It's like a club. People have the right to dislike each other. People can sneer and say pointed things. But no, nobody gets to throw a drink in another patron's face.
Expectations of civility will vary by forum. Within reason, the mods now have the right to set their own rules in their forums. (Krass sets his own rules, and if you wander into CCN or Sports, you had better be tough.) I will be taking Politics for now, because it is historically a trouble spot, and I want to try a very open level of discourse there, actually less "coddling" than it was before. We shall see how that works. If you step into Politics, expect some topics to be rough. But expect discussion to stay on topic as well.
Overall, and in the forums I mod, I encourage free discourse with simple, basic civility. This means go ahead and blast ideas and posts, themselves. But blasting other users simply for being here? No. Bringing personal vendettas, feuds, or hatreds here and targeting someone for existing? No.
If you have examples of similar web boards' sets of rules and expectations, or how they operate without such things, please post them or post links to them. I'm happy to discuss it and consider alternatives.
Expectations of civility will vary by forum. Within reason, the mods now have the right to set their own rules in their forums. (Krass sets his own rules, and if you wander into CCN or Sports, you had better be tough.) I will be taking Politics for now, because it is historically a trouble spot, and I want to try a very open level of discourse there, actually less "coddling" than it was before. We shall see how that works. If you step into Politics, expect some topics to be rough. But expect discussion to stay on topic as well.
Overall, and in the forums I mod, I encourage free discourse with simple, basic civility. This means go ahead and blast ideas and posts, themselves. But blasting other users simply for being here? No. Bringing personal vendettas, feuds, or hatreds here and targeting someone for existing? No.
If you have examples of similar web boards' sets of rules and expectations, or how they operate without such things, please post them or post links to them. I'm happy to discuss it and consider alternatives.
