Where are the rest of the rules?

About This Message Board
1

I was reading a thread in GQ which one of our newer posters had started with a little spam. Apparently this guy listed this as his homepage and posted the same link in several forums. As I write this, he’s getting pretty dinged up by some of the vets around here.

Seems a little harsh; the person apparently thought his profile home page = the page his browser defaults to. Looks like he’s pretty new (pardon my default usage of the male pronoun) to the internet in general, just registered, but he’s getting a pretty hard time.

My question is, how are we supposed to know cross-posting is not allowed? I can’t find it in the registration agreement; I remember wondering whether or not I could do it when I first joined. I just figured it out by reading the mods’ posts. As I remember, the registration agreement says nothing about cross-posting; it basically says, “don’t be a jerk.” Did I miss the rules page or what?

2

And I quote:

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End of quote.

No advertising allowed, I see that. Nothing about cross-posting, though. And nothing about having to post in the appropriate forums. I’ve heard there are no jokes allowed in the pit; it doesn’t state that restriction on the main forums page. Perhaps an addendum is in order? Or did I miss something?/////////

3

On the Straight Dope Message Board page, it explains the categories for each of the forums. I guess that would be a set of guidelines, rather than rules, about where to post what.

I hadn’t seen anything about the cross posting either, although I have heard it mentioned before as a no-no.

Maybe when everybody gets back to their computers at work tomorrow, or back from their Sunday outings, there will be someone who remembers this.

4

In the first place, http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?action=signup

Since day receives a benefit when people click on that link, it’s an advertisement.

In the second place:

5

Exactly. Nowhere (that I know of) does it say explicitly that the guidelines are more than just guidelines, that posting in the wrong forum in not allowed. Seems like that just creates more work for moderators, who seem to have enough work already.

6

Seems like what just creates more work for the mods?

Posting in the wrong forums? Yes, it does, because then they have to close or move the threads. That’s why there are descriptions of the forums on the front page.

Posting spam and advertisements? Yes, because then they have to close or delete the threads.

7

Having the rules not more clearly delinated. Look, I’m not trying to make excuses for people who can’t read the forum descriptions or who don’t know what spam is. But tell me where it says you can’t cross-post, other than a thread in which a moderator makes it clear?

8

This is the point were an evil reg comes in and tells you that you should have lurked and figured it all out.

But that’s not what I’m going to do since I am neither evil nor a reg. Well, O.K., I post here pretty regularly but I not an evil reg vet. Or whatever.

There is no offical rule against cross-posting. There never seemed to be a reason to have an official cross-posting rule as most people did not see a reason to cross-post.

Now someone has cross-posted spam, wittingly or unwittingly. So the mods say: Don’t cross-post.

There, everyone now knows not to cross-post.

9

Since the chances of something being relevant in more than one forum are slim, and those few things that would be are so inconsequential as to not warrant it, the very fact that there are separate fora, each with a clearly defined purpose, rather clearly indicates that cross-posting is a no-no.

10

From this post on the bulletin board at the site that he was spamming for:

Since this was just seven days ago, I doubt that this was at all innocent. Besides, anyone who would believe the crap there deserves to be banned from the SDMB. The fight against ignorance has no need for those seeking to inflict stupidity upon the rest of us.

As for cross-posting not being allowed, if anyone tries it, a mod tells them not to. If, as in this case, it’s clear that they aren’t concerned with contributing, they are being a jerk. As for not posting jokes in the Pit, the forum description can in no way be construed to indicate that it is an appropriate place for jokes, but no one gets banned for that anyways. If you think having a thread closed is a severe punishment, maybe the internet is a bit much for you to deal with.

11

Tengu, that’s all well and good for those of us who think rationally. But the rules aren’t in place for people who actually have a clue. They exist for the folks who couldn’t find their ass with both hands and a flashlight. As such, maybe an addition to the official rules about crossposting might not be such a bad idea. I mean, what’s it going to hurt?

12

It’ll hurt me. If I see such a rule, it will cause me immense emotional anguish and despair. I may even be driven to inflict pain upon myself.

However, as I was writing that, I considered joking about suing the SDMB or the Reader for damages, but decided that even though I probably could get away with it as an obvious joke, the administration doesn’t tolerate threats against the SDMB, not even a little bit. It might be a good idea to put something along those lines in the rules as well. OTOH, if we were to idiot-proof the rules, they would be too long for anyone to actually read.

13

Since there is so bloody much crossover of themes between the forums I find it rather silly and arbitrary when a mod says “That doesn’t belong here.” If you look at what gets posted on GD, IMHO, MPSIMS, and even the Pit and DOESN’T get moved or closed then it often seems the mods are only making extra work for themselves–or want to look like they’re doing their jobs–when they close or move threads.

As for “Where are the rest of the rules?” we’ll tell you when you break one. Like jokes in the Pit. Nope, that’s only for being nasty. Don’t you DARE get funny, even nastily funny, there!

14

Rules:

  1. Don’t be a jerk.
  2. Only post in the appropriate forum.
  3. Do not post the same subject in more than one forum.
  4. When posting a thread about one of Cecil’s columns or a SD Mailbag column, please include a link to the column itself.
  5. And just to be safe, be sure to send the moderators chocolate. :slight_smile:

And then all the other stuff. Too long to read? I think not. And while not cross-posting or only posting in the appropriate forum might seem obvious to everybody here, every week I watch some new poster wander into GQ and get his/her thread locked because the poster just didn’t know. True, sometimes they do know. Sometimes they’re just dumb.
Sometimes they’re trolls (I’ve been reading the SDMB for months every day now, and I’m still not sure how to spot a troll).

All I’m saying is, if it’s a BIG no-no, it should be stated up front. Let me also say, lest anyone misconstrue, that I have nothing but kind words for our moderators: they do a great job of keeping a really high signal-to-noise ratio even higher. A concise set of rules, even posted on the forums page, would help them a lot, I think.

As for the pit, since I don’t post there often, maybe I’m just dense, but I had no idea about the joke thing until I saw a thread there that Lynn had closed. I don’t think it’s apparent from the description; nor is it apparent from the content. Not that I disagree with the rule at all; but how am I supposed to know without seeing a thread that Lynn closed? It was some kind of “self-flame” thread. But five lines next to it, there’s a thread with about five variations of the f-word in the title, about twenty more in the OP, talking about how overused the f-word is. Now help me out here: what exactly is the difference between a joking pit thread and a serious one?

If there’s a place where all this is made clear other than locked threads, please let me know. If not, consider it merely a friendly suggestion from someone who enjoys this board very much and appreciates all who help make it what it is.

15

…but I’m pretty sure with both hands free an a flashlight, I could find my ass before Tuesday!

16

The moderators have the responsibility of trying to keep each forum relatively focused on what it is supposed to be about. As such, there are limits to what they will allow in each forum. In moving or locking a few threads, they can hopefully maintian some sort of precedent as to what people should post in each, thus maximizing each person’s experience at this site.

When it comes to subtle rules like “no jokes in the Pit”, they set this standard when it comes up. The reason that such things are not mentioned in the registration agreement is because it is not a rule that could put your registration status in jeopardy. No one will get banned just for posting jokes in the Pit. The rules would be impossibly long if they mentioned every circumstance that would cause a thread to be locked.

17

I’m not suggesting that every circumstance be outlined; just the ones that pop up, oh, every week? How much effort would it take?

18

I said, “Crossposting is a BIG no-no”. I believe the reason why is already covered in the rules. Let’s look at the reasons people crosspost:

  1. They accidently posted the same message on four or five diferent forums. I would have trouble believing this.
  2. They wanted to get a commercial message out. Covered under the “No solicitation” rule.
  3. They are pissed off at a person, a group of people, or the whole SDMB, and want to create as much havok as possible. Covered under the “Don’t be a jerk” rule.

Are there any others that wouldn’t be covered by the rules we already have?

19

They post a question in IMHO, don’t get much of a response, so they try it again in GQ.

20

Dude. You’re making this too hard.

BBQ Pit: You’re pissed. At a mod, at a poster, at life. Vent.

MPSIMS: You want to share. No question, no poll, just share.

IMHO: “What’s your favorite?” “Do you like?” Polls, contests. Questions that cannot be answered definitively. Light debate/discussion.

GQ: Questions that can be answered DEFINITIVELY

GD: Questions that cannot be answered definitively, but are not of a light, fluffy nature such as in IMHO. Heavy debate/Discussion

Got it?!

–Tim