "trolling" forums. Trolling, says Wikipedia, is
"making deliberately inflammatory remarks in order to provoke a
vehement response from others" [1]. It's a very popular pastime on the
Internet, and one that can ruin online communities like ours.
Mind's Eye -- by virtue of its increasing activity and diversity --
has become a very tempting target for trolls. It seems that the days
of only needing to ban one person every couple of years are now
regrettably behind us. We are victims of our own success, and thus the
moderators have decided to revisit, tighten up, and clarify, what is
acceptable/unacceptable in this group. Although this guide is mostly
for the benefit of new members, we hope our existing members will find
this framework clarifies certain principles and conventions which they
already subscribed to.
2. New Member Moderation
All new members of Mind's Eye are initially moderated. This means that
a new member's posts will not appear immediately, rather they will be
held in a queue until an administrator has checked them over and
released them to the group. The group's moderators are spread across
several time zones and work schedules, thus this process generally
happens within a few hours. Sometimes it's much quicker. However, your
patience is appreciated if it is the weekend or a public holiday.
After a few posts we will take new members off of moderation, thus
allowing their messages to appear -- the Internet and Google willing
-- immediately.
We take a strong line on posts from new members which contain links.
Farming hits for your website or blog from Mind's Eye is very likely
to get you banned. After your moderation has been removed and you have
proven yourself capable of meaningful contribution, we would tend to
be more relaxed about you linking back to your website, assuming it is
relevant and not just blatant hit farming.
This moderation policy has stopped Mind's Eye sinking under the weight
of spam, which has ruined many other groups.
3. Etiquette & Principles
1. If you are looking to "flame" people or generally be
obnoxious, please find yourself a different outlet. Mind's Eye is a
group intended for rational discussions. Aggressive/bullying posts are
unwelcome. If you've had a bad day, go and take your stress out
elsewhere. Remember, a hasty retort thrown together in anger will be
visible to the world long after those feelings have subsided.
Moderators are unable to delete your posts on the website or suck them
magically out of the inboxes of members who participate via email.
2. Attacks upon immutable human characteristics (race,
disability, sexual orientation, et al) are totally unacceptable.
3. Debates about a person's deeply held values, beliefs, or way
of life, should be tempered with a high level of respect and civility.
These debates have been some of our most interesting over the years,
and they work, or not, based upon the level of mutual respect and
honesty extended by each side. If your motive is to ridicule members,
or spread bad feeling, please do not bother to post.
4. We've tackled a fair few sacred cows over the years and these
are always interesting discussions. However, by their nature, these
debates are very likely to stir up emotions. Please accept that the
world is full of people with radically different opinions to yours
which they hold equally as strongly. Mind's Eye is a forum for you to
interact with such people and learn more about them. It is not a forum
for you to attack them, even if they are "pro abortion baby killers",
"neo-con nutjobs", "pinko liberals", "sinners", or even British. All
of the above miscreants are welcome.
5. Posting irrelevant asides, snide comments, or generally trying
to derail a discussion, is not in the spirit of the group. If you have
nothing to contribute to a discussion, move on, start a new thread, or
just be happy reading what other people have posted.
6. Avoid simple "you are wrong" statements; if you have a point
to make, back it up. Please also see the section labelled "Quoting/
Citations" for specific information on how you should cite your
sources.
7. Avoid swearing/cussing, unless it is absolutely pertinent to
the discussion at hand. Sometimes it happens naturally in the flow of
a sentence -- and I'm guilty of it -- but there are many far more
creative ways to express yourself.
8. Do not preach or proselytize: we are here to discuss ideas,
not be recruited to your particular religion no matter how great you
think it is or how much peril you believe our eternal souls to be in.
9. Do not patronise our members. The membership of Mind's Eye is
fantastically diverse in terms of member's ages, levels of education,
forms of spirituality, life experience, and professional vocations.
Even if you think you know the answer to life, the universe, and
everything, you'll be stirring all kinds of bad feeling if your tone
is smug or condescending. Assuming the role of "teacher" is often
unpopular.
10. Ad hominen should be avoided and, in the most serious
circumstances, could see you moderated or banned. Wikipedia defines ad
hominem as "replying to an argument or factual claim by attacking or
appealing to a characteristic or belief of the person making the
argument or claim, rather than by addressing the substance of the
argument or producing evidence against the claim. [3]"
4. Quoting / Citations
1. Copy/pasting reams of text from a website, without a citation,
gives the impression that you are claiming the work as your own. Given
that this is probably not the case, please attribute the quote to its
author or source.
2. When quoting from a website, do not copy/paste the entire
article. Try and limit your citation to a paragraph or two, and, of
course, please provide the link.
3. If you wish to reproduce content from Mind's Eye elsewhere, we
ask you to seek permission of the author(s).
5. Crossposting/multiposting
Crossposting is "the act of posting the same message to multiple
forums, mailing lists, or newsgroups" [2]. It is sometimes known as
multiposting. Mind's Eye is a discussion forum and we encourage you to
take part, not treat the group as a one-way audience for your message
(no matter how important you believe it to be). We consider
crossposting to be the equivalent to spamming, thus it could see you
banned. Depending on previous form, the moderators may take a more
lenient stand with existing members; however, be clear, repeated
crossposting may see you moderated or banned.
6. Bannings
All decisions regarding disciplinary actions up to and including
banishment from the group are discussed thoroughly among the
moderators before any decision is made. None of the moderators take it
upon themselves to discipline a member of the group. Disciplinary
actions include, but are not limited to: warnings, return to moderated
status, banishment from the group, and ETERNAL DAMNATION. Except for
exceptional circumstances -- such as emergencies where other
moderators are out of contact -- all bannings and moderations are
voted on.
7. The Moderators
Your moderators are Chris, ornamentalmind, and Molly. None of us share
the same religious or political views, thus we hope that there is no
bias in moderation.
If you need to contact the moderators "off-list", you should click the
"Send email to the owner" link on the page below:
0 comments:
Post a Comment