Mind's Eye Posting Guidelines

Last updated: 14th July 2008

1. Introduction

The moderators have always bent over backwards to avoid banning anyone from Mind's Eye. This fact remains unchanged for anyone who has proven themselves capable of meaningful contribution to the group. However, as the group has grown, so has its appeal to increasingly anti-social individuals who enjoy "trolling" forums. Trolling, says Wikipedia, is "making deliberately inflammatory remarks in order to provoke a vehement response from others" [1]. It's a very popular pastime on the Internet, and one that can ruin online communities like ours.

Mind's Eye -- by virtue of its increasing activity and diversity -- has become a very tempting target for these individuals. It seems that the days of only needing to ban one person every couple of years are now regrettably behind us. We are victims of our own success, and thus the moderators have decided to revisit, tighten up, and clarify, what is acceptable/unacceptable in this group. Although this guide is mostly for the benefit of new members, we hope our existing members will find this framework clarifies certain principles and conventions which they already subscribed to.

2. New Member Moderation

All new members of Mind's Eye are initially moderated. This means that a new member's posts will not appear immediately, rather they will be held in a queue until an administrator has checked them over and released them to the group. The group's moderators are spread across several time zones and work schedules, thus this process generally happens within a few hours. Sometimes it's much quicker. However, patience is appreciated if it is the weekend or a public holiday. After a few posts we will take new members off of moderation, thus allowing their messages to appear -- the Internet and Google willing -- immediately. 

We take a strong line on posts from new members which contain links. Farming hits for your website or blog from Mind's Eye is very likely to get you banned. After your moderation has been removed and you have proven yourself capable of meaningful contribution, we would tend to be more relaxed about you linking back to your website, assuming it is relevent and not just blatant hit farming.

This moderation policy has stopped Mind's Eye sinking under the weight of spam, which has ruined many other groups.

3. Etiquette & Principles

• If you are looking to "flame" people or generally be obnoxious, please find yourself a different outlet. Mind's Eye is a group intended for rational discussions.
• Aggressive/bullying posts are unwelcome. If you've had a bad day, go and take your stress out elsewhere.
• Remember, a hasty retort thrown together in anger will be visible to the world long after those feelings have subsided. Moderators are unable to delete your posts on the website or suck them magically out of the inboxes of members who participate via email.
• Attacks upon immutable human characteristics (race, disability, sexual orientation, et al) are totally unacceptable.
• Debates about a person's deeply held values, beliefs, or way of life, should be tempered with a high level of respect and civility. These debates have been some of our most interesting over the years, and they work, or not, based upon the level of mutual respect and honesty extended by each side. If your motive is to ridicule members, or spread bad feeling, please do not bother to post.
• We've tackled a fair few sacred cows over the years and these are always interesting discussions. However, by their nature, these debates are very likely to stir up emotions. Please accept that the world is full of people with radically different opinions to yours which they hold equally as strongly. Mind's Eye is a forum for you to interact with such people and learn more about them. It is not a forum for you to attack them, even if they are "baby killers", "neo-con nutjobs", "pinko liberals", "sinners", or even British. All of the above miscreants are welcome.
• Posting irrelevant asides, snide comments, or generally trying to derail a discussion, is not in the spirit of the group. If you have nothing to contribute to a discussion, move on, start a new thread, or just be happy reading what other people have posted. Constant attention seeking in an adult could be a form of HPD; you should stop bothering Mind's Eye and see a psychologist for a formal diagnosis.
  
• Avoid simple "you are wrong" statements; if you have a point to make, back it up. Please also see the section labelled "Quoting/Citations" for specific information on how you should cite your sources.
• Avoid swearing/cussing, unless it is absolutely pertinent to the discussion at hand. Sometimes it happens naturally in the flow of a sentence -- and I'm guilty of it -- but there are many far more creative ways to express yourself.
• Do not preach or proselytize; we are here to discuss ideas, not be recruited to your particular religion no matter how great you think it is or how much peril you believe our eternal souls to be in.
• Do not patronise our members. The membership of Mind's Eye is fantastically diverse in terms of members' ages, levels of education, forms of spirituality, life experience, and professional vocations. Even if you think you know the answer to life, the universe, and everything, you'll be stirring all kinds of bad feeling if your tone is smug or condescending.

4. Quoting / Citations

• Copy/pasting reams of text from a website, without a citation, gives the impression that you are claiming the work as your own. Given that this is probably not the case, please attribute the quote to its author or source.
• When quoting from a website, do not copy/paste the entire article. Try and limit your citation to a paragraph or two, and, of course, please provide the link.

5. Bannings

All decisions regarding disciplinary actions up to and including banishment from the group are discussed thoroughly among the moderators before any decision is made. None of the moderators take it upon themselves to discipline a member of the group.  Disciplinary actions include, but are not limited to: warnings, return to moderated status, banishment from the group, and ETERNAL DAMNATION.

6. The Moderators

Your moderators are Chris, Pottsie, Ian, and Craig (who is the owner of the group). None of us share the same religious or political views, thus we hope that there is no bias in moderation.

If you need to contact the moderators "off-list", you should click the "Send email to the owner" link on the page below:

http://groups.google.com/group/Minds-Eye/about