From 957edab4dca7873ae9ef80bafcf27de1f5c5694f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Ben Rog-Wilhelm Date: Sun, 15 May 2022 11:55:42 -0500 Subject: [PATCH] Update rule text for new site. --- files/templates/rules.html | 57 ++++++++------------------- files/templates/sidebar_TheMotte.html | 1 - 2 files changed, 17 insertions(+), 41 deletions(-) diff --git a/files/templates/rules.html b/files/templates/rules.html index 1031f08ce..b72d45dc6 100644 --- a/files/templates/rules.html +++ b/files/templates/rules.html @@ -78,7 +78,7 @@

The Rules

- Here's a list of subreddit rules. Each of them includes an explanation of why it's important.

+ Here's a list of community rules. Each of them includes an explanation of why it's important.

Be aware that you are expected to follow all the rules, not just some of the rules. At the same time, these rules are very subjective. We often give people some flex, especially if they have a history of making good @@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ sheer statistical chance, you will find yourself banned in the process.

Finally, you don't get a pass to break the rules if the person you're responding to broke the rules first. Report - their comment, then either set an example by responding with something that fits the desired subreddit + their comment, then either set an example by responding with something that fits the desired community behavior, or don't respond.

Our goal is to @@ -99,9 +99,9 @@

One of the most difficult parts about communities is that it is very easy for them to turn into a pit of toxicity. People who see toxic behavior in a community will follow that cue with their own toxic behavior, - and this can quickly spiral out of control. This is bad for most subreddits, but would be an absolute + and this can quickly spiral out of control. This is bad for most communities, but would be an absolute death sentence for ours - it's impossible to discuss sensitive matters in an environment full of flaming - and personal attacks. Therefore, this set of subreddit rules are intended to address this preemptively. + and personal attacks. Therefore, this set of community rules are intended to address this preemptively.

Be Kind

@@ -144,9 +144,7 @@ Remember, the goal is for people with differing opinions to discuss things; if padding a statement with words helps someone not take it personally, then that's what you should do!

- - More information here - . + More information here.

Be charitable.

@@ -164,8 +162,7 @@

Content

There's a lot of common commenting practice that makes it easy for people to cause friction and inflammation - without producing value for the community. You can see this behavior on most high-traffic discussion forums, - including most popular subreddits.

+ without producing value for the community. You can see this behavior on most high-traffic discussion forums.

This is not intended to suppress anything that people might want to post, but it is intended to force people to invest effort if they want to post things that have traditionally been pain points. @@ -249,13 +246,11 @@

In keeping with the rules above regarding "low-effort" and "weak-man" comments, and our goal to produce more light than heat, we ask that you refrain from posting bare links to culture-war-related discussions held outside - of this sub. If you are going to link to another platform or subreddit we ask that you please put in the work - to contextualize the post and explain why it is relevant to readers of this community. Furthermore, any links - to Reddit must be to the non-participation np.reddit.com domain as vote manipulation and brigading are against - the site-wide terms of service.

+ of this sub. If you are going to link to another platform we ask that you please put in the work + to contextualize the post and explain why it is relevant to readers of this community.

- Finally, in the interest of the health of this community, we ask that you do not post links from this subreddit - to other high-participation platforms or ping Reddit users who do not already participate here. Both are invitations + Finally, in the interest of the health of this community, we ask that you do not post links to this community + on other high-participation platforms. They are invitations for users unfamiliar with our norms to come here and (often angrily) make posts that break our rules. Exceptions may be made for communities specifically designed for compatible content, but these will be examined by the moderators on a case by case basis. If in doubt, please ask first by messaging the moderators. @@ -267,7 +262,7 @@

Engagement

Online discussion is hard to do properly. A lot of tonal information is lost through text, and in an asynchronous - forum like Reddit, simply asking someone "what do you mean?" can take hours. In addition, because Reddit is a threaded + forum like this one, simply asking someone "what do you mean?" can take hours. In addition, because The Motte is a threaded medium, responding to multiple people asking the same question requires that you either copy-paste your answer, rewrite your answer, make a bunch of posts that simply link to your original answer, or ignore some of the replies; all of these solutions suck, for various reasons.

@@ -304,7 +299,7 @@

In part, our temporary bans are intended for people to cool down, think about how they've been approaching discussion, and come back when they've mentally reset. Ban evasion is treated rather strictly, and the definition - of "ban evasion" is broad - in general, it includes attempts to post things in the subreddit even when the ban is + of "ban evasion" is broad - in general, it includes attempts to post things to the community even when the ban is not yet lifted. Specifically, this includes editing your comment in an attempt to continue the discussion, which may be grounds for your comment to be removed and for the ban to be increased.

@@ -314,31 +309,13 @@ process and we do sometimes overturn bans.

-

Do not weaponize the block feature.

-

- As a community, we strongly discourage blocking. It goes against the ethos of this sub, which is to engage with - all perspectives, even ones you find disagreeable. That said, if you really, really can't stand to see someone's - posts, block them if you absolutely have to. Quietly. Do not announce it, brag about it, or use it as a "parting shot." - If you block someone, you may not reply to them first.

- - If you are blocking a lot of people, to the point that threads are being disrupted by multiple people unable to - reply, we will consider that an abuse of the block feature. You can't stand That One Guy? Fine. You're blocking - everyone who argues with you? That's disruptive.

- - We cannot "prove" who is blocking, who blocked first, or whether it was justified. We will use our best judgment - and the preponderance of the evidence and it's possible we'll make mistakes, but consider this a very strong - reason not to use the feature. If you didn't block anyone and we think you did and ban you for it, we can probably - be convinced we made a mistake. If you frequently block people but try to convince us that you didn't do anything - wrong, it's going to be much harder to convince us we made a mistake. -

-

Don't attempt to build consensus or enforce ideological conformity.

"As everyone knows . . ."

"I'm sure you all agree that . . ."

- We visit this subreddit specifically because we don't all agree, and regardless of how universal you believe + We visit this site specifically because we don't all agree, and regardless of how universal you believe knowledge is, I guarantee someone doesn't know it yet. Humans are bad at disagreeing with each other, and starting out from an assumption of agreement is a great way to quash disagreement. It's a nice rhetorical trick in some situations, but it's against what we're trying to accomplish here. @@ -346,7 +323,7 @@

Write like everyone is reading and you want them to be included in the discussion.

- If the goal of the subreddit is to promote discussion, then we ask that people keep this in mind when posting. + If the goal of the community is to promote discussion, then we ask that people keep this in mind when posting. Avoid being dismissive of your political opponents, relying too much on injokes at someone else's expense, or anything that discourages people from participating in the discussion. This is one of the vaguest rules and one of the rules least likely to be enforced, since any real violation is likely to fall under another category. @@ -399,7 +376,7 @@ follows the rules. If we were to write a rule saying "don't do this thing", they would bend the rule to be as broad as possible, then complain that we're not enforcing it properly.

- The goal of this subreddit is not, however, slavish adherence to rules. It's discussion. And if this means + The goal of this community is not, however, slavish adherence to rules. It's discussion. And if this means we need to use our human judgement to make calls, then that's exactly what we will do.

There are people who think that every rule should be absolutely objective, to the point where our job could be @@ -416,11 +393,11 @@

Moderation is very much driven by user sentiment. Feel free to report comments or message the mods with your thoughts.

- In the end, subreddits exist for people. They don't necessarily exist for all people, but without people, + In the end, communities exist for people. They don't necessarily exist for all people, but without people, they die.

You are encouraged to make suggestions and ask questions. You are also encouraged to report comments that you - think violate the above rules; there's a lot of comments on this subreddit and we don't necessarily see them all, + think violate the above rules; there's a lot of comments on this site and we don't necessarily see them all, so if you think a comment definitely breaks the rules, and we haven't said anything about it, we may just not have seen it. If you're reporting for something that falls under the Wildcard, please explain why you think it should be removed. It is not against the rules to disagree with you; please don't report comments simply for making diff --git a/files/templates/sidebar_TheMotte.html b/files/templates/sidebar_TheMotte.html index eb1d39456..3f051dc98 100644 --- a/files/templates/sidebar_TheMotte.html +++ b/files/templates/sidebar_TheMotte.html @@ -77,7 +77,6 @@

  • When disagreeing with someone, state your objections explicitly.
  • Proactively provide evidence in proportion to how partisan and inflammatory your claim might be.
  • Accept temporary bans as a time-out, and don't attempt to rejoin the conversation until it's lifted.
    • -
  • Do not weaponize the block feature.
  • Don't attempt to build consensus or enforce ideological conformity.
  • Write like everyone is reading and you want them to be included in the discussion.