Discussing politics online, often needlessly devolves into toxicity. This thread is an attempt to both mitigate that, and help new users find their path.
Words of Wisdom:
“Despite our own fervency. Religion nonetheless does not offer up any definitive answers. Therefore we must always be tolerant of opposing beliefs and opinions.”-Zedvictor4
“Ideologues believe two plus two equals five. Don't be an ideologue.” -Ragnar
“We must admit that refutation is the greatest and chiefest of purifications, and he who has not been refuted, though he be the Great King himself, is in an awful state of impurity.”-Plato (suggested by Discipulus_Didicit)
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Formatting Best Practices:
For actual debates, I highly suggest referencing the guide. However, for general forum use, just obey a few simple guidelines:
- Space between things is useful if you wish to be legible
- Don’t bold and/or CAPITALIZE all of your text
- Don’t misquote other users
Regarding the quote tool (just right of the underline button when making a post), bare in mind it adds an extra space after paragraphs; so if replying just after it, use a couple line breaks around each section.
Correct Way
What’s being replied to...
Reply to the above, followed by two line breaks to separate it from the next point of discussion.
What’s being replied to next...
Reply to the above.
Wrong Way
What’s being replied to...
Reply to the above, disguised to look like it’s replying to what’s below; adding needless confusion.
What’s being replied to next
Reply to the above, disconnected from the flow of everything else.
The problem with this is there are no extra line breaks, which clusters the wrong bits together. That the formatting does this is known, so use the extra line breaks.
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Code of Conduct:
A new Code of Conduct (CoC) was ratified June 1st, 2020.
There are two frequently relevant sections of the CoC:
This should not need to be said, but if a behavior is obviously wrong, don’t do it.
Making Reports
To make a report, click the flag icon on the offending post. Ideally also message a moderator to explain what CoC violation occurred, as some posts have a lot of text and we usually have to read several others to determine context. So please make it less difficult.
The context of who is making the report does matter. As an example, some users are friends in real life, and make rude seeming inside jokes at each others expense; it being consensual, mitigates the offense.
Most things you dislike are not offenses that should be reported (such as the mere fact of having a contradictory opinion), you being “triggered” does not constitute a CoC violation. When someone writes something you dislike, first imagine a line in the sand. On one side of the line is civility, and the other savagery. Usually just a reminder is enough. A user without history of crossing the line, will be shown more leniency than someone who regularly skates it. The users who tend to be banned, are the ones who forget there is a line at all. Of course the ones likely to be indefinitely banned, might ask “what sand?”
Some examples of disagreeable statements, posts akin to the delinquent ones should be reported...
Expressing frustration with immaturity:
- Borderline: “The job of moderation is not to be your surrogate parents.”Problematic, but not outright vile.
- Delinquent: “Clearly your daddy didn’t beat you enough, so I’m going to take your mom out to a nice dinner; don’t wait up...”Don’t start imagining things about peoples upbringing, especially not to insinuate child abuse, or infer intent to... Just don’t ok?
Response to mind reading:
- Borderline: “I didn’t know you have super powers to know what I was thinking! What’s it like to be a superhero?”Sarcasm is usually warranted, and as an isolated case it does not cross the line into excessive trolling.
- Delinquent: “Oh yeah? You’re a Nazi!”Accusing someone of direct involvement with genocide, is almost never warranted.(This example had to go in here somewhere, and I did not have any good bad reply to the common BS of members claiming to know what someone else is thinking)
Please submit more hypothetical examples, and suggest any refinements to the above (layout and/or content). The basic idea here is to make people aware first that there is a line to be crossed, and further about where that line is (without getting too ugly).
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Trolls (and comedy):
A troll is a mythic cave dwelling being, with an appetite for billygoats.
Nothing attracts trolls like attempts at intelligent discourse. They are usually best handled by simply ignoring them.
Overly sensitive users are going to accuse anyone who so much as cracks of joke (or corrects them) of being a malicious troll, so I will use the term a bit open-endedly.
There are three types of trolls (or with vulgarity):
- Clowns who are not necessarily trying to inspire anger.
- Losers with nothing better to do with their lives than try to anger strangers.
- Idiots who say things so stupid you mistake them for the Type 1 or Type 2, but they lack the mental facilities to do it intentionally.
So if engaging in comedy, please keep the following in mind:
- Lots of people will see it, so try to make it more about entertaining the audience, rather than hurting anyone’s feelings.
- Never forget Poe's Law. The one time a feminist talks in satire about how women are weakened by their right to vote, someone will mistake them for being serious.
- Don’t do mindless insults. Just calling someone a retard makes you look uninspired. It’s much better to properly evaluate their logic, point out every flaw in it, and leave them being a mentally deficient the unspoken but only rational conclusion from the evidence.
- Don’t stalk people. Their interactions on a different topic in a different thread, is not the time to bring up old dirt. Certainly never make threads calling them out by name.
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Toxic Threads:
Some threads act like they’ve caught a disease. If a thread in general gets too vitriolic, moderators are likely to take the following actions against the thread:
- Place a general warning inside it against the most problematic behavior(s).
- Lock the thread for a minimum of 24 hours.
Users within may or may not be punished, as it is contextually understood that negative feedback loops happen without malevolence.
Such threads may be unlocked by request (message any moderator). If unlocked, any resumed CoC violations will be treated more seriously, and if the negative feedback loop resumes the thread will be locked permanently.
