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admin
S. Moderator
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Posted: Fri May 9th, 2008 01:36 am |
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Welcome! Perspectives aims high & is not for everyone. To stay here you must be able to discuss issues in a mature manner -- free speech is about political liberty and is not a license for lunacy. We're a demanding operation made possible by generous volunteers -- do not take from this site more than you are willing to give, at minimum by adhering to the rules. Please don't direct anger at this site or it's users based on offline personal problems.
How do I post a topic?
Pick the proper board (you can see them all by clicking the graphic at the top left) then click "new topic" at the top right of the screen to post.
Why did you close/edit/delete my post?
Because it violated the rules. The top violations are immature insults**, vulgarity & spam including clearly posting on the wrong board: certain ones are affiliation-specific, age-specific, and subject-specific. To stay on the top two US boards it must meet the special news board requirements. Use of mostly CAPS or needless characters (in subject/description) or large fonts (in message) is also DD spam. We use something similar to "rule of law" (rule of rule!) in that we measure posts against the site rules rather than any personal bias. Moderation disagreement amongst our 9 super-moderators is resolved by a democratic violation vote (VV).
Is this site left or right wing?
Neither. It has both a liberal & conservative board, and combination boards regulated by a balance of both liberal and conservative moderators.
Who edited my post and what was the violation?
Normally it indicates both in the moderated post, or in the top or bottom post of a topic. A glitch in the system does not show the editor however if they are an S mod not explicitly listed as a moderator of that board.
Why did you move my topic?
We place topics on boards we believe to be the "best fit" at the exclusive judgment of moderators. Complaints about this are generally the poorest thought out comments we receive, please respect this site has a carefully designed structure to accommodate the highest number of users and encourage specialty debate. Routine misplacement of topics by a user will result in closure (dd spam misplacement). Improperly placed topics on the news boards will generally be closed unless they are both a) properly formatted and b) strongly belong elsewhere. No topics will generally be moved off the 2 partisan boards (conservative/liberal).
What's with the news boards?
The 2 news boards have a special policy to ensure relevancy, and moderators review posts to meet it. Topics violating this policy will be closed, but those not reviewed within one hour will be updated for you if the linked article appears to have changed. After review your topic will be left open & unedited even if the article changes. Titles that are too long for our software should be continued in the description.
What about excerpts?
We will generally moderate excerpts anywhere here of more than 25% of an external article.
Why is my topic on UU2?
The UU2 board is for conspiracy topics deemed unconventional & unconfirmed by site moderators.
What are II (immature insults)?
"Schoolyard" is the definition of violation we use to moderate immature insults in new topics or in too many posts directed at users, their families, or groups here. We don't consider extreme political & moral terms that lack juvenile motivation to count, for example "evil", "fascist", "communist", "racist".
Typical immature insults include "idiot", "stupid" and other terms that aren't conducive to mature debate. You are limited to 1 per day directed at users on the site or groups on a board (i.e. you may however freely insult liberals as a group on the conservative board and vice-versa).
We will consider name variations to be a violation if the root word is schoolyard in nature, e.g. "Bush-bot" is not as it is a variation of the word "robot". Political party name variations however such as "Repuglican" & "Democrap" are considered II though as we include college-style! Abbreviations are ok, e.g. "Reps" and "Dems".
Such animal insults that refer to pigs, primates, pussies & pests (common) are also a violation.
Why was I banned? Why can't I see the boards?
We ban users for serious rule violations (particularly over-offensive behavior, SS spam, or repeated violation of other rules) & trolling (unanimously designated by S moderators). When you're banned your account says "PM disabled". Occasionally users get banned accidentally because their IP matches another user. Email us if that happens. Bans are governed by a vote of all S-mods.
What's the difference between "vulgar (offensive)", & "sordid (over-offensive)" behavior?
Offensive is generally profanity (vulgarity) or immature insults**. Too much (2+ posts/day ET) use of one or the other is considered over-offensive as is anything sordid. Sordidness is defined here as what would make an average person disgusted at the author. Quoting, inserting, or linking to any of the above for the purpose of being offensive can count as a violation by yourself depending upon the severity. Acronym, initialed, or censored profanity counts as a half vulgarity unless only a single letter of the word is changed (where it will be counted as full). Offensiveness is counted per such post (not per incident).
What about avatars, video, & images?
If visible directly within the site they must follow the same general rules and be at most basically PG-13. R-rated sexual content may only exist on the sexuality board, & such media only linked and only with an appropriate warning. X-rated (NC-17) content is forbidden in any manner. Other (non-sexual) R images (including all graphic abortion & violence imagery) on all boards may similarly only be linked and only with an appropriate warning.
Why is (insert user name here) allowed to break the rules?
All users are treated equally, however the author of a topic is held to a higher standard than those who reply. This is because when it comes to problems, someone usually "starts it". It also keeps the amount of moderation feasible. As for other violations that appear "missed", we may simply not see them.
Why are some boards marked with a : ) symbol?
These are special, heavily-moderated zero hostility** zones to ensure a friendly tone.
Who do I report problems to?
A moderator listed at the top of the board in question, or the admin ONLY if a legal issue.
Do we tolerate hate?
We detest hate, and fighting it is one of our primary objectives on this forum. If hate was censored here however we could not fight it because it would move elsewhere. It therefore will not be, with the exception of vulgar, user-insulting, or explicitly sordid or violent material. The racial, religious, and orientational insulting terms nigge* or coon (meaning dark-skinned such as black or Arab), kik* (meaning jew), fa* or dyk* (meaning gay) are considered sordid and always result in bans if used offensively. Other such terms are generally vulgar.
Furthermore, most references to sexual crimes against religions & deities will be regarded as sordid (disgusting) other than those widely & specifically accepted as fact. Such references to historical persons (including prophets) will be measured against the law of their time, e.g. allegations of "pedophilia" or "rape" against ancient couples such as Joseph/Mary or Muhammad/Aisha will be deemed dd-spam fabrication as youthful marriage was then common & legal.
What is dd-spam fabrication?
Basically deliberately presenting untrue facts with other than humorous effect. We cannot always moderate this. Fabrication is mainly altered quotes, fake news stories, & unproven (unadmitted or unconvicted) allegations of lawbreaking, although we will generally not seek to moderate the latter in cases of international, defense/national security, or right-to-life law. Furthermore we generally won't judge legal allegations against nations, cultures, deities, or belief systems with the exception of posts deemed sordid (disgusting). Legal allegations against historical persons (including religious figures) will be measured against the law of their time.
We're not experts or arbiters of fact or law however; users are exclusively responsible for their activities.
Which partisan board (conservative/liberal) should I post on?
Each of the 2 partisan boards has a "community standard" for who may post there set by the members and moderators of each. This is generally determined by whether you mostly support 1-US Republicans /intl. conservatives or 2-US Democrats /intl. liberals /socialists) . Failing that, primarily economic freedom or social intervention voters should probably post on the conservative board, primarily economic intervention or social freedom voters on the liberal board. Independents and others should basically choose one and stick to it or none. A libertarian board is available for "all freedom" voters. Regardless of whom you support, to be on the conservative board you must not openly oppose the Republican Party, or to be on the liberal board openly oppose the Democratic Party.
Why don't you add a ____ board?
We limit the number of boards, particularly on political topics, as having more boards slows down the debate generally. We have to perceive a demand & usefulness for specialty debate which to date for example does not exist for a "political independent" board.
Why can't I mention other forums?
It's expensive to operate this place and it's illogical to use it to effectively advertise for others. A forum is defined as "a web page which primarily publishes articles from the general public".
How do you deal with solicitation spammers?
SS spammers are like thieves: they attempt to take for free what others paid for in money & time to make. This site is very expensive to market & build a usership for. Spammers damage us, & should know advertising here costs $5000 per post or mail plus our legal fees to collect it if necessary. Note: new users posting obscure sites (etc.) will as a precaution be moderated as potential spammers because it's fact much of the time. Sites hosted with our companies are exempt from this spam policy unless they are primarily for commercial solicitation.
May I disagree or complain about site management here?
Yes, just please try to appreciate how incredibly difficult is to balance free speech & good decorum in a "room" full of people who are in fundamental disagreement (and often substantial dislike) of each other politically. We've found many complaints stem from the desire to silence ideological opponents, while wanting themselves or others from their own side to get away with similar actions. Members rarely complain about users from their own side.
We have a great deal of experience at running a multi-party politics forum, more than anyone else in the world. If you find yourself in constant conflict with our policies the problem, frankly, is probably you and you should consider moving on. Critics are listened to, cranks are not.
Is the PM system here private?
Due to the necessity to fight violations on this site including criminal activity (e.g. African email scams) the admin & super-mods have the authority to check PM mailboxes, preferably rarely. Courtesy changes also. Do not use it for anything private or important, it is not as secure as your email.
How do I embed a Youtube?
Simply click the red "f" button (flash) & enter an adjusted Youtube web address when posting.
e.g.:
adjust the address: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=youtubeID
in the "f" box to read: http://www.youtube.com/v/youtubeID
Where can I find more information?
We operate a web search engine here. See the site terms for more.
**directed at a user on this site (incl. family) or group of users on that board.
Last edited on Sun May 3rd, 2009 01:34 am by admin
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