April 10th 2007 - Important Announcement regarding future of this section

Darat · 12th April 2007, 05:35 AM

(This thread is the same as the announcement posted 10th April 2007.: http://www.internationalskeptics.com...ement.php?f=64)

April 10th 2007 - Important Announcement regarding future of the Conspiracy Theories Section

Following the ever increasing willful and blatant breaches of not just the Membership Agreement but the spirit of the JREF Forum I am issuing this announcement to inform and remind Members about acceptable and appropriate behavior on the JREF Forum and the consequences for not behaving in such a way.

For Members that mainly post in this section of the JREF Forum I have some very specific comments:

First of all although this section was added because there was a lot of interest in the many weird, strange and outright lunatic theories that were and continue to be propagated about “9/11” it is not a “9/11” sub-section, it is a section that is for discussion of any conspiracy theories that have arisen to explain events that have happened.

Secondly there is not a JREF Forum "position" or "policy" on the events of “9/11” or any other conspiracy theories – no Member posting here speaks for the JREF organization or for Randi and the only people who speak for the JREF Forum are the Moderating Team and that is only when acting in their official capacity.

Thirdly, the JREF Forum Moderating Team does not base any of our Moderating decisions based on what particular theory or claims or opinions a Member holds or makes, quite frankly we don’t care. (Read the Moderators Agreement if you wish to understand more about what the role of the Moderator Team is and also see the additional Moderators' brief at the bottom of this announcement.) We will take action against any Member.

Finally, the Conspiracy Theory section is a sub-section of the JREF Forum, if you wish to discuss issues that are not Conspiracy Theories that should happen in the appropriate sub-section of the JREF Forum. So if you wish to discuss a religious issue you should create your thread in the "Religion and Philosophy" section for questions and comments about the Moderation of the Forum in "Forum Management" and so on.

Acceptable and Appropriate Behavior

From the Membership Agreement that everyone posting here agrees to abide to:

Quote:

...snip...

Be civil and polite.

The JREF wishes civility be the norm and will endeavour to ensure that civility will be the norm, however this does not mean that Members will be insulated from all insults or challenges; the nature of the forum inevitably involves strong emotions and opinions which can result in heated exchanges. The JREF also wishes the forum to be accessible to as many people as possible and will endeavor to ensure that the content in the Forum is suitable for a mature audience.

...snip...

That really should be all the information that anyone needs to understand about what is acceptable behavior here or not however I will expand on it since some Members apparently do not understand it or do not believe it applies to them.

As is clear from that paragraph there is no expectation that everyone will be perfectly civil and polite all the time or that occasionally someone’s emotions won’t get the better of them and they’ll post something that isn’t civil or polite. However the expectation is that such behavior will be rare and will be the exception.

Because we (the JREF and the JREF Forum Moderating Team) believe that in the Conspiracy Theory section the “heated” exchanges and personal insults have become the norm rather than the exception we are going to be much more active in Moderating this section. What this means is that more posts will be edited, moved to Abandon All Hope and even deleted and that more Members will be issued with infractions and regrettably there will probably be more suspensions. We will do this until once again we can say “civility is the norm”.

To avoid having your posts edited, moved or deleted is quite simple – just challenge the claims, the claims of facts, the evidence, the arguments a Member puts forward and don’t insult the Member who has made those claims.

If someone insults you, either ignore the insult or use the report feature but do not respond in kind. And in case some Members don’t understand having your opinion challenged and criticized is not a personal insult or attack, it is what this Forum is here for. (Indeed if you can’t stand to have your opinions, claims and arguments challenged and attacked this is not the forum for you.)

There is also the feature called the ignore list so it is entirely up to a Member as to whether they even see that a specific Member has posted or created a new thread (these options are set in your User Control Panel - UserCP>Edit Options>Thread Display Options). No Member is under any obligation to even read never mind respond to another Member, you choose what you read and what you respond to.

From today until further notice the Moderating Team will not be giving Members the “benefit of the doubt" in this section – if we judge you are breaching the Membership Agreement or trying to get around the wording of the Membership Agreement by some clever phrasing or linking or other action that will be treated as a willful and intentional breach.

This may sound draconian and off putting but it is in the end nothing more than a long winded way of saying – attack the argument not the arguer.

(These changes come into affect from April 10th 2007, breaches prior to that date will be dealt with under the usual JREF Forum wide guidelines.)

With your co-operation this can again be one of the best places on the Internet to discuss Conspiracy Theories.

Darat
JREF Forum Administrator

Moderators' Extended Guidelines for CT section - from 10th April 2007 until further notice

Strict application of all the Membership Agreement to all posts
Any post containing anything that breaches the Moderating Agreement the breach is either edited out, the post moved to AAH or the post deleted.
Any Member that has a post that is moved or deleted is to be warned via the infraction system.

Guidelines for judging whether to edit, move or delete a post

Edit
Edit the post when you judge the breach to be very minor but overall the post addresses claims or arguments in accordance to the Membership Agreement. Infraction may be issued. (Note the edit must be applied to any posts that also quote the breach.)

Move to AAH
Move the post when you judge the breach is minor and overall the intention of the post was not to breach the Membership Agreement. Infraction to be issued. (Note: Posts that quote the moved post should also be moved to AAH if they continue the original breach. However you may decide to just edit out the breach section in any quoted post).

Delete
Delete the post when you judge there has been a serious or major breach of the Membership Agreement. Infraction to be issued. (Note: Any post that quotes the breach to continue the breach i.e. discuss the personal insult or reply in kind is also to be deleted. In any post that quotes a subsequently deleted post in part or full the deleted post quote should be edited out.)

Note for all actions:
Even if the breach is only a small proportion of an otherwise exemplary post that would win a Member the Pulitzer prize for uncovering the worse conspiracy of all time action is still to be taken. If any Member breaches the Membership Agreement then all their post is subject to being edited, moved or deleted.

15th August: Section now under standard Moderation.

12th April 2007, 05:35 AM	#1
Darat Lackey Administrator Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: South East, UK Posts: 98,180	April 10th 2007 - Important Announcement regarding future of this section (This thread is the same as the announcement posted 10th April 2007.: http://www.internationalskeptics.com...ement.php?f=64) April 10th 2007 - Important Announcement regarding future of the Conspiracy Theories Section Following the ever increasing willful and blatant breaches of not just the Membership Agreement but the spirit of the JREF Forum I am issuing this announcement to inform and remind Members about acceptable and appropriate behavior on the JREF Forum and the consequences for not behaving in such a way. For Members that mainly post in this section of the JREF Forum I have some very specific comments: First of all although this section was added because there was a lot of interest in the many weird, strange and outright lunatic theories that were and continue to be propagated about “9/11” it is not a “9/11” sub-section, it is a section that is for discussion of any conspiracy theories that have arisen to explain events that have happened. Secondly there is not a JREF Forum "position" or "policy" on the events of “9/11” or any other conspiracy theories – no Member posting here speaks for the JREF organization or for Randi and the only people who speak for the JREF Forum are the Moderating Team and that is only when acting in their official capacity. Thirdly, the JREF Forum Moderating Team does not base any of our Moderating decisions based on what particular theory or claims or opinions a Member holds or makes, quite frankly we don’t care. (Read the Moderators Agreement if you wish to understand more about what the role of the Moderator Team is and also see the additional Moderators' brief at the bottom of this announcement.) We will take action against any Member. Finally, the Conspiracy Theory section is a sub-section of the JREF Forum, if you wish to discuss issues that are not Conspiracy Theories that should happen in the appropriate sub-section of the JREF Forum. So if you wish to discuss a religious issue you should create your thread in the "Religion and Philosophy" section for questions and comments about the Moderation of the Forum in "Forum Management" and so on. Acceptable and Appropriate Behavior From the Membership Agreement that everyone posting here agrees to abide to: Quote: ...snip... Be civil and polite. The JREF wishes civility be the norm and will endeavour to ensure that civility will be the norm, however this does not mean that Members will be insulated from all insults or challenges; the nature of the forum inevitably involves strong emotions and opinions which can result in heated exchanges. The JREF also wishes the forum to be accessible to as many people as possible and will endeavor to ensure that the content in the Forum is suitable for a mature audience. ...snip... That really should be all the information that anyone needs to understand about what is acceptable behavior here or not however I will expand on it since some Members apparently do not understand it or do not believe it applies to them. As is clear from that paragraph there is no expectation that everyone will be perfectly civil and polite all the time or that occasionally someone’s emotions won’t get the better of them and they’ll post something that isn’t civil or polite. However the expectation is that such behavior will be rare and will be the exception. Because we (the JREF and the JREF Forum Moderating Team) believe that in the Conspiracy Theory section the “heated” exchanges and personal insults have become the norm rather than the exception we are going to be much more active in Moderating this section. What this means is that more posts will be edited, moved to Abandon All Hope and even deleted and that more Members will be issued with infractions and regrettably there will probably be more suspensions. We will do this until once again we can say “civility is the norm”. To avoid having your posts edited, moved or deleted is quite simple – just challenge the claims, the claims of facts, the evidence, the arguments a Member puts forward and don’t insult the Member who has made those claims. If someone insults you, either ignore the insult or use the report feature but do not respond in kind. And in case some Members don’t understand having your opinion challenged and criticized is not a personal insult or attack, it is what this Forum is here for. (Indeed if you can’t stand to have your opinions, claims and arguments challenged and attacked this is not the forum for you.) There is also the feature called the ignore list so it is entirely up to a Member as to whether they even see that a specific Member has posted or created a new thread (these options are set in your User Control Panel - UserCP>Edit Options>Thread Display Options). No Member is under any obligation to even read never mind respond to another Member, you choose what you read and what you respond to. From today until further notice the Moderating Team will not be giving Members the “benefit of the doubt" in this section – if we judge you are breaching the Membership Agreement or trying to get around the wording of the Membership Agreement by some clever phrasing or linking or other action that will be treated as a willful and intentional breach. This may sound draconian and off putting but it is in the end nothing more than a long winded way of saying – attack the argument not the arguer. (These changes come into affect from April 10th 2007, breaches prior to that date will be dealt with under the usual JREF Forum wide guidelines.) With your co-operation this can again be one of the best places on the Internet to discuss Conspiracy Theories. Darat JREF Forum Administrator Moderators' Extended Guidelines for CT section - from 10th April 2007 until further notice Strict application of all the Membership Agreement to all posts Any post containing anything that breaches the Moderating Agreement the breach is either edited out, the post moved to AAH or the post deleted. Any Member that has a post that is moved or deleted is to be warned via the infraction system. Guidelines for judging whether to edit, move or delete a post Edit Edit the post when you judge the breach to be very minor but overall the post addresses claims or arguments in accordance to the Membership Agreement. Infraction may be issued. (Note the edit must be applied to any posts that also quote the breach.) Move to AAH Move the post when you judge the breach is minor and overall the intention of the post was not to breach the Membership Agreement. Infraction to be issued. (Note: Posts that quote the moved post should also be moved to AAH if they continue the original breach. However you may decide to just edit out the breach section in any quoted post). Delete Delete the post when you judge there has been a serious or major breach of the Membership Agreement. Infraction to be issued. (Note: Any post that quotes the breach to continue the breach i.e. discuss the personal insult or reply in kind is also to be deleted. In any post that quotes a subsequently deleted post in part or full the deleted post quote should be edited out.) Note for all actions: Even if the breach is only a small proportion of an otherwise exemplary post that would win a Member the Pulitzer prize for uncovering the worse conspiracy of all time action is still to be taken. If any Member breaches the Membership Agreement then all their post is subject to being edited, moved or deleted. 15th August: Section now under standard Moderation.
	Last edited by Darat; 15th August 2007 at 06:48 AM.