The following Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site, including, but not limited to, all text, photographs, audio files and video files.
These Community Rules are intended to highlight and supplement some of the terms and conditions set forth in our User Agreement. You should review the entire User Agreement to understand the terms and conditions that apply to you. For complete information on how this site handles the personal information you provide to us, please read the Privacy Policy. Your use of the site, and/or submission of any content, constitutes your agreement to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy.
This site is not responsible for any content you submit. We reserve the right, but undertake no duty, to review, edit, move, or delete any content submitted by users, in our sole discretion, without notice, including but not limited to the following reasons:
Do not post obscene, indecent, hateful, offensive, defamatory, abusive, harassing or profane material.
Do not post junk mail, pyramid schemes, chain letters or advertisements.
Do not engage in personal attacks.
Vulgar and insulting nicknames will be removed. Nicknames attempting to impersonate other users will be removed.
Do not post anyone's telephone number, street address. or any other personal information.
Do not post an e-mail address belonging to another person.
Do not post information that encourages criminal activity of any kind, or any statements that may give rise to civil liability.
If you post a link to another site, please provide a brief explanation of where the link goes as a courtesy to other users.
Do not post copyrighted material, including newsletter items, newspaper articles, excerpts from books, music, poems, photographs, video files or any other material, unless you own the copyright to that material, or have written permission to post it.
Do not attempt to impersonate other users, site staff or any other person.
Do not post the same message in multiple locations on the site.
Lively debate and opposing opinions are welcome, but please behave courteously and responsibly.
Submissions regarding the administration or moderation of forum posts or comments are not permitted and will be removed.
Keep your messages on topic for the particular discussion you are involved in.
Do not use multiple account nicknames in one discussion. Do not answer your own posts using another nickname.
Community Rules - FAQ
- Are flagged posts really reviewed or just automatically deleted?
- Yes, every flagged post is reviewed by a moderator.
- I am certain my post was completely civil on topic and it was removed. Why?
- The most common reason for this is that while the comment on the whole was acceptable, it contained commentary in violation of the rule against discussion of moderation. The rule exists because discussion of moderation can distract from the topic at hand, but please do get in touch with us if you have concerns about moderation. A 'Contact Us' link is in the footer below.
- Moderation seems inconsistent. It looks like some posts stay and some posts go and it's not apparent why that is.
- Moderation focuses most closely on flagged content and on stories identified for specific attention. The high volume of comments means that if a comment goes unflagged or occurs on a story that does not require a high level of moderator attention, there is a possibility that a comment roughly equivalent to a removed comment may remain. There is no intentional unfairness—it is a consequence of high volume.
- I find the Community Rules confusing.
- Please treat people as people, even when in disagreement. When commenting on heated topics, focus on ideas, not people. Don't violate anyone's privacy. If you have an issue with moderation, bring it to us via the Contact Us form. We value this community and deeply appreciate the many people who comment thoughtfully and in good faith.