Alert: Reminder about the forum guidelines

Discussion in 'Colombia' started by ryu79, Nov 26, 2008.

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  1. ryu79

    ryu79 Moderator
    Staff Member

    Oct 17, 2005
    NYC
    Club:
    America de Cali
    Nat'l Team:
    Colombia
    Dear friends of the Colombian forum,

    Over the past few weeks, there has been a decline in the quality of discussion in our forum. Several of you have PM'd the mods to share your concerns and sadly others have declared their intention to leave the conversation here all together.

    The Colombian Mod team has therefore consulted with the Big Soccer SuperMods on how best to address the situation and have decided in concert to take two approaches:

    1) After independent investigation by the Supermod team, a few contributors have been found to have violated forum guidelines consistently, even after warnings and they will receive a forum ban blocking access to the "Colombians Abroad" subforum where we've noticed most misbehavior occuring.

    These forum bans will hold through Jan 1st of the New Year and can be extended to block access to the entire forum if the misbehavior continues.

    2) The Mods would like to ask your help setting this right and returning to the calibre of discussion that we'd been accustomed to experiencing in this forum. We would prefer to rely on the community's ability to police itself (through use of rep points and civil discourse - like when we throw cookies at people for showing off), but for this to work we need your help.

    The following are the two key parts of the Big Soccer forum guidelines that address trolling and flaming:


    1)Do not make derogatory or prejudicial remarks or attack others personally for their postings (this is called flaming).

    In the case of our forum, we've recently found people criticizing others personally for their support of particular players or coaches. Calling others "ignorant," "hateful," "fanboys" or saying they "kneel before" a particular poster or public figure is unacceptable. Our forum thrives on free discourse and everyone is free to their views.

    This forum is not Pro-Falcao or Anti-Rodallega - its PRO-discussion, PRO-Sharing and PRO-Debate.


    2)Do not make an inflammatory comment knowing that regular posters in the forum will be outraged, this is called trolling.

    Of late, there has been a rise in "baiting" on our forum with posters hijacking threads by going off topic and or/looking for trouble by name-calling players and/or their supporters.

    Coming up with a nickname for a player is fine and so is criticizing a player with valid arguments in the appropriate context. But doing so off topic, and/or using a nickname for a player to deliberately belittle supporters or draw a nasty response just leads to annoying threads that no one wants to read.

    If you find yourself thinking "hey, I can make X Player's last name rhyme with some kind of human excrement and really piss off that guy that really likes him" - its probably not an appropriate post (or nearly as funny as you think it is).

    Finally, and most importantly, we appeal for you to understand that if a Mod responds to a post citing something in discord with the guidelines, we NEVER mean to censure the opinion or view in that post (unless its prejudice or a straight insult), because the guidelines don't subscribe to any opinions. We DO however reserve the right to call someone out if the manner of delivering that opinion is against the norms of the forum.

    Mods can disagree on opinions with posters just like anyone else on the forum, and we'll express those views, but those are different from infractions/warnings and you'll know the difference.

    With thanks,

    Efer, Minus and Ryu
     
  2. ryu79

    ryu79 Moderator
    Staff Member

    Oct 17, 2005
    NYC
    Club:
    America de Cali
    Nat'l Team:
    Colombia
    Estimados Amigos del foro Colombiano,

    En las ultimas semanas ha deteriorado la calidad de la conversacion en nuestro foro. Varios de ustedes nos han contactado via PM para expresar preocupacion y tristemente otros han declarado la intencion de abandonar el foro.

    Por ende, el equipo de Mods Colombianos consulto con los SuperMods de Big Soccer sobre como mejor enfrentar esto y hemos acordado lo siguiente:

    1) Despues de una investigacion independiente de parte del equipo de los Supermods, se ha encontrado que algunos contribuidores han violado las normas de comportamiento de forma consistente, hasta despues de ser amonestados y a ellos se les suspendera accesso al subforo de "Colombians Abroad" - donde la mayoria del mal comportamiento observado a tomado lugar.

    Las suspensiones seran vigentes hasta el primero del proximo ano pero pueden ser extendidos a bloquear acceso al foro entero si el mal comportamiento continua.

    2) Los Mods desean su ayuda en reponer el foro y volver a la calidad de discussion al que estamos acostumbrados en este foro. Preferirimos que la comunidad misma se vigile (utilizando los puntos de reputacion y un discurso civil - como por ejemplo cuando tiramos 'cookies' a los que se agrandan por adivinar las cosas), pero necesitamos su ayuda para que esto funcione.

    Los siguientes dos puntos son los claves entre las normas de Big Soccer sobre lo que se considera trolling and flaming:

    1)No se deben hacer comentarios derogatorios o rascistas o atacar personalmente a otros contribuidores por lo que escriben (esto se considera flaming).

    En el caso de nuestro foro, hemos observado a gente criticando a otros seres de forma personal por apoyar a algun jugador o tecnico. El llamar "ignorante," "odioso," o declarar a otros como "arrodillados" de algun contribuidor, o figura publica (jugadores o tecnicos incluidos) es inaceptable. El foro vive de un discurso libre y todos estan libres a expresar sus posiciones.

    El foro no es Pro-Falcao o Anti-Rodallega - es PRO-discusion, PRO-compartir y PRO-Debate.


    2)No se deben hacer comentarios inflamatorios con el proposito de enojar a los otros contribuidores, esto se llama trolling.

    Ultimamente, hemos observado una tendencia de llevar los hilos fuera de tema y/o buscar quilombos insultando (muchas veces con apodos feos) a jugadores o la gente que los apoya.

    Los apodos son sanos y la critica valida de un jugador/argumento/tecnico lo es tambien. Pero si se hace fuera de tema, y/o se hace con el proposito claro de enojar a la gente solo produce hilos que nadie quiere leer.

    Si te encuentras pensando, "oye, puedo hacer que el apellido de X jugador suene como algun tipo de excremento y haciendolo puedo enojar a julanito que es fan de ese jugador..." - probablemente no es un post apropiado (o tan chistoso como lo piensas).

    Finalmente, les rogamos que entiendan que si un Mod responde aclarando que algo esta en desacuerdo con las normas de comportamiento, nunca les deseamos censurar las opiniones y posiciones del post en cuestion (al no ser un post racista o que contenga un insulto personal), porque nuestras normas no suscriben a ninguna opinion en particular, y nosotros no deseamos enforzar las nuestras. A la vez, SI reservamos el derecho de aclarar y tomar accion cuando se observa algo que va en contra de las normas y el bienestar del foro.

    Los Mods podemos opinar diferente que los otros contribuidores (como cualquier persona lo haria), y nosotros expresaremos esas posiciones, pero eso se hara de forma separada a las infracciones y amonestaciones. Haremos todo para que esas distinciones sean claras.

    Muchas gracias,

    Efer, Minus and Ryu
     
  3. ryu79

    ryu79 Moderator
    Staff Member

    Oct 17, 2005
    NYC
    Club:
    America de Cali
    Nat'l Team:
    Colombia
    A sugerencia de Pipe Vasquez:

    BigSoccer Terms of Service
    You declare that you are over the age of 13.

    Although the administrators and moderators of BigSoccer Boards will attempt to keep all objectionable messages off this forum, it is impossible for us to review all messages. All messages express the views of the author, and neither the owners of BigSoccer Boards or Jelsoft Enterprises Limited (developers of vBulletin) will be held responsible for the content of any message.

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    Please note that advertisements, chain letters, pyramid schemes, and solicitations are inappropriate on this bulletin board.
     
  4. ryu79

    ryu79 Moderator
    Staff Member

    Oct 17, 2005
    NYC
    Club:
    America de Cali
    Nat'l Team:
    Colombia
    USER'S STATEMENT
    ================
    BigSoccer belongs to its users. They created the community, they own it, and they evolve it.

    BigSoccer Users have as much responsibility as our mods. They have a responsibility to be decent BigSoccer citizens by behaving appropriately and following the spirit of the TOS (Terms of Service). Personal attacks, racism, etc. will never be tolerated here. We do not believe the line between humor and attacks is hard to see.

    Users should help to "moderate" the board by alerting moderators to problems they might have missed. The best method for this is using the "Report this post" button that can on every single post and thread on the site.
     
  5. ryu79

    ryu79 Moderator
    Staff Member

    Oct 17, 2005
    NYC
    Club:
    America de Cali
    Nat'l Team:
    Colombia
    Message Board Do's
    Do create a new topic if it is different from any existing topics and you believe it is worth discussing (be careful to create the new topic in the appropriate forum)
    Do create a new topic when you think an idea related to a current topic could generate a significant amount of discussion by itself
    Do return to old topics and old threads if they have current relevance, but don't rehash old topics if you have nothing significant to add to the previous discussion
    Do edit quoted text (when using the quote feature) so that only the relevant paragraphs are kept, so that people will know exactly what you are referring to
    Do use the edit function (edit the post, then check the delete box and press the "Delete Now" button) to delete a post you have just made but wish to retract (while within the time limit allowed for editing)
    Do use the delete function (in the lower right corner) to correct, improve, or delete your message (while within the time limit allowed for editing). Do not delete posts that others have responded to unless absolutely necessary (especially if your's is the first post, as the entire thread will be deleted)
    Do ask a moderator to edit or delete your post if the time limit has expired and you believe the fix is important
    Do try to ensure that the information you post is accurate or obtained from a source you believe to be reliable
    Do disagree with individual posters or even with the general consensus, provided you take a logical position without personally attacking anyone
    Do think about whether or not you would say the words you are writing if you were talking to them face to face
    Do remove copyrighted material or links to web sites if asked to do so by the copyright's owner
    Use PMs (private messages) to contact other BigSoccer posters to discuss topics "off-line" when necessary



    Message Board Don'ts
    Do not create a new topic if the post logically belongs within an existing (recent) thread
    Do not quote the entire immediately prior post. By default, you are responding to the prior post
    Do not make derogatory or prejudicial remarks or attack others personally for their postings (this is called flaming)
    Do not respond to flaming with more flames. Point out inappropriate posts via PMs to the author and/or forum moderator(s)
    Do not post the same message in more than three forums at once, this is a form of spamming
    Do not make an inflammatory comment knowing that regular posters in the forum will be outraged, this is called trolling
    Do not post the postal address, phone number, or e-mail address of any individual without his/her permission (unless the information was posted in other obviously public places by the individual)
    Do not post any copyrighted material without the written permission of the copyright holder, except where permitted by the fair use clause of U.S. Copyright Law. You may also post press releases or any material clearly marked as freely copiable
    Do not use profanity or link to profane or pornographic web sites
    Do not respond or take action when you are angry (or at least be very careful when you are)
    Do not post if you are age 13 or under (violates the TOS—terms of service)
    Do not post false, defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually-oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise violative of any law (violates TOS)
    Do not post advertisements, chain letters, pyramid schemes, and solicitations (violates TOS)
    Do not create a signature longer than three lines (not counting blank lines)
    Do not include embedded sound or music (links to sound or music may be provided).
     
  6. ryu79

    ryu79 Moderator
    Staff Member

    Oct 17, 2005
    NYC
    Club:
    America de Cali
    Nat'l Team:
    Colombia
    Moderator Do's
    Do ask posters (via PMs or posts) to remove inflammatory material from existing and future posts
    Do remove or replace with asterisks any material that clearly violates the TOS. Use HTML comment tags to remove the text from view. Place a message in the post and send a PM to the poster explaining your actions.
    Do delete a thread if the initial post is a flagrant violation of the TOS
    Do correct errors in links or HTML as necessary (no PMs are necessary)
    Do close a thread if its participants continue to ignore moderator warnings—always state the reason why before closing the thread
    Do replace an entire copyrighted article with a link to the article (if obtainable)
    Do move a thread that obviously belongs in another forum to the other forum. If there is any doubt, confer with moderators of both (original and destination) forums.
    Do remove embedded music, e.g. <bgsound src="somewavfile.wav">
    Do use HTML comment tags to omit text rather than simply deleting it, e.g. <!-- text to be removed from post -->

    Moderator Don'ts
    Do not close a thread unless absolutely necessary
    Do not close a thread because the topic has simply "run its course"
    Do not close a thread simply because it has gotten "off the subject", rather, suggest that a new topic be created to hold the new subject and ask that the current thread return to its original topic. Close the thread if it is hopelessly off-topic.
    Do not close a thread simply because it is a duplicate or nearly duplicate topic—post a message referring to the previously existing topic and ask people to post there instead. Closing duplicate threads is acceptable during times of fast breaking news.
    Do not close a thread without clearly stating the reason why
     
  7. efernandez9

    efernandez9 Member

    Jun 6, 1999
    Joe Pool Lake
    Use HTML comment tags to remove the text from view. Place a message in the post and send a PM to the poster explaining your actions.</li><li>
    Do delete a thread if the initial post is a flagrant violation of the TOS
    </li><li>Do correct errors in links or HTML as necessary (no PMs are necessary)</li><li>
    Do close a thread if its participants continue to ignore moderator warnings—always state the reason why before closing the thread</li><li>
    Do replace an entire copyrighted article with a link to the article (if obtainable.

    Do move a thread that obviously belongs in another forum to the other forum. If there is any doubt, confer with moderators of both (original and destination) forums.</li><li>

    Do use HTML comment tags to omit text rather than simply deleting it, e.g. &lt;!-- text to be removed from post --
    Moderator Don'ts
    <>Do not close a thread unless absolutely necessary</li><li
    >Do not close a thread because the topic has simply &quot;run its course&quot;</li><li>
    Do not close a thread simply because it has gotten off the subject&quot;, rather, suggest that a new topic be created to hold the new subject and ask that the current thread return to its original topic.
    Close the thread if it is hopelessly off-topic.</li><li>
    Do not close a thread simply because it is a duplicate or nearly duplicate topic—post a message referring to the previously existing topic and ask people to post there instead.
    Closing duplicate threads is acceptable during times of fast breaking news.</li><li>
    Do not close a thread without clearly stating the reason why</li><u>

    Yellow Card: Indicates a serious violation of the Terms of Service of BigSoccer. It allows one to reply, but not to start new topics. It is shown by BigSoccer when a poster has blatantly and repeatedly violated the Terms of Service of the site and has been reprimanded. It is removed at the discretion of the BigSoccer SuperMods.</li> <li>
    Red Card: Indicates repeated serious violation of the Terms of Service of BigSoccer. It prevents all posts. The rest of the site remains accessible. It is removed at the discretion of the BigSoccer
     

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