(Note: No longer a moderator, just thinking out loud.)
If this is meant to be forum rules, it’s not where it needs to be. I have not seen a TOS or a set of rules before I got an account, and as a forum veteran I was looking for those.
The “About the Forum” page is linked from the main menu, which appears on every page of the Forum. I assume that the title made it sound like it wasn’t worth checking to look for rules, which is helpful to know.
Things that could make the rules easier to find, in case moderators want to try a change:
Adding hover text to the “About the Forum” page, as some of the other menu links have, which specifies that rules are here
Splitting the rules onto their own page (which could be a natural transition if we eventually set up a more comprehensive guide to editing than we now have)
Social norms are not universal. Netiquette varies by website. What exactly do you mean by ‘rude’?
Are there any sites that you think do a good job of defining terms like “rude”?
I checked a few places with good reputations. Here’s r/ChangeMyView, which keeps things really simple but has flourished nonetheless:
Here’s Hacker News, which offers more specific advice than the above, but generally seems to be at a similar level of specificity/simplicity to the EA Forum:
Quora has this, and is much more thorough than the Forum (the “Be Nice, Be Respectful” page is very detailed).
Do you favor something like their approach? It’s more “universal”, maybe, but also much less concise — and it seems like those things will always trade off with each other.
Even a scrollover requires that the user be actively trying to explore the site on a meta level—and the mobile-based UX has made finding the sitenav bar a nontrivial endeavor! I would at least put it as the ‘before you start typing’ background.
r/ChangeMyView is, by its’ very subject, going to dodge most of the reasons a forum would need to enforce policies like this. The approach also seems quite dependent on moderators.
Hacker News has the best debate policy I’ve ever seen. I do have a soft spot for snark, but I can live without it. Thank you for introducing me to it!
Quora looks so elitist. ‘Correct’ grammar and punctuation? No-explanation ‘hate speech’? Also, most of their content policy is only incorporated by linking it, which is a huge pet peeve of mine. (I’m the sort of person who tries to actually read any contract I agree to, and lying about how long the TOS is feels so disrespectful.)
(Note: No longer a moderator, just thinking out loud.)
The “About the Forum” page is linked from the main menu, which appears on every page of the Forum. I assume that the title made it sound like it wasn’t worth checking to look for rules, which is helpful to know.
Things that could make the rules easier to find, in case moderators want to try a change:
Adding hover text to the “About the Forum” page, as some of the other menu links have, which specifies that rules are here
Splitting the rules onto their own page (which could be a natural transition if we eventually set up a more comprehensive guide to editing than we now have)
Are there any sites that you think do a good job of defining terms like “rude”?
I checked a few places with good reputations. Here’s r/ChangeMyView, which keeps things really simple but has flourished nonetheless:
Here’s Hacker News, which offers more specific advice than the above, but generally seems to be at a similar level of specificity/simplicity to the EA Forum:
Quora has this, and is much more thorough than the Forum (the “Be Nice, Be Respectful” page is very detailed).
Do you favor something like their approach? It’s more “universal”, maybe, but also much less concise — and it seems like those things will always trade off with each other.
Even a scrollover requires that the user be actively trying to explore the site on a meta level—and the mobile-based UX has made finding the sitenav bar a nontrivial endeavor! I would at least put it as the ‘before you start typing’ background.
r/ChangeMyView is, by its’ very subject, going to dodge most of the reasons a forum would need to enforce policies like this. The approach also seems quite dependent on moderators.
Hacker News has the best debate policy I’ve ever seen. I do have a soft spot for snark, but I can live without it. Thank you for introducing me to it!
Quora looks so elitist. ‘Correct’ grammar and punctuation? No-explanation ‘hate speech’? Also, most of their content policy is only incorporated by linking it, which is a huge pet peeve of mine. (I’m the sort of person who tries to actually read any contract I agree to, and lying about how long the TOS is feels so disrespectful.)
This was very interesting, thank you!