Commenting Policy
Thank you for being a part of Affirmation’s online community. Our Blog, Proclamation serves as a place to share stories and articles that are interesting and thought-provoking. Below are the terms of service (or “the rules” if you prefer) for posting comments and other items on Affirmation’s blog.
Comments:
We encourage you to comment on articles posted here and contribute your two cents or more. We want to have a good conversation that is informative, entertaining, constructive or all of the above. So while speech is free, Proclamation is moderated. Here are the guidelines for commenting:
We encourage:
- More information about the subject of the post, or your own personal story as it relates to the post. If you know more about the topic or have something to add, please share!
- Opinions that move the discussion or debate forward.
- Factual corrections. We make mistakes, and we’ll correct anything that is factually incorrect, including names, typos, etc. with appropriate proof and / or documentation.
- Keeping comments on-point and on-topic.
Things that can get you banned or your comment removed:
- Offensive, inappropriate or terribly annoying comments. Annoying comments would be something like repeating the same thing over and over and over again in several posts. If you accidently double-post, it’s OK; we can help with that.
- Spam. Please keep your credit card or free degree programs to yourself or your junk mail folder.
- Astroturfers will not make it on the site. Cut-and-paste or nearly verbatim talking points is considered to be Astroturf.
- Sock puppets (alias accounts created by previously banned individuals for the purpose of avoiding a ban).
- The bulk of your comments are whining, hostile, insulting or otherwise annoying. Attack the topic, not the person.
- Racist, sexist anti-Semitic, homophobic or otherwise offensive comments.
- Comments referring to other individuals as idiots, retards, etc.. Again, attack the topic, not the person.
- Suggesting that the victim “had it coming” regarding a civil liberties / human rights issue without evidence to support your claim.
- Using e-mail addresses, physical addresses, phone numbers or other personally-identifiable information in your comments for the purpose of self-promotion or for the purpose of public intimidation of another individual. Insinuating someone’s identity by location or other means and proceeding to slam them is also not acceptable.
Miscellaneous:
- Please do not tell the Proclamation contributors what to blog about. Writing something like “but that’s not a wonderful thing” is lame. So is “topic [x] bores me.” If there is a story of media interest that you’d like to bring to our attention, please contact the Media Relations Director.
- Please don’t drag topics from one post to another, unless you do it very carefully. Generally speaking, the content of a post is the responsibility of that contributor, and nobody else.
- Please don’t “hijack” comment threads away from the posted topic.
- We reserve the right to restrict commenting on any post or by any person for any reason at any time.
Anonymous Comments:
Anonymous comments are approved with a moderator is available to do so. If you comment anonymously in the middle of the night, it may be 12 hours or more before anyone gets to it. If you register as a user, you won’t have to worry about that so much.
Anonymous comments are not necessarily approved in chronological order. Comments by registered users may show up before anonymous ones due to the previously-mentioned moderation process.
Comments posted by anonymous individuals are still subject to all previously-mentioned commenting rules.
Links:
Links are generally allowed, as long as they add value to the discussion – relevant images, humor, related news stories, etc.. Additional guidelines for links:
- Linking to other sites like Wikipedia (for definitions, topics, etc.), related news stories on New York Times, MSNBC, local TV stations, or to other commercial sites is allowed, as long as it is on-topic and relevant to the post or to give context to your comment.
- Links to opinion pages are OK, but we’d much rather hear your opinion here.
- Linking to your own personal blog or website’s front page within a comment is not acceptable. If you register with our site, you can include that website in your profile (that’s what they’re there for).
- Links to sites that are NSFW (not safe for work) are OK as long as it is on-topic and relevant. These must be labeled as NSFW as a courtesy to your fellow readers, so they do not inadvertently open a link they otherwise wouldn’t at work or other restricted computer system.
- Links to offensive material such as homophobic, racist, anti-Semitic or similar websites, images or videos are not OK unless the topic at-hand involves a discussion of this material. For example, comments on a post of newly-discovered early 20th century photos of KKK rallies might include links to similar collections. If the intent is simply to shock or offend, that is not OK.
- Full URL’s (http://…) are automatically hyperlinked, but if you may also “mask” long URL’s. For example, you can link to Affirmation’s home page by writing the following:
<a href=”http://www.affirmation.org”>Affirmation</a>
Consult a geek or use your favorite search engine for more help using links.
Links are also subject to the same rules as comments. Breaking the rules may result in additional moderation of posts, removal or more – just like comments.
Credits and Redistribution:
Linking back to our blog with the provided individual links is encouraged. Specific requests for credit or attribution may be honored if verifiable documentation is submitted. This modification is at the discretion of the author / editor of the post and may not happen immediately. Please contact the Media Relations Director to facilitate this request.
By using the site, whether registering or posting anonymously, you agree to follow these rules. Moderating decisions by the Executive Committee or its designees is final. Contact us if you feel the decision to moderate one of your posts was done in error.