amystew
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A Hatchling Earthworm
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Rules and Karma - 2005/09/24 18:10
I was mostly a lurker on the old Worm Digest forum, but now that we're getting off to a new start, I thought maybe this would be a great opportunity to talk about what kinds of guidelines can keep things friendly and helpful. I think the negativity can be a turn-off. I see that there is a section for Rules and no Rules have been posted yet, so I'm guessing they're coming. Ideally, I'd just as soon not have Rules at all in most parts of my life, but I understand why forums create them.
So I thought I would copy and paste some guidelines from another forum I really love, MaryJanesFarm. I'll put them below. Just thought it would be worthy of consideration.
Also, I'm not so sure about the Karma buttons. Do we really have to vote that people are good or bad? There's just something about it that does not sit well with me.
One more thing--many people on the old site were engaged in some kind of commercial enterprise--selling worms and bins and so forth. I really enjoyed hearing about what they were up to and I like knowing about new bins and other products, so I hope that some level of commercial activity will be OK as long as it's not "Spam." I notice that Gardenweb's forums have a very strict no-commercial rule, and I think it gets in the way of people talking about what they're working on and what they're interested in.
Anyway, here are MaryJane's guidelines.
TONE: The weather and general unsettled-ness worldwide seems to be making us all a little cranky sometimes. Here are some reminders to help keep us on track until the heat subsides:
IF......you want to offer up new ideas, and you've done a search to see if anything on this subject or keyword hasn't already been established, then do so with the utmost respect for all members.
IF......someone replies to your post and you're not sure how to take it, assume it was meant the best possible way. This will help you feel better about other members and prevent you from firing off angry, sharp or insensitive replies.
IF......you're still tempted to write something you might regret later, remember this adage: read twice, post once. Better yet, wait a few hours before pressing send. Do you still want to phrase things quite that way?
REMEMBER... we are a cross-section of cultures and a variety of countries represented within this forum. We practice Tolerance here, so Honor one another's differences, be Open-minded about things that may seem foreign to you. If it's not what you're comfortable with, then so be it, and just let it be. Defensiveness gets us no where on the path to progress and the sense of commUNITY that we want to create here.
Amy Stewart
Worms of Endearment |
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