The guys over at DRaysBay had a great idea a few days ago and posted their community guidelines on the front page as a refresher for those who visit the site. As the Rays season winds down, they wanted to keep the community as a whole moving in the right direction and avoid any flare ups or nonsense.
I figured we over here at Buc 'Em could use the same sort of refresher. As the Buc's season is about to begin, and decisions are made, and games are played, we're sure to get caught up as fans which invariably leads to topics and points that don't always see eye to eye with others.
This is all well and good, but when discussing any potential topic or idea, be sure to use some common sense before hitting the "post" button. As a general rule, the guidelines are on the toolbar on the right hand side of the page. But since I brought the discussion up, I'll post them right here to save everyone the hassle of finding them. Here's a quick refresher for everyone (thanks to DRB for a portion of the guidelines).
Not so painful right? Remember, we're all Buc's fans, so while we may not agree on everything, we are all rooting for the same team!Welcome to Buc ‘Em, a Blog dedicated to covering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and providing a collective voice for Bucs Fans. This post is to help our newer members understand our customs and hopefully make everyone's experience here a little better. Understand that Buc ‘Em is NOT a message board. It isn't a talk radio call-in show. We are a community of passionate Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans. Buc ‘Em itself is a blog, one which has built a community feel to it over the last couple years. And unlike some blogs that talk at you, Buc ‘Em offers FanPosts and FanShots where you can drive the conversation.
Inside, you will find our Community Guidelines, and explanations on how to use the sites features. Again, we're glad you found us and we hope you stay.
Community Guidelines:
Buc ‘Em is intended to feel primarily fan-driven, and most of the unwritten rules come by way of self-government by the community. These few official guidelines have been created and exist for a singular purpose: to help make Buc ‘Em a place that is safe and enjoyable for everyone who participates.
Free Speech on Buc ‘Em:
At Buc ‘Em, we believe strongly in free speech and in having a diversity of people participating, and sharing ideas that are relevant to the community. As a Buc ‘Em member you are, in general, free to express your opinion without fear of retribution. The diversity of personalities, beliefs, and styles is exactly what makes Buc ‘Em the strong and vibrant community that it has become. We are committed to keeping Buc ‘Em free and open to everyone. However, We will remind you of what you all agree to when you first sign up for the site:
When posting at this blog, please follow this one simple rule: Before hitting "post" to post your remarks, ask yourself: "Would I be embarrassed to say this in front of strangers who were physically present in the room with me and could respond to my face?" If the answer is "yes," then don't post. Buc ‘Em encourages and welcomes all opinions, no matter how strong; however, personal attacks, vulgarity, and other uncivilized forms of expression are not welcome.
Under normal circumstances We will not delete posts, and will not "censor" in any way, shape or form unless it is a blatant violation of these guidelines. However, in such cases, We reserve the right to delete posts without notice.
Since Buc ‘Em IS a community, you should know that free speech does not mean the right to say what you want, when you want, how you want, without being sensitive to, and respectful towards, individuals and the community as a whole. In a community, speech is not completely free; it comes with responsibility.
The following are simply not acceptable on Buc ‘Em (excepting, in some cases, for obvious humor between people with an existing rapport) and are subject to sanction as outlined below:
Profanity is not permitted. We realize that in the heat of a game thread, occasional blue language may slip through. Please try to keep it to an absolute minimum. Personal attacks on community members, directly or through sarcasm/belittling, e.g., "You’re an idiot", "You don't know what you’re talking about, moron", "Apparently, you've never seen a football game, or you'd know?", "My Chihuahua knows more about football than you do", etc. Comments that are intolerant or prejudiced (sexist, racist, homophobic, etc.) in nature, e.g., "Why don't you go play with your dolls?", "The Bucs shouldn’t sign Hispanic players", "Doesn't Garcia look like a fag?", etc. Comments that bring politics or religion into Buc ‘Em (which is a non-political and non religious blog), e.g., "Obama/Bush/Clinton ruined this country by", "Check out this link about the war in Iraq," etc. That said, you may occasionally see a political advertisement on Buc ‘Em. Running such ads does not imply an endorsement of the candidate or views expressed in the ad, just as any such ad on a television station or network or in a newspaper does not imply endorsement by such an entity. Editorial and advertising at Buc ‘Em are separate, and I do not have control over advertising, with the exception of local ads which are arranged by me.
Complaints about possible violations of the Community Guidelines should be directed to us for review and consideration. Our email address is BucWildGuy@gmail.com. Feel free to contact us at any time.
We aim to balance a high tolerance for the importance of free speech and low tolerance for minor or petty complaints, with enforcement of the stated guidelines on behalf of the entire Buc ‘Em community. Here is the general procedure; there may be exceptions to this, at our sole discretion:
If you think a violation has occurred, either contact a Head Blogger, flag the post, or mention it in the thread. One of us will contact the offending user privately, either by email or by issuing a formal warning on the site. No other action will be taken. Depending on the severity of the action, we may take more serious action, including a temporary ban (i.e., asking you to stay away for a few days) or permanently banning the offending member from Buc ‘Em.
If it seems clear to us that your primary motive is disrupting and/or upsetting specific individuals or the community as a whole, we will ban you before going through this process.
If you believe a user has violated these guidelines and you want us to have a look at the situation, send an email to BucWildGuy@gmail.com, and also flag the post using the tools available on the site itself. Please include the following information:
Addendum
Finally, please don't take any of these guidelines to mean that we are "Bringing the Hammer down" or any such thing. As noted above, Buc ‘Em is intended to be a place for freewheeling exchange of ideas about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Almost anything goes, if you are respectful of others. Keep an open mind. Everyone is going to be wrong sometimes. Instead of defending your point of view incessantly, just move on, and maybe even admit you're wrong. That's a great way to earn the respect of other users, by the way.
You can disagree with everything and everyone, as long as you don't make it personal and you back up your arguments with logic. Logic does not include excessive capitals, ad hominem attacks, cliches, or quotes from ESPN "experts".
We like numbers. Love 'em, in fact. If you are not familiar with advanced statistics, we encourage you to stick around and learn something. If you disagree with an argument made using statistics, make sure you understand the methodology before disagreeing with the results. Asking questions is a great way to advance both the discussion and your understanding of sabermetrics. We also realize that numbers aren't perfect and are always looking to improve them.Keep the language PG13. Sure, we've heard and seen it all, but most comments that rely on colorful language aren't worth posting anyway. We are especially intolerant of ignorance -- racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, etc. Note: gameday threads are the exception.
No babe/hunk photos. No exceptions. No .gifs. No links.
We love user-generated content. We welcome links to any and all articles you think are worth discussing, including your own, via FanShots. Use FanPosts for any in-depth content that doesn't make sense as a comment in someone else's article. If your FanPost consists of mostly filler, it is subject to being deleted. 75 words is not difficult. Seriously.
Use proper spelling, grammar, and capitalization. Using them will give your comments more credibility and make your comments easier to read. Paragraphs are your friend. Note: gameday threads are the exception.
Keep the pictures small. Simply add the code <img src="imagesource" height="Ypx" width="Xpx"> to make sure they don't get too big (change X and Y). Preview your comments and always use a post title so that people can hide them if they choose.No political or religious discussions. We actually think politics and religion should be discussed more often in the U.S., but those topics always tends to degenerate into mindless drivel, and people actually get more worked up about them than baseball. We've got enough on our hands with America's past time.
Use the reply button. Nested comments are awesome and keep the discussion organized.
We love sarcasm. But if you use it, don't blame others when they don't pick up on it.
These ground rules are meant as guidelines only. Although we tend to be fairly hands-off as moderators, decisions about conduct and banning are entirely at our discretion, and the ground rules above may or may not apply to those decisions. We may suspend a user's account any time we find that, in our judgment, it will make the site more enjoyable, more successful, and more fan-friendly overall. Usually, although not always, we will explain to a user why their contributions aren't meshing with the site's philosophy before taking any official measures.
If you have ANY questions about the items on this list, please e-mail one of the authors.
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to let me know.