Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Civility

One of my favorite sites these days is Ricochet.com. The primary reason, of course, is that it largely conforms to my political predilections. But another, and very important, factor is its "Code of Conduct":
To maintain the civility of the Ricochet site, we reserve the right, at the discretion of the editors, to delete some posts, warn users, and, in extraordinary cases, block members who violate our Terms & Conditions. Infractions include, but are not limited to, the use of the following:
  • Obscenities and vulgarities, even using various symbols for letters, or shorthand (e.g., text messaging abbreviations). Ricochet style is to use [expletive].
  • Personal attacks on an individual, group, or class.
  • Anything that makes the Ricochet Community look like a bunch of radical fruitcakes. This includes 99% of conspiracy theories.
  • Spam, advertising, or off-topic comments. This can include posting a link to a website, even if it’s non-commercial, that isn’t related to the post.
  • Copyright violations or plagiarism, including, and especially, of images.
  • All caps. Online, it's yelling.
  • Defamatory, gossipy, or rude comments. Imagine you're a guest at a dinner party with a group of seemingly nice people you don't know... how would you handle yourself?
  • Confidential information you don’t have a right to post. If the information isn’t publicly known, then it’s best kept to yourself.
  • Misinformation, particularly if it appears intentional or is a recurring problem.
These examples are illustrative, not exhaustive. In our judgment, Ricochet's code of conduct serves as a conversation facilitator, not a conversation stopper. See you in the feed!
I need to more consistently remind myself of some of these criteria for the things I post here. Others I am never in danger of violating.

Ricochet.com

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