A little introduction
for those new to the mb community
Welcome
to the messageboard community - we 're glad to
have your interest in
joining in with other fans for discussions,
tales, visiting with one
another and general fun. But first, a little
word on etiquette for the
boards. What is it? This is your own behavior on
the boards and how you
react and respond to the others. This applies to
everyone, new and old.
This is an active and real community of fans
posting on these boards.
We come from many different countries, and while
all speak (or type) in
English, it may not always be the poster's first
language. We have a
wide range of ages, education, beliefs and
cultural backgrounds.
Some of the folks posting will be more
technically knowledgeable then
others, some may be used to being on mbs all
day, while others may have
just found our messageboard for the first time
and this way of
communicating may seem very strange to them.
Therefore it can be very easy for
misunderstandings to occur about meanings,
intentions and even humor.
A 'harmless' bit of wittiness that was intended
as humor might be taken
personally. Offense at feeling misunderstood may
occur. These things
happen and can snowball into a real brouhaha or
severely hurt feelings
if left unchecked..
So FIRST: before you jump into a thread or start
posting. THINK about
what you are saying. THINK about how someone
might FEEL when they read
your words.
Do not post if you are angry at something
someone else has posted. Give yourself time to
cool down.
PREVIEW your post before you submit and edit it
afterward if necessary.
You may also delete your own post if you realize
you should have held
your tongue, but if it was already posted you
can bet others have
already read it and a re-wording or apology may
be in order instead.
Please use the private
messaging
(pm) feature to contact users whose posts you
desire clarification on,
or to try and clear up simple misunderstandings.
If a situation arises
in which you feel offended or harassed (or
someone has accused you of
such) and it seems likely that mature
communication will not be
possible on the part of one or both parties,
please contact a
moderator. If at any time you are uncomfortable
with a situation or a
poster, please feel free to contact the mods,
bearing in mind that not
all situations will be within their authority.
We want everyone to enjoy their time on the
boards, "newbies" as well as the "old guard."
Posts may be edited or deleted if that the mods
feel they contribute to
an overly negative atmosphere , are deliberately
insulting, flaming
(personal attacks) or profane. Please refrain
from expressing extremely
dark and suicidal thoughts - these forums are
not the appropriate venue
to express these issues, nor are they adequate
to meet that need.
Posters who feel something is 'out of
line' are welcome to pm a moderator about it -
the mods are not
all-seeing and depend on the others in the
community to help keep it
friendly for all. Many of our posters may be
quite young, and postings
on mature subjects need to bear that in mind.
Please refrain from the use of ALL CAPS (which
is considered shouting,
and rude), alternating shift-keys LiKeThIs, and
'netspeak' or
'chatspeak.' This is not a real-time chat
forum, but a
messageboard - there is no reason to not
take a moment and spell
out your words, especially if you want anyone
else to take the time to
read them. It can be difficult for native
English-speakers to
understand netspeak, much less those who have
English as a second
language. Thank you!
Enjoy your time on the boards!
