Ranking of misdemeanours on Boards -- is it consistent across Boards?

Iwannahurl

I find myself wondering whether there is an unwritten (or for all I know written) code on Boards which effectively ranks various kinds of misbehaviour according to their level of unacceptability.

Typical offences include:

Trolling (a rather vague concept IMO)
Attacking the poster
Going off-topic
Derailing a thread
Personal abuse
Misrepresentation

By all means add more (mutually exclusive) categories.

Here's a selection from the excellent list of inappropriate behaviours in the Humanities forum Charter:

The cardinal rule of Humanities is that anything that runs contrary to the spirit of rational, thoughtful, calm, and civil debate is strongly deprecated.

More specifically, engaging in any of the following activities may get your thread locked, your post removed or edited, or you warned, infracted, or banned:

Trolling: Trolling means deliberately posting in a manner designed to provoke anger or annoyance. Given that Humanities is a forum for calm, civil debate and discussion, trolling is taken especially seriously here.

Ranting and raving: This forum is not intended for ranting, venting, or shouting everyone else down. Posters are expected to engage with others in a manner conducive to calm, rational, respectful debate.

Soapboxing: This means indefatigably maintaining your position, regardless of all evidence presented against it; posting frequently and vociferously, in an effort to try to drown out alternative views; and/or trying to wear down opponents with sheer persistence and repetition.

Off-topic posting: Do not derail threads with side discussions about unrelated or tangentially related topics. If you wish to discuss a new topic, start a new thread. Note, too, that Humanities is not a "chat" forum. If you wish to engage in casual banter with other posters, either find a more suitable forum or take it to PM.

Attacking or insulting other posters personally: Personal attacks and insults are not permitted in Humanities. This includes the use of ad hominem, which means attacking personal characteristics of the poster in an attempt to discredit his or her argument (for example: "You're a man. What would you know about raising children?"). At all times, address the content of other posters' arguments, not posters themselves.

Posting defamatory material: Do not post defamatory or potentially defamatory statements or claims about any individual, group, or organisation.

Altering the quoted words of others: You may selectively quote posts for the sake of brevity, but do not engage in so-called "Fixed Your Post" ("FYP") behavior that involves altering, rephrasing, or otherwise tampering with the quoted words of another poster.

That's the clearest and most eloquently phrased set of prohibitions I've seen on Boards, although there may be others equally good or better.

Is there a template Charter for Boards, which sets out the cardinal rules but which allows for inter-forum differences in 'ethos', eg frivolity, irreverence and banter are given much more scope in AH?

That last one above -- altering the quoted words of others -- is what prompted me to post this thread. While I have done the FYP thing on occasion, usually tongue in cheek IIRC, I have encountered several examples in a few forums where posters deliberately and repeatedly misrepresent others' positions, even to the point of fabricating quotes, in order to discredit another member.

Yet these fabrications stay on the record, while off-topic posts are deleted. So does that mean that Off Topic ranks generally higher on the misdemeanour list than Misrepresentation and Fabrication?

Likewise I have seen examples of where named individuals IRL are ridiculed on Boards, and the posts remain in place, yet in other cases members are infracted because they are uncivil to another (equally anonymous) poster. Does that mean, for instance, that inter-poster lack of civility is a greater offence than abuse directed at a named person who is not a member of Boards and is not there to defend their good name (or avail of the clearly hit-and-miss Report Post function)?

Morag

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/faq.php?faq=bie_faq#faq_bie_faq_guidelines

TeddyTedson

edit. Never mind

Where To

A general rule I work by for myself (not saying this is how boards works but how I regulate my own behaviour on here)


Never type anything you wouldn't say to a person face to face.

K-9

FYP type posts are frowned on in politics mainly because they generally don't add much and it annoys many posters, purposefully misrepresenting opinions would also be frowned on, posters have been banned for continuously doing it.

padd b1975

Ladies Lounge is a farce if you are a man.

K-9

padd b1975 wrote: »

Ladies Lounge is a farce if you are a man.

Yet plenty of men seem to be able to post there fine.

padd b1975

padd b1975 wrote: »

Ladies Lounge is a farce if you are a man.

I would post regularly in the Ladies Lounge and rarely have I been reprimanded for what I've said - and the few times that I have been, it was totally deserved on my side. Treat people with respect and don't be a dick and you'll be absolutely fine on any forum.

Morag

Iwannahurl wrote: »

Trolling (a rather vague concept IMO)

From the parenting forum charter http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=70830503&postcount=1

Trolls
What is a troll?
A troll is a poster who posts in away to try get your goat.

How will a troll do this?
By being annoying confrontational and antagonistic and saying it's just that my opinion differs.

What does a troll want?
To disrupt a forum and upset the posters who post there.

Why does a troll do this?
For kicks, the more worked up you get the more fun a troll thinks it is.
A successful troll will post something which is not enough to get them banned but the reactions of posters to it will get the poster banned and have posters turn on each other.

How do we deal with trolls and neutralise their behaviour?
By not reacting in the way they want, they are like the bold child acting out.

First thing you can do is take a deep breath.

Second things you can do is report the posts.
While one or two trollish posts may not be enough to have the troll booted from the forum if they persist and there is a clear pattern of such behavior they will be banned permanently from the forum. Yes this has been done before and will be done again if needed.

Third if you do reply to posts don't let the troll drag you down to it's level
stay on topic and be civil as per the rules of the forum.

What happens to Trolls?
They cop on and learn to behave.
They find people not playing their game or not feeding them posts to work of to be booooring and they go away.
They out themselves as being trolls beyond redemption and get banished with the ban stick, some times even site banned.

Iwannahurl

Deleted User wrote: »

don't be a dick and you'll be absolutely fine on any forum.

I must be a dick so!

desaparecidos wrote:

Then they'd have to sit on the bus with **** like you!