RE: Rules Voting System Proposal
Thesis
This started out as a criticism of the phrase "NSFW" and turned into Daniel's Theory of How Daniel Would Moderate.
Please consider what follows my unsolicited opinions.
Regarding NSFW
This is more like an essay for me to complain about something I don't like, but--
Shirotsume said:
Minimum rules that must be followed regardless-
NSFW in the restricted forums, no exceptions.
Nothing illegal.
No spamming.
Report things that break the rules.
I don't like "Not Safe For Work" as a judgement guideline.
I would like to point out that this is a pretty brutally subjective measure. Because what's "safe for work" depends so heavily on employer. For example, the network settings at my office just completely ban accessing ffnet because of "obscene content" or w/e. It's not a "don't surf the damn web on company time" thing (that's a different warning). It's something that's categorically banned even during my lunch hour.
I mean, I come from the "freedom of speech" heritage in the USA, and even if it's totally alright for a private organization to restrict it for their own reasons, it's still something I view as ethically suspicious.
Ah, from a moral perspective, I'd rather wade through graphically disturbing content, rather than have it banhammered using "THE LAW" as a convenient legal shield, let alone someone using the rules of professional conduct they have to obey to get along in a private society.
What I'm saying is, I'd rather this be a forum that I can't access at work, rather than a neutered version I can.
Other forums justify it about ad revenue; that's okay, but if it's just the calculus of me as the product the forum software is selling to advertisers, then if the speech is constrained, I regard that with distrust and suspicion. I accept the implicit contract of "in exchange for supporting this content, consider these ads"; but if advertisers are going to put caveats on "this content", then I start to consider myself as their adversary, rather than considering myself as their customer.
I'm here to indulge myself in freewheeling words, I'm not here to please some PR branding scheme.
I guess what I'm saying is, it's annoying enough keeping my mouth shut at work, I don't want to watch myself the exact same way on my own time, doing my own thing.
Well, on the other hand, when it comes to verbal speech, there's a lot of sexualized, bigoted, racist, sexist, profane, scatological, homophobic, and generally salty language bandied about by a lot of the people I work with (to indulge in some stereotyping of my own, I'm thinking of some of the construction contractors).
It's cool to say "NSFW", but keep in mind that (true story) my boss made a joke about a homosexual penguin sucking a seal's cock, and that email was cited in a multi-million-dollar lawsuit deposition, and it didn't matter (he's one of those scamps that gets away with that kind of thing) (Well it did matter, but only as part of an evidence chain that alleged incompetent work on the part of the primary contractor).
I'd prefer we completely ditch the criterion of "NSFW" and explicitly write up a list of things that are and are not acceptable to say. It's fine if that list is long, and it's fine if we end up amending it whenever someone is uniquely and inventively terrible at personhood, but I want a bulleted list, not someone else's idea of what's "work safe."
If we gotta do this to maintain a minimum level of legal protection, or to deflect culpability on the part of the forum or the service provider, that's something I'd consider necessary, not desirable, and I would prefer the rules reflect that by being as minimal as possible.
Regarding Speech I'd Contemplate Censoring
Hostile Speech--
I'd rather that threats and personal attacks require that the offended party or the OP (as the threadmaster) be the one to bring the mod in by a PM request. But once a mod is involved, bans measured in multiweek lengths would be on the table. This is about people being comfortable being here, and abusive language isn't necessary as a rule, so I'm willing to allow some speech constraint here.
Well, that being said, I don't like it when somebody calls me names, but as long as I'm not getting threatened, I'd prefer mods not get involved.
(As a personal example, keep in mind that I dislike the use of the phrase "butthurt" to describe angry posting because it trivializes rape, so I would consider this more profane than someone using a string of four-letter words considered impolite in church but that everyone learned on the playground before they were twelve from other children, or their angry parents. TheoreticalMod!daniel would have already handed out some warnings in this very thread... to shirotsume, for example. If you don't want TheoreticalMod!daniel to hammer you for that, maybe you should keep that in mind when you're proposing your rules.)
Bigoted Speech--
Speech aimed at groups of people rather than targeting individuals--I'd be less willing to constrain this, as a rule.
But, as a heterosexual white male with natural-born USA citizenship, I've been on the receiving end of very little of this; if other people feel personally offended by bigoted speech, then their opinion deserves consideration.
Sexually Explicit Content--
If we're talking about this with any kind of US context then we gotta bring up the
Miller Test. In particular, I direct your attention to "prong three": lacking in serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. This is a fanfiction forum, so that first bit,
serious literary value, is critical. I don't care if it's
good, because let's face it, we're not boasting professional-grade skills here; but as long as someone is making a
serious attempt to write literature, if they're trying to convey something, then cut them some damn slack.
That being said, porn in the porn section, not anywhere else; that's not censorship, that's just an organizational thing that keeps other people happy. I'm totally fine with that level of compromise.
Regarding Other Rules for Behavioral Stuff
Necros--
fine said:
Hey I just read this and here's an omake....
fine too said:
Hey I just read this and that's not how cats act.
okay said:
That was great!! Really liked it!!
bad said:
Are you ever going to continue this??
What I have problems with is bumping, rather than necroing, exactly; what's bad is just pushing the thread up, even more than posting in a long-dead thread. Sometimes the multi-year necros can even be kinda fun... but nobody should make a habit of necroing, as a rule.
Off Topic--
If and
Only If the OP wants to drag it back on-topic, there might be punishments handed out, starting with chiding from a mod. Otherwise you just haven't been paying attention to what this board
is, culturally. I've said it a few times: "Off topic is fine, as long as it's interesting". That's my philosophy about off topic on this board.
One Word Posts--
This is getting a little too subjective about what a meritous post is. I'd rather just roll a word count rule into "spam."
Spam--
Shameless advertising, posts without meaning or merit--if anyone PMs the mod to complain about it, the mod has to exercise judgement to decide whether it's worth punishing. TheoreticalMod!daniel would give you a chance to talk your way out of this.
I would
like to hand out warnings for "building ziggurats", where people quote quotes quoting other quotes that quote another quote quoting someone else that's quoting a smart remark, and all they add is a single dumb line (or worse) a dumb image macro. Apparently other people enjoy it though, so TheoreticalMod!daniel is just gonna have to swallow his bile.
Trolling--
Posts that have the sole intention of annoying others gets you temp banned, not permabanned. You can appeal to TheoreticalMod!daniel... but it's double or nothing. Also serial trolling stacks, so you might end up with, like, a 400-week ban. I think that's hilarious.
Sockpuppets--
Eeeh, TheoreticalMod!daniel wouldn't look for them, but if it became a problem, that's permaban territory. Usually this is more like a force multiplier on other misbehavior rather than as isolated issue, so that's part of my consideration; sockpuppeting is only a problem if it's related to some other category of problem.
Punishment
I dunno how often I talk about it, but I've been doing Taekwondo for a while now, and sometimes I referee sparring matches. I've been in that world for longer than I've been on forums, so that logic is instinctive to me. I would, by default, moderate a forum the same way I referee two teenagers trying to kick each other's ribs in: punching contests are awesome, but if you're literally trying to break someone's face, I'll DQ you, and I'll scold you, and then tell your parents they're terrible people and should feel terrible.
Seriously though it's an escalator: and the more infractions you pile up, the higher you go. I dunno if each person would have a concrete number that tracks this but I would prefer to give you that penalty count. Each penalty is assessed individually but once your count gets big enough you get a Bonus Ban, which might be temporary or permanent.
Works like this:
Naive mistakes get a warning. (Breaking technical rules out of ignorance). So a new person that necros with "when u update???" would get a warning. That might come from the community but not from a mod... but warnings that don't come from the mod don't "count."
Ignorant mistakes get a minor penalty. (Not bothering to learn common procedural rules). "Don't post 'you fail' as the entirety of your post" is a rule here because there was a spate of people that that did that and it was tiresome. But that was years ago, so if you didn't happen to read all the "rules" threads, you might not know that. You get a warning.
Flagrant acts get a medium penalty. (Continuous rule breaking that annoys people without offending them; once you're no longer ignorant or naive, it becomes flagrant).
Cheating gets a serious penalty. (Trying to break the spirit of the rules without technically breaking the word of the rules).
This is where the hammer comes down on someone that uses a sockpuppet to get around a ban to continue the exact same behavior that got them banned in the first place.
Malicious acts get a severe penalty. (Deliberate attempts to seriously harm or victimize others). Posting a stretch of guro porn after you already got scolded for trolling gets you permabanned. Posting loli!guro!porn gets you permabanned, and Theoretical!Mod!daniel makes you an Unperson by systemically deleting all your posts. Posting real!kiddie!porn gets Theoretical!Mod!daniel on the IRL phone with the FBI and any additional, relevant law enforcement agencies in your polity.
TL;DR
In conclusion, if I was the King of Space, you would all be impressed by what a benevolent dictator I was (until I inevitably went mad on power).
