These rules are disclosed to clarify the various responsibilities of all community members here on FaceTheJury. They shall be adhered to by everyone to ensure that our board runs smoothly and provides a fun and productive experience for all of our community members and visitors.
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The Golden Rules
The Forum isn't run by rules, per se. Rather, it is moderated by a tight-knit group of nobody who have volunteered to put themselves in the position of making difficult judgement calls. Most of these guidelines are geared towards improving the state of the forum through smart tips (using good subject lines is just wise, ya know). Some of these guidelines are more prohibitive, however, and they function as rules. The rules come in two-forms: the cardinal, and the compulsory.
Cardinal Rules
1. No trolling. Don't make posts that are inflammatory just to get people riled up. Substance is the key to not being labeled a troll.
2. Ad hominem attacks are not welcome. Criticize ideas, not people. Excessive flaming will not be tolerated.
3. No pornographic, sexually offensive, sexually explicit, racially discriminatory or objectifying material. Simple rule. Moderator's judgment applies here. Sexually suggestive images will be heavily scrutinized. We'd like for our readers to be able to read FaceTheJury at work and share with friends without fear of retribution.
4. Do not post links or requests for warez.
5. Post in the right forum! If it's about Girls, post it in the Top Girls forum. Even if it's only humor, an observation, or angst, if it's about something that we have a forum for, post it there. Resist the temptation to post something offtopic because you think you'll get "better responses" in a particular forum.
6. Respect the privacy of others. Do not post other's phone numbers, addresses, pictures, etc., without their permission.
7. Do not place foul language in thread subjects.
8. And of course, NO SPAMMING. No commercial-oriented posts, and no flooding with useless content.
Compulsory Rules
1. Use descriptive subject lines and research your post. This reduces the chances of double-posting, and it also makes it easier for people to see what they do/don't want to read. Also, scan the subjects of the last several days' posts to make sure you aren't duplicating posts. Also, consider what forum your topic should be posted in.
2. Argumentum ad hominem (argument directed at the person). This is the error of attacking the character or motives of a person who has stated an idea, rather than the idea itself. The most obvious example of this fallacy is when one debater maligns the character of another debater (e.g, "The members of the opposition are a couple of fascists!"), but this is actually not that common. A more typical manifestation of argumentum ad hominem is attacking a source of information -- for example, responding to a quotation from Richard Nixon on the subject of free trade with China by saying, "We all know Nixon was a liar and a cheat, so why should we believe anything he says?" Argumentum ad hominem also occurs when someone's arguments are discounted merely because they stand to benefit from the policy they advocate -- such as Bill Gates arguing against antitrust, rich people arguing for lower taxes, white people arguing against affirmative action, minorities arguing for affirmative action, etc. In all of these cases, the relevant question is not who makes the argument, but whether the argument is valid.
3. Restrict the use of excessive foul language. Although we don't really care if people cuss (um, we have been known to cuss ourselves now and again), excessive foul language is likely to get moderated, if only because excessive foul language usually indicates that someone is utterly clueless. Buy a thesaurus. We also require that you leave rough or offensive language out of the thread subjects. A lot of people read the Forum at work, and while foul language is par for the course, let's try and keep it away from the big, yellow, eye-catching lightbulbs. :-)
Finally, remember that we're not the ratings board here. We're not going to give you a PG for four swears and a gunshot, but R for five swears and splattering brains. Not making any hard and fast rules means that the nobody can use their good judgment in moderation, and we think the results speak for themselves. Bottom line: we almost always give warnings. But we don't give them twice to the same person. #