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Supernova
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2009
RULES & GUIDELINES/ETIQUETTE OF THE BLUE MOON ACADEMY
(approved by darkangel76)
Use the Report Button
If there is a post that you think violates the rules, then use the report button. We're serious. Just do it. Include your reason, be specific about which post you're reporting as sometimes pictures will throw off the link we get.
Avoid Logical Fallacies
Logical Fallacies. Learn them, know them, and avoid making them. If you don't, other forum-goers who do know them will eat you alive. And then spit you out. Alive. Or maybe dead. Either way, you'll find yourself getting called on them quite often. All of the various logical fallacies occur, but some of the most frequent are ad hominem, straw man, slippery slope, and hasty generalization.
This Is Not Your Political Blog
We're here for discussion, not for you to spout off half baked vaguely political feelings. If, for example, your thread contains only, "i think people should stop being mean killing each other in the middle east," it will be locked. If you want to talk about war in the Middle East, that's perfectly fine, but you must offer content that can be discussed, not just vague thoughts.
If You Can't Be Polite, Don't Say Anything At All
It is not hard to be polite. You are at least eighteen years old, if you're not, you shouldn't be here. Reasonably by the time you are eighteen you should have learned to take a deep breath, bite your tongue, breath out and formulate a polite, metered response. Even to horrible, nasty things.
Tell Us What You Think
If you're going to copy and paste a news article, that's fine, and that's great, but tell us what you think. Add your thoughts on the issue after the text of the article. If you don't have anything to say about the article yourself, then don't bother posting. This is a forum for discussion, it's not a news dump. If we want news, we'll just go straight to the source.
Explain Yourself
Explanation is the difference between flamebait and argumentation. You can have the most unpopular and reviled opinion in the entire world, and as long as you can provide explanation and logic for why you think the way you do, it'll be okay. Don't just throw your sentiments out there without any reasons behind them. Once you do so, you're just begging for flames.
Read the Thread Before Replying
If you fail to do so, you're likely to say something that has already been said in the thread. This makes you sound like you're more interested in talking than having a conversation, which tends to put people off. Worse, you may just skim someone's post and completely misconstrue their opinion, causing much unnecessary butthurt.
Use Proper English
To the best of your ability, use clear English; strive for correct spelling and good grammar. You will find that people will tend to respond to your writing much more positively when you do. Resist the temptation to post using "fanboy Japanese" (mixing words such as "baka" and "kawaii" in with your English text) as well as leet speak (l337 5p34k). It's not going to impress anyone.
Have Thick Skin
Don't be offended if someone doesn't agree with your stance on gay marriage or global warming. This forum is about discussion, and many of us (myself included) will play the devil's advocate in order to generate some interesting conversation. If you can't talk about a topic without getting so worked up that you scream at everyone, then don't talk about it at all.
You Don't Know Everything
It is definitely far from safe to assume (and even less safe to sound like you believe) that you know more about a subject than the rest of the forum; we have some very knowledgeable people here, and superiority isn't a tone that folks are prone to appreciate.
Use a Meaningful Subject
When creating a new post, use an informative subject line / title. Threads with titles like "a question," or "my thoughts," will not go over well. Please be specific about what you want to talk about; if you don't, you likely won't get many people participating in your thread.
Write Out Acronyms
There are lots of organizations for lots of countries out there. As a result, it can get very confusing when you see a post with a subject such as, "EU calls BS on NAFTA FTA GA." Try to avoid using acronyms in subject lines, and when using them in posts, unless they're terribly obvious, write them out when you first use them (e.g. ...the Free Trade Agreement - FTA - was announced...). It helps avoid confusion.
Don't Quote Entire Posts
It's extremely annoying to see another person's 20 line post quoted in entirety with only the comment, "I agree," or something similar added by the quoter at the end. When using the quote button to reply to posts, delete the text that is not relevant to the comments that you are going to make. You can edit the text in the quote box. Trust me.
Colored Text is Bad
Most people find colored text (particularly whole posts in colored text) to be unpleasant to look at, and in some cases it is unreadable. Please avoid using colored text.
Sources
Having sources to draw upon is great for any assertion you are trying to make, particularly as it allows people to see some of the background or assumptions you may have left out of your post and approach a response from a ground of common understanding. Sources should be scholarly and as free from bias as possible. Someone's blog, unless that person is authoritative on that subject, is not an acceptable source.
(approved by darkangel76)
Use the Report Button
If there is a post that you think violates the rules, then use the report button. We're serious. Just do it. Include your reason, be specific about which post you're reporting as sometimes pictures will throw off the link we get.
Avoid Logical Fallacies
Logical Fallacies. Learn them, know them, and avoid making them. If you don't, other forum-goers who do know them will eat you alive. And then spit you out. Alive. Or maybe dead. Either way, you'll find yourself getting called on them quite often. All of the various logical fallacies occur, but some of the most frequent are ad hominem, straw man, slippery slope, and hasty generalization.
This Is Not Your Political Blog
We're here for discussion, not for you to spout off half baked vaguely political feelings. If, for example, your thread contains only, "i think people should stop being mean killing each other in the middle east," it will be locked. If you want to talk about war in the Middle East, that's perfectly fine, but you must offer content that can be discussed, not just vague thoughts.
If You Can't Be Polite, Don't Say Anything At All
It is not hard to be polite. You are at least eighteen years old, if you're not, you shouldn't be here. Reasonably by the time you are eighteen you should have learned to take a deep breath, bite your tongue, breath out and formulate a polite, metered response. Even to horrible, nasty things.
Tell Us What You Think
If you're going to copy and paste a news article, that's fine, and that's great, but tell us what you think. Add your thoughts on the issue after the text of the article. If you don't have anything to say about the article yourself, then don't bother posting. This is a forum for discussion, it's not a news dump. If we want news, we'll just go straight to the source.
Explain Yourself
Explanation is the difference between flamebait and argumentation. You can have the most unpopular and reviled opinion in the entire world, and as long as you can provide explanation and logic for why you think the way you do, it'll be okay. Don't just throw your sentiments out there without any reasons behind them. Once you do so, you're just begging for flames.
Read the Thread Before Replying
If you fail to do so, you're likely to say something that has already been said in the thread. This makes you sound like you're more interested in talking than having a conversation, which tends to put people off. Worse, you may just skim someone's post and completely misconstrue their opinion, causing much unnecessary butthurt.
Use Proper English
To the best of your ability, use clear English; strive for correct spelling and good grammar. You will find that people will tend to respond to your writing much more positively when you do. Resist the temptation to post using "fanboy Japanese" (mixing words such as "baka" and "kawaii" in with your English text) as well as leet speak (l337 5p34k). It's not going to impress anyone.
Have Thick Skin
Don't be offended if someone doesn't agree with your stance on gay marriage or global warming. This forum is about discussion, and many of us (myself included) will play the devil's advocate in order to generate some interesting conversation. If you can't talk about a topic without getting so worked up that you scream at everyone, then don't talk about it at all.
You Don't Know Everything
It is definitely far from safe to assume (and even less safe to sound like you believe) that you know more about a subject than the rest of the forum; we have some very knowledgeable people here, and superiority isn't a tone that folks are prone to appreciate.
Use a Meaningful Subject
When creating a new post, use an informative subject line / title. Threads with titles like "a question," or "my thoughts," will not go over well. Please be specific about what you want to talk about; if you don't, you likely won't get many people participating in your thread.
Write Out Acronyms
There are lots of organizations for lots of countries out there. As a result, it can get very confusing when you see a post with a subject such as, "EU calls BS on NAFTA FTA GA." Try to avoid using acronyms in subject lines, and when using them in posts, unless they're terribly obvious, write them out when you first use them (e.g. ...the Free Trade Agreement - FTA - was announced...). It helps avoid confusion.
Don't Quote Entire Posts
It's extremely annoying to see another person's 20 line post quoted in entirety with only the comment, "I agree," or something similar added by the quoter at the end. When using the quote button to reply to posts, delete the text that is not relevant to the comments that you are going to make. You can edit the text in the quote box. Trust me.
Colored Text is Bad
Most people find colored text (particularly whole posts in colored text) to be unpleasant to look at, and in some cases it is unreadable. Please avoid using colored text.
Sources
Having sources to draw upon is great for any assertion you are trying to make, particularly as it allows people to see some of the background or assumptions you may have left out of your post and approach a response from a ground of common understanding. Sources should be scholarly and as free from bias as possible. Someone's blog, unless that person is authoritative on that subject, is not an acceptable source.
