A Guide to Barbelith Posting Etiquette
From Barbelith
Good sense, politeness and a bit of circumspection before posting will generally see you through.
| Table of contents |
Before you start a new thread
- First things first, choose your forum appropriately - In the Conversation pretty much anything goes, but if you're looking for rigorous discussion then you might not get it. In the other fora you are expected to be on-topic and relevant and if you are not, then your thread may be swiftly moved to the Conversation where people don't mind so much about these things. A common assumption is to think that if your thread is analytical at all, then it should go in the Head Shop - this is not the case - if you want to talk about film theory, then you should do that in Film, TV and Theatre. If it's about medical ethics, then it should go into The Laboratory. All the fora - with the exception of the Conversation - are supposed to be spaces for intelligent discussion around a subject.
- Next, check there isn't a thread on the subject already - the search facility on the board is not great at the moment, so this can be a pain, but double threads on a single subject are really infuriating and they can't easily be fused together. See: Finding Stuff for more on the (frankly spotty) search function.
Starting your new thread
- When starting threads, please try to title them as clearly and concisely as possible. For example, if you are starting a thread about a specific artist in the Music forum, it is best to make sure that the artist's name is in the title rather than just some in-joke or osbcure lyrical reference. Also, if you are starting a thread in the Comics forum for general discussion of a specific issue of a series, please have the title of the series in the title, and then the issue number. Examples: X-Statix #8, New X-Men #135, Invisibles Vol 3 #8, Vertigo Pop!: London #2.
- Make sure you fill in the "topic summary" (or "abstract") field. The summary helps to keep the thread on topic, and is also a vital part of the board's search function. It is displayed whenever a poster replies to the thread and on the homepage of the fora. It's also profoundly useful for people who use applications like NetNewsWire (see here (http://ranchero.com/software/netnewswire/) for more details) or any RSS feed thingy. (See Topic Abstracts.) Please try not to use this space for jokes or whatever - that defeats the purpose of it, which is to help people understand what the thread is about and to help people find it. There's more than enough space in the threads themselves to be clever and witty - and we want you to save up your juju to do just that...
- This next bit is really important - Don't just start your thread with a one-line comment or question or a link to another website or news story - even if no one else gets cross (and they will), then the site's maintainance dude Tom Coates will open up a can of public-shaming whup-ass. If you want people to discuss a news story, link to the story, summarise what the story is about and propose some areas of discussion or state your opinion. Barbelith is a place for quality discussion - one-liner or link-only thread-starts are generally considered pretty lazy and usually end up in unsatisfying discussions and arguments about whether the thread should be deleted or not.
- Always support your contentions - at least a bit. Certain parts of the board are more exacting than other parts, but (for example) you'll always get into trouble in the Head Shop if you just state things without any support. That it's your opinion does not make it fact and people will (quite rightly) ask for you to argue your case thoroughly, and will ignore you (or mock you mercilessly) if you do not.
When replying to an existing thread
- Please do not be personally rude even when people are really really annoying. Always try and argue the point not the person. If you get into a big fight with someone then sometimes it's hard to get out of the spiral. Flamewars never end well and we try to avoid them because sometimes people get cornered and go nuts and we have to boot them out. This is regrettable and (thankfully) rare.
- Please do not rot threads. Inside The Conversation anything goes, but everywhere else people are expected to stay on topic. Occasional one-liners and asides in threads aren't going to get anyone murderous with rage, but they are generally frowned upon. What Is Threadrot?
- When in the Spectacle (Film, TV and Theatre, Comic Books and Books), be careful with spoilers. Sometimes, threads are clearly labeled "NO SPOILERS" or "Spoilers and Speculation," but sometimes there's just one. When in doubt (and terrifically eager to share upcoming events with those who have yet to experience them), use Spoiler Tags.
Things that will get you into trouble pretty quickly
In a nutshell:
- Do not troll on the board (See What is a Troll?)
- Do not harass other board members
- Do not make sexist/racist/homophobic comments, even if you believe them to be funny
- Remember that a comment you make is unlikely to seem offensive to you - think about whether it will be offensive to other people
- Don't fnord
- Don't rot threads
- Don't post angry
- Don't mistake inquiry for insult.
In more detail:
You can pretty much get away with arguing any position in the world on Barbelith, which is as it should be. What's more important is the spirit in which you do it. Presenting a thread in the Laboratory on whether women's brains are less suitable for work in the sciences (for example) which invites people to talk around the issue might get some people's backs up (it's a dangerous area) but if you do it openly and honestly and present the question fairly, then you'll generally get intelligent responses. Merely stating something that sounds homophobic, racist, sexist will not get you that patience -- even if you're "only joking."
For example, Holocaust denial (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Examination_of_Holocaust_denial) is both offensive and stupid, for reasons that should be clear to anyone reading the link.
If you are going to espouse a position—any position—make sure that (a) you've really thought it through, and (b) you are ready and able to explain or defend it in a reasonable, articulate manner.
Our rule of thumb is that other members shouldn't feel harrassed, and aggressive statements about types of people who might be represented on the board may be considered direct harrassment of the individuals concerned; as a result, any comments which can be interpreted as hate speech are strongly frowned upon by the forum at large and will be dealt with. How they are dealt with tends to vary according to circumstances, but in extremity, where people repeatedly use offensive terms or make offensive statements and react with aggression to all attempts to get them to moderate their behaviour, people have been and will be banned.
Remember that Barbelith has its own social codes, which may not be the same as the social codes you have with your friends. This is at least in part because this is a very different environment. So, things which might not offend your friends may well be challenged on Barbelith. This includes (but is not limited to) humour based on racism, sexism and homophobia. A good rule to remember is that something being funny doesn't necessarily prevent it from causing offence, especially as other people might not find it funny. Likewise, what may seem to you obvious - that you belong to the group you are joking about, or indeed that some of your best friends do - is not immediately apparent over the Internet.
We genuinely do not care if you think this is 'political correctness gone mad'; if you feel that someone has misinterpreted something you've said to be homophobic or racist or whatever, the best thing you can do is apologise quickly for the offence caused, and try to restate what you were trying to get across in a different way. Agressive claiming of victim status, insults or strident accusations of political correctness, secret racism or censorship are likely to lead at best to a lot of mockery being aimed your way.
Why did my post get flamed?
Did you start off by bragging about either (a) how much better/smarter/radical than us you are, or (b) a secret of existence that you know but aren't willing to tell us yet? We get those a lot, and they get old very quickly. Alternately, did you call someone a slag or act in a rude/hostile manner? There's a lot of friendly joking around here, but you may want to let us get used to you before you start throwing the insults around. Good manners are golden, even for anarchists-in fact especially for anarchists: a Collective can only hang together as long as the goodwill lasts.
Do any of you guys want to buy my comics back issues / drugs / guns / plutonium?
Possibly, but only once we've gotten to know you, and pretty much only in a more private, face-to-face situation. And we prefer barter to outright selling and buying. Random mercantilism will likely be met (like pretty much everything else) with heaped up ridicule and reinterpretation. Anything that threatens the continued existence of the board (i.e., outright illegal information) makes Tom, our Administrator and Grand Exalted Archon, nervous. When The Grand Exalted Archon gets nervous, persons, places, and things tend to disappear.
Can I start a thread to plug my website / comic / band / weight-loss program?
See above. Pointers and self-promotion are all right in moderation: using The Underground as an advertising medium for a wholly commercial enterprise-e.g., get-rich-quick schemes-will piss us off. And who knows what a bunch of freaks like us might be capable of, if we get pissed off?
I'd like to introduce myself
Netiquette on introduction threads varies across the 'net, and attitudes to it vary a lot (bunch of liberal committee-types that we are, there's a discussion of this here (http://www.barbelith.com/underground/topic.php?id=8261/)). There seems to be a slight leaning against them, and in favour of just sliding into the place slowly, reading, lurking, picking up the atmosphere and then leaping headlong into a huge argument. The softly-softly approach is probably the least likely to attract attack . That said, some people like 'em. So if you really want to introduce yourself, why not use this thread (http://www.barbelith.com/topic/21295/)?
Rascists and Facists
Usually, if one spells "racist" as "rascist" or "fascist" as "facist" it implies that sarcasm or other japery is being employed. The same goes for spelling "Israel" as "Isreal", though slightly less so.
Statements within percent-signs, %like so%, are sarcastic as well. The percent signs are formally known as "sarcasm delimiters." See Sarcasm Delimiters.
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