Alas, A Moderation Policy
Wednesday, June 15th, 2011 by Barry DeutschOur Approach To Moderation
1. We don’t have hard-and-fast rules that people aren’t allowed to violate; we just have a goal for the discussions we’d like to have, and we’d like people to move us towards that goal rather than away.
Here’s a (non-comprehensive) description of the discussion we’d like to have:
- Debates are conducted in a manner that shows respect even for folks we disagree with.
- Comments are funny, critical and vigorous, but not mean-spirited.
- Obvious racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, fat-hatred, antisemitism and other bigotries, are avoided by everyone. Subtle forms of these bigotries inevitably creep in, but are subject to analysis and criticism.
- Thread-jacking and wandering away from topics isn’t allowed, except when it is.
- If a blogger wants to set special rules for their thread, everyone respects that.
2. If in the subjective opinion of the moderators, your presence is bringing us further away from the conversation we want to have, then you’ll be asked to change your behavior. Or to depart.
