Guidelines for posting in Vaccinations Discussion and Debate

[Cynthia Mosher]

Hello everyone. 

When we restructured the Vaccinations forums to place this new Vaccinations Discussions and Debate forum we placed this as the guidelines specific for this forum:

Quote:

Vaccinations Discussion and Debate: This is our main discussion, wear-your-big-girl-panties, forum to discuss all information and concerns about vaccinations. We expect and insist that all members post here with an open mind and a willingness to learn. It is for parents who vaccinate as well as those somewhat or staunchly against vaccination. Intelligent, informative, and civil debate should be the shining light of this forum. Do not stoop to accusation, condescending comments and veiled insults against an individual's character or intentions in posting here, as if that will somehow discredit the person or information. 

We placed that "wear-your-big-girl-panties" clause without clarifying what that meant. Over the past couple of weeks we've been talking about it because the forum still seems very heavy on moderation needs and gets a lot of reported posts. So, we reviewed our intentions behind that clause and have these clarifications to include as part of the guidelines for the forum, effective immediately:

• Members should know that the forum might be a little more brusque than others, and that if they want to post in there they should be prepared for it - as the mods won't be removing everything they feel is a slight or an insult.
• We allow members lead the discussion and do not step in to tell them their post is off topic. Please go with the flow.

• Barring personal attacks, rudeness and sarcasm is not a violation.
• Pointed remarks are acceptable, but calling someone names or attacking them/their family personally is not.

• 'Baiting" is not a violation in the forum. 
• Reporting of posts is only for direct namecalling and severe personal attacks. Abuse of the report feature will result in you being locked out of the thread or the Vaccinations forum in general.
• Please assume the best intentions of a member or a post and avoid making assumptions. 

Some generic examples of what is and is not permitted:

"I can't even fathom how you might think that is valid? Please." - Sarcasm. Not something that would be moderated..

"Your kids are clearly at a loss seeing as you are at the shallow end of the gene pool." Personal attack. Not cool. Would need an edit, warning, infraction, or removal of the member from the discussion.

"WTF! Are you serious with this?! Ridiculous!!" Things like this are often reported in Vaccinations, but in a heated discussion/debate this is just an interjection, not really an attack. So it would not be moderated.

"You are a conspiracy mongering, paranoid delusional." Obviously not okay. Would need an edit, warning, infraction, or removal of the member from the discussion.

"You seem to be buying into a conspiracy theory that is not accurate." Acceptable.

Please post with these guidelines in mind. As always, if you have questions about the rules of the forum you may send a private message to me or AdinaL. 

[kathymuggle]

Would it be accurate to say that those who do not want a "big girl panties heated debate" should use one of the subforums for a more moderated discussion?

[chickabiddy]

You won't be likely to get a real "discussion" since those forums are support-only, which seems to mean agreement-only.

[kathymuggle]

Originally Posted by chickabiddy 

You won't be likely to get a real "discussion" since those forums are support-only, which seems to mean agreement-only.

I said "moderated " discussion.

It is obviously up to each poster to decide whether or not a thread is worth posting in a support only arena.  Some may say yes, some may say no.  

I am *tired* of the out and out bitchiness on this forum and the guidelines Cynthia posted makes me think things will get worse, not better.  

They also seem to be catering to those who like nasty discussions, which I find odd, but whatever, it is not my call and I get mods can only be stretched so thin.

[BeckyBird]

Originally Posted by chickabiddy 

You won't be likely to get a real "discussion" since those forums are support-only, which seems to mean agreement-only.

That's fine with me.

I like the idea of a debate section and separate support sections. This is why I stay out of the Mindful Vaccination section, because I don't have anything supportive to add. This is also why I would appreciate if the I'm Not Vaccinating section would remain a support only section. So what if it's an echo chamber? Maybe we need an echo chamber. We can always debate in the Vaccinations Discussion and Debate section.

I also like the new guidelines concerning post derailment. I have a tough time sticking to one topic, so this will be a benefit to me!

[Rrrrrachel]

I think these make sense.  Conversations evolve and that's ok.  Hopefully this means it is also ok to (politely) call someone out when they are being rude or ugly.

[Rrrrrachel]

Also, kathy, since I've made some judicious use of the "block' feature things suddenly seem a lot less bitchy around here on my end.  I highly recommend it.

[Taximom5]

 Either forum posters should "put their big girl panties on" and discuss things like reasonable adults without baiting, sarcasm, and rudeness, or you should be honest and say that "big-girl panties" are not needed, since rudeness, sarcasm, and baiting are apparently being encouraged.

Why would anyone WANT to stay here under those "guidelines?"

[kathymuggle]

Yeah, I am not sure how "baiting" for example is part of "intelligent, informative, and civil debate "   I think it goes against the civil part, and respectfully ask the powers that be to reconsider.  

I don't like it when someone is deliberately going off topic to be an a$$, but  threads do evolve organically, and I think that is fine. 

[Cynthia Mosher]

Nastiness is nastiness. We won't tolerate that and will judiciously remove people from discussions as we see fit and especially if they show they are not interested in really discussing an issue but just wish to pick at someone and disrupt the discussion. 

That said - we'll try this for a period of time to see how it works. If it isn't working, we'll take another look and decide what might work better. 

[Jennyanydots]

I do like that topics will be allowed to evolve without being herded back to the original topic... but that's about it. This forum is caustic enough already without the new guidelines condoning even less civility. There's been a tremendous increase lately of meanspirited posts from a variety of posters, and the response from mods is to let them have their way? No thanks. There are plenty of places online where you can get treated like crap for discussing your opinions. I thought this was a smarter forum.

[Chicharronita]

I think until this all gets sorted out and the forum gets a new dedicated moderator, I'll just chill at home with my big girl panties lol.

I've got lots of presents to wrap and parties to go to and cookies to bake anyway. I'll take a peek from time to time and see how the henhouse is doing. I'll also check my PMs too for any new messages but that's about it. 

[kathymuggle]

nm...

Edited by kathymuggle - 12/12/12 at 8:35pm