If you�ve ever been a regular visitor to an online message forum, you probably realize that online forum communities can sometimes be as hazardous as a family holiday dinner. While the forum is -- unfortunately -- BYOB, tensions inevitably arise when people feel passionate about the topics they are discussing. Rather than declare such topics of passion -- such as politics or philosophy -- off-limits, we prefer to set some useful parameters for discussion:
1. No name calling. This one may seem obvious, but you�d be surprised how quickly the insults can come out in a heated debate. There�s no reason to resort to name calling; it doesn�t accomplish anything. And ARWZ seeks to provide visitors with a forum for productive discussion. Name calling never leads to intelligent, change-of-heart insights. If you�re offended, say you�re offended. If you�re frustrated, say you�re frustrated. If you can�t understand where someone is coming from, or don�t want to, just say so! Agree to disagree! Name calling of any sort will give moderators leave to close a topic and move it into the Pending Posts forum for my review.
2. Keep all discussions productive. In the same vein as the rule above, please stick to topics that are potentially productive. It�s okay to express your opinion or argument on a heated issue. But if you�re not open to changing your mind on a certain issue, please don�t spin your wheels by arguing against someone whose stance is just as unchangeable for the opposite side. If you�re not open to changing your mind, agree to disagree. This page is a forum for productive debates that make us think differently about writing and about our world -- it is not a forum for soap-boxing your pet issues.
3. Give people the benefit of the doubt. The purpose of this board is to provide a fun and productive forum for discussion. Don�t expect every argument to be worthy of a doctoral dissertation. We all suffer from our share of time constraints, so please don�t expect every post to be a work of art. If you find a hole in someone�s argument, or they write something that�s unclear or contradictory, please don�t jump into accusations. That only leads to the pitfalls of rule #1. We know it�s all in the spin you put on it. Instead of saying: �You obviously haven�t taken x into account!� try saying: �Have you considered the possibility of x? It could be useful to your argument.� Instead of saying: �You obviously don�t know what you�re talking about!� give a try to: �I�m sorry, but I don�t understand your reasoning here. Would you mind explaining it a different way?� I don�t mean that everybody has to get touchy-feely, but please be aware that not everyone (including yours truly) has the time to read every post in great detail and respond with as complete or clear an argument as they would like.
4. If you notice that an argument is getting out of hand, please alert the webmaster and the moderators as soon as possible so that they can deal with the situation. Be sure to include the URL of the thread in question so that we can deal with the problem promptly.
If you have any questions, please feel free to post them here in our FAQ forum. If you have any ideas for further guidelines to help steer us on the course to productive discussion, please feel free to suggest those as well. _________________ Violet "Violanthe" Kane
[email protected] ARWZ.com: A Magazine of Alternative Reality Fiction
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
Alternative Reality Web Zine: ISSN# 1559-3037
All materials on these pages (including fiction, poetry, essays, articles, interviews and opinion pieces) are copyrighted to the original authors and may not be reproduced without permission.
