Ok enough slackness, here's the proposed revised guidelines, have a read and let us know what you think... A few of you have recently had a bit to say about the state of the forum and the board in general, so I want some feedback ok!
[This message has been edited by Tarsarlan (edited 20 November 2001).]
[This message has been edited by Tarsarlan (edited 20 November 2001).]
Any changes made are in italics...Guidelines for the Aus Bluelight Social Forum
These guidelines have been drawn up by your friendly moderators so that everyone understands what is and what is not acceptable as far as posting in the Australia/Asia/NZ/Middle East Social forum is concerned. Hopefully these guidelines will prevent this forum from getting out of control.
Firstly a diatribe written by abygale:
"A lot of people around here, while hiding behind the First Amendment, don't seem to really understand the meaning of "freedom of speech." They argue all the time that "I can say whatever I want -- I have freedom of speech!!" ... well, that's true... you may SPEAK whatever you want. But the person or people who provide an avenue for communication are in no way bound to allow you to say what you want in the space they paid for ... it would be like me insisting that Macy's has to include my opinion in their full-page ad in the Sunday Times, because I have first amendment rights. They paid for the ad -- I have no right to say anything at all in that space. That is the situation with Bluelight. It was created, is owned and operated by Jase and Skydancer, who have entrusted the mods and admins with the power to try to help them run it in the way Jase and skydancer intended. This is not a democracy. There is no right to free speech here. Forum guidelines must be obeyed, or you will lose the privilege of posting."
Here are the specific rules :
The first rule of Bluelight is, NO DEALING ON BLUELIGHT. The second rule of Bluelight is, NO DEALING ON BLUELIGHT ! You should know this, and if you don't, it should be obvious through common sense. Bluelight can be shut down if someone is seen trying to buy/sell illegal substances on the board. Bluelight doesn't need to be shut down in its entirety because someone tried to get/sell some pills. If you try to get/sell pills on the board, your thread will be deleted and you'll get a warning e-mail. If you continue, you will have your posting privileges suspended or revoked. On a similar note, keep any mention of your personal drug use / drug possession / future drug use to a minimum. We know many people take drugs, but don't forget that it is illegal! Don't make it easy for the police to cause you, and the rest of us trouble. Due to the sheer size of this bulletin board, the Australian Police and members of the media do keep on eye on it and have used information submitted by users to their advantage. On some occasions in the past, people have gotten themselves into trouble. This is a very serious matter. Please help to make sure it doesn't happen again, and if you notice anyone else being careless, politely inform them of the mistake they are making.
Threads must stay on topic.
When starting a new topic, please try to make sure the heading is relevant this just makes it a little easier for everyone. This topic, elaborated upon in the topic starter's first post, is generally what the subject of the discussion should be. Please make sure that what you add to the thread is valid, and please make an effort to keep the thread on topic. If there is something important you forgot to add, just click the edit button to add more to your post. And before you start your thread, use the search feature to make sure it hasn't been done before. Now when you wish to reply to a thread, do so in the thread you are replying to - don't start a new thread to reply to the existing one. If you do, your thread will be closed. It's the 'Reply' button you want when replying, not 'Post'!
This is not a chat site.
Though it is tempting to be freely social, chat cannot be accepted. This may be the social forum, but it doesn't mean you can post whatever you like. Too many people are making personal posts that only bear relevance to one or two other people. That's what email, ICQ and IRC are for. To a small extent chat will be tolerated, but its in the interests of all Bluelighters, particularly those who have just joined Bluelight that we leave chat out. This includes in-jokes and threads which revolve around only a select few people. They can be very funny and quite special to those involved, but try to keep them to a minimum and don't drag them out so that other's who don't understand feel alienated.
If you wish to chat, by all means you are welcome to join the IRC #bluelight channel on au.austnet.org
Keep posts simple.
It might look cool to you, but excessive html can be quite annoying to other people. Please try to keep html to a minimum. On a similar note, if you want to use colours, make sure they add to the post and are not simply an eyesore. If it gets over the top, sadly html will have to be banned in this forum. This goes for smilies too, don't over-use them.
What's acceptable in this forum?
Almost any sort of open topic that people can actually contribute to is acceptable in this forum, so here is what is not acceptable:
Any form of drug dealing
Topics that are clearly going to be found offensive
Topics below a certain level of maturity - an example of this is the "Mu( x)ke vs Piglet" thread.
No personal attacks on other bluelighters or flame wars are acceptable. Racism, sexism, homophobia, or any other form of discrimination won't be tolerated.
This forum is for everyone and everyone should be made to feel they are welcome. We do not expect you to be all serious and normal and boring and politically correct. We just expect you to be reasonable.
If a post or a thread is deemed unacceptable, it will be closed, but it will only be deleted if it involves dealing.
If you start a thread, and for whatever reason decide it is no longer needed, please do not delete it! You will also be deleting everyone else's responses, and while you have a right to delete your own words, you have no such right concerning others. Simply ask a moderator and they will close it if nescessary
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Written by Mr. Horse :
The internet has been around for quite a while now, and for years people have been hiding behind their computers. See, we can all be superheros, 8 year old girls or 50 year old men. We never have to deal with confrontation on the net, and if we choose, we don't even have to know what they look like.
We create our own community within our computer, living our lives through chat rooms or message board sites, such as Bluelight. While this can be great, there is an ugly side which cant be ignored; this is, lacking in basic human confrontation skills. We all may not be the most confident people in the world, but I would like to think we can deal with sticky situations in an appropriate manner.
Just think: before you post that email to your girlfriend/boyfriend after she has treated you badly (yes, i'm a culprit) take a minute to reflect. What am I saying in this email that cant be said face to face? SMS's are the same. Its very easy to get angry at someone without actually dealing with them. This is why flame wars become so intense and full on, a lot of people cant deal with confrontation properly, thus when they get infront of a computer, they are invincible to the world. This is something only individuals can deal with, but in the mean time, take the time to read over this and think before you post mmmkay? There is nothing we can do to change the anonymity of the internet and Bluelight, but there are a few things we can do to help avoid ugly situations such as the recent flame wars that have been happening.
Firstly, respect that not everyone will have the same opinion as you. Yes, you may not agree with it, but respect their opinion, just as you would hope yours would be.
Secondly, personal grudges are petty and juvinial ok? There is no need for mindless flaming just because you have a hatred for the person. Please keep all personal attacks to email and icq, or by whichever means you feel fit, just keep it off Bluelight.
Thirdly, dont EVER forget that the internet has no tone!! The difference between putting a little winking face after your comment can be the difference between a friendly poke and the beginnings of a flame war.
And lastly, please dont EVER take anything too seriously. Perhaps we have had a bad day (hey, it happens you know!!) and we let something slip we perhaps shouldnt, please dont get too defensive about it. Take it with a grain of salt.
Thankyou for taking the time to read this, and I hope you will consider what I have said. Please dont ever be afraid to email me and tell either myself, or any of the other moderators about any converns you may have regarding Bluelight. We are here to serve you dont forget.
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Please note that even though they're called "guidelines", these are "rules", so if you don't follow them, your thread will be closed.
BTW if you're new here, have a look at the "Welcome to Bluelight, Greenlighters!" thread and post your introduction there. We don't need the server space taken up with a lot of "Hi! I'm new!" threads.
If you have any questions, complaints, or suggestions, feel free to voice your thoughts to the Aus Social Moderators:
Tarsarlan: [email protected]
MikeySammy: [email protected]
Finn: [email protected]
Its Chaos: [email protected]
If you have any quarrel with the way any Moderator does their job, first take it up with them personally (via email or ICQ etc) and if you are unable to resolve the issue with them, take it up with another Mod or and Admin.
Special thanks to the main Social forum Moderators and Admins for their guidelines...
[This message has been edited by Tarsarlan (edited 20 November 2001).]
[This message has been edited by Tarsarlan (edited 20 November 2001).]
