Board Rules and Etiquette.
Persistence of Vision is provided as a forum for robust but courteous political discussion, with particular emphasis on media politics and US/UK foreign policy. To allow the widest possible discussion, we strive to moderate this board as little as possible. The rules we do have are, we believe, largely common sense. They apply equally to Persistence of Vision and our sister page, Many Angry Gerbils.
Moderating a message board is an inexact science. We do our best to enforce the rules as fairly as possible. Nevertheless, we reserve to ourselves the sole right to interpret and apply the rules as we see fit. Users who are unhappy with an aspect of moderation are invited to email us, however, we do not welcome complaints about moderation on the board itself.
The Rules.
1 We will not allow comments that are offensively abusive, defamatory, aggressive, or bigoted (i.e. racist, sexist, or homophobic etc.).
2 We will not tolerate bickering, sniping and generally juvenile behaviour. Posts that address a substantive topic are welcome but those that are no more than personal attacks on other posters are not. By all means be contrarian, controversial, and challenging, but address yourself to the issues, not personalities. Show courtesy and maturity. We reserve the right to close threads that have descended into the playground.
3 Use your discretion about 'feeding the trolls' (i.e. responding to users who are clearly not interested in serious discussion). If you think that a poster is not worth responding to, then do not respond to them. Similarly, do not ask for posters to be banned or complain, on the board, about the moderation. If you have a serious complaint, address it to us via email.
4 Choose and maintain a board name. “Sock puppetry” and spoofing are not allowed. If you wish to change your board name that is allowed at our discretion but should be accompanied with a clear announcement. Please also choose a substantive name -no fewer than three letters. Please address other users by their chosen name and avoid insulting or derisive permutations or diminutives.
5 Do not abuse the board threading system (by keeping or forcing threads to the top with superfluous comments) or otherwise vandalise or interfere with the operation or appearance of the board. Users who (in our judgement) do this will be liable to action. Please keep (NM) 'no message' posts to a minimum: they take up space and generally contribute little.
6 When posting articles, post a link to the original. At our discretion, posts without such links will be removed. When posting blog articles, unless it is your own, do not post the entire text but a portion of it, along with a link. At our discretion, you may promote blogs and websites here if you believe they will interest other users but do try to contribute to the board as well. If you promote your own site, please link to this board. If someone posts a link only, please reply to the post on the originating site, not on this board.
7 The identities of the moderators are none of your business. Do not post comments or speculation on the subject.
8 Please do not reply to obvious spam -it is removed without notice, as are replies.
Enforcement.
Users who violate our rules will receive an official warning on the board. Subsequent infractions will incur a second warning, followed by a suspension or outright ban. Egregious violations will result in an immediate suspension or ban.
The ModFather
&
Redverskyle The Undetermined.
5th November, 2007.