10 Commandments of Forum Conduct

[incrediculous]

The forum has been, for the lack of a better word, "weird" lately. I think most of us can agree that we're in need of a little guidance. So, I took liberty that I did not posses and wasted an otherwise perfectly good half-hour of my time to issue the following 10 commandments which I fully expect each and every one of you to disregard.

1. Fore and Firstmost, remember the following: you're on the Internet, you're probably not wearing any pants, and you have no life. Moderate your ego and self-righteousness accordingly. (hint: by moderate we mean deflate (hint's hint: deflate means to reduce.))
2. If you choose to forgo your own identity for that of a fictional caricature (preferably of your imagination's own fantastic creation), don't fashion said caricature after an egotistical, shallow, and all-together-unlikable hussy.
3a. Contributing Under the Influence (CUI) is appreciated to the extent of one insane/drunk/high/tripped-out post per day. After an initial CUI, we kindly ask that you remove yourself from the computer and watch Army of Darkness while we marvel at your unique fame-of-mind.
3b. If your state of mind-alterdness (or insanity) is a persistent condition caused by either a persistent intake of substances (or actual mental illness) please post no more than once a week. We can only marvel so much.
4. Before posting, ask yourself if what you have to contribute could be appreciated in any way, by anyone at all (excluding yourself). Appreciated areas of contribution include: photography, media articles, blog posts, informative first-hand information, informative second-hand information, original editorials, original comedy.
5. If you anticipate that your pending contribution may not be appreciated, do not post it. Areas of unappreciated contributions include petty, incessant, child-like bickering.
6. Do not senselessly badger informed sources. Occasionally developers, journalists, bloggers, and politicians frequent the forum to give us more of that which we desire. By all means ask questions, and even levy reasonable critiques if you have them. However, do not inexplicably and carelessly drive these sources away, for we currently lack the subpoena power which we crave.
7. The following personality traits will not be tolerated: excessive solemnity, excessive ridiculousness, excessive aggression, excessive delicacy, and excessive repetition.
8. One word posts such as "True," or "OK" will be met with one-word explanations for their originator's immediate and automatic ignore status unless the post in question is a commentary on the lameness of another post.
9. Yes, some people know other people on the forum. And that's fantastic. It is perfectly normal to value real-life human relationships. However, do not value them so much that you stalk any forumer for any reason, (sexual or not).
10. In regards to American v. Southwest, Urban v. Suburbs, and Houston v. Dallas. This belabored argumentation has to stop, for the sake of beaten and abused dead horses everywhere. Think of the horses.

[trolleygirl]

LOL!!!

Noted, Increduous....thanks for the trip back to reality.

[Justin Terveen]

HA! Hear hear!

You just made this unlikable hussy's day...

[TexasStar]

True.

[Geaux Tigers]

Word

[cowboyeagle05]

Can we get he four fathers/mothers to sign this?

[AeroD]

I think I know how the rest goes...Moses aka "Incrediculous" will lead the chosen forum posters across the mighty Trinity with Rosewood and other banned or soon-to-be banned posters chasing them.

Soon after that though, we still will not have changed our wicked ways, and a Messiah will be sent to this forum.

[eirin]

I am completely relieved to see something of this nature posted!

[GuerillaBlack]

Me too! It was needed.

[rogramjet]

Does this mean the Fort Worth Lollipop Guild can come out again, too...?

[Halz3000]

shut the f**k up.
that was hilarious.
and beautifully written.
i mean, ahem, true.
MWAH!

[cowboyeagle05]

I figure we here are mature enough for the language and humor in this video that refers to the nature of this and many other internet forums. It does have language and audio so keep that volume level in check.

Internet Commenter Business Meeting
http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1771556

[FoUTASportscaster]

Can I add one?

If so:11.Quoting a picture to say "wow", "looks great" or any other minor phrase is unacceptable. Simply saying the same without quoting will suffice.

[Mballar]

9. Yes, some people know other people on the forum. And that's fantastic. It is perfectly normal to value real-life human relationships. However, do not value them so much that you stalk any forumer for any reason, (sexual or not).
WOW! Has this happened? I'm sure you were joking, but I just had to ask anyway.

Great list by the way. I certainly hope a few of our new members read this thread.

[KBilly]

RE: 2. "If you choose to forgo your own identity for that of a fictional caricature (preferably of your imagination's own fantastic creation), don't fashion said caricature after an egotistical, shallow, and all-together-unlikable hussy."

Hmmmmmmmmm... a rose by any other name should smell so sweet? :uhoh:


(great list!)

[trolleygirl]

Can I add one?

If so:11.Quoting a picture to say "wow", "looks great" or any other minor phrase is unacceptable. Simply saying the same without quoting will suffice.

Um how about just not saying it at all? "Nice Pic", "Cool", "Thanks", et al just clutters up the board, IMO. It's like when my sister texts me to say, "K". What a total waste of time!

[AeroD]

Um how about just not saying it at all? "Nice Pic", "Cool", "Thanks", et al just clutters up the board, IMO. It's like when my sister texts me to say, "K". What a total waste of time!

Or asking for pics for that matter.

[SDORN]

Asking for pix is ok, I don't mind that. But I agree to the above Thanks Incediculous.

Best statement of the years so far.

[BigD5349]

I agree that it's slightly annoying when a particular user's only contribution to thread-after-thread is "hey dude, post pics!" but otherwise it doesn't bother me.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with occasionally thanking someone for posting a pic. God forbid that we should try to eradicate all expressions of gratitude between members. All we'd have to do after that is get rid of all expressions of humor, and then the forum would be left for the asses to dominate. The pics are a primary draw for the forum and should be encouraged.

[SkyLife]

Excellent and helpful Incrediculous. Thank-you.

How do we get everyone to read this?

[sterling]

I want to stand up for the rights of "Quotation marks". If they are banned, I will forever lose the ability to add mystique, tongue-in-cheek and double entendre significance to my otherwise pedestrian posts. I hate having to type out wink-wink-nudge-nudge everytime I'm off on a tirade, when using quotation marks can make me seem a little less cheezy.

AND I appreciate that some cleaned up their F**K post (just a few ago). If quotation marks are banned, I'm heartened there is still the asterisk to abuse.

[Justin Terveen]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with occasionally thanking someone for posting a pic. God forbid that we should try to eradicate all expressions of gratitude between members. All we'd have to do after that is get rid of all expressions of humor, and then the forum would be left for the asses to dominate. The pics are a primary draw for the forum and should be encouraged.

thank you. there's nothing worse than a pompous internet community. the snobbish, holier-than-thou attitude does nothing but turn people off and discourage members, both old and new.

i'm all for structure and proper etiquette, but some of you need to relax and try not to take things so seriously. i know most of us are fairly passionate people, but such earnest discourse is a surefire way to suck the fun out of things. a few compliments and single phrase posts here and there never hurt anyone. the mindless act of quoting images, on the other hand, should be punishable by fine and/or jail time.

play nice.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2070/2253322973_0c59095b36.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ninjatune/2253322973/)

[DalLove444]

WTF!! no "True" or "Thanks for posting" or quotation marks?? Please tell me its a joke! Have any the Moderators or Admins seen this yet???

[gc]

Yes, we have seen this list.

The moderators are, in fact, slowing working on revising the forum rules. Some of these suggestions may or may be taken into consideration.

I know I am guilty of several of the aforementioned no-nos. For example, "Word", "Nice pics", "Thanks for posting", etc

Let's see what happens.

[DalLove444]

Yes, we have seen this list.

The moderators are, in fact, slowing working on revising the forum rules. Some of these suggestions may or may be taken into consideration.

I know I am guilty of several of the aforementioned no-nos. For example, "Word", "Nice pics", "Thanks for posting", etc

Let's see what happens.
Why is that a no-no? What is it about "Nice pics" or "Thanks for posting" thats so bad? Please clue me in.

[gc]

Why is that a no-no? What is it about "Nice pics" or "Thanks for posting" thats so bad? Please clue me in.

It is not. I was just saying that based on this thread it is a no-no.

Don't worry about it.

[FoUTASportscaster]

My beef is quoting a picture that is just one post up, then saying nice job or looks great. You can do that without quoting. I think our photogs are deserving of praise. They do a good job and some fight off elements, security guards and homeless to big their craft.

[trolleygirl]

I agree about quoting PHOTOGRAPHS. They just take up bandwidth and slows my internet down. I want my news and I want it now, dammit!!!

[SDORN]

We photographer try our best But This board deserves good photos! !!!! I enjoy taking the pix despite the risks at times thanks Sportcaster

[Justin Terveen]

just a thought...

in hopes of alleviating some of the headache caused by photos and the ppl who quote them, i would encourage anyone sharing a photo to use a smaller sized thumbnail... less intrusive and faster to load, small thumbs could solve much of the problem if everyone put forth a little extra effort... the damage/inconvenience caused by quoting images would be significantly reduced along with bandwidth usage and clutter.. if a photo is quoted, the result would be minimal in comparison..

another idea (if possible) would be tweaking the board's software a bit ... i'm not too terribly familiar with vB filter capabilities, but i'm pretty sure there's a way to disable code in quotes... really no need for it anyway, imo...

something like one of these....

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2298/2217439843_4489a1e867_m.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ninjatune/2217439843/)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2298/2217439843_4489a1e867_t.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ninjatune/2217439843/)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2298/2217439843_4489a1e867_s.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ninjatune/2217439843/)

[FoUTASportscaster]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2298/2217439843_4489a1e867_m.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ninjatune/2217439843/)

Great photo, thanks Ninja!

P.S. What a great day that was. Mark looks so happy.

[DalLove444]

I agree with posting a smaller version of one's posted photo, then critiquing(spelling???) their work.

[incrediculous]

Why is that a no-no? What is it about "Nice pics" or "Thanks for posting" thats so bad? Please clue me in.

Instead of saying something like "nice pics," why not say specifically what it is that you like about them? It would mean more to the artist, I'm sure.

Maybe you appreciate the themes of an entire body of work. "Ninjatune, your work does Dallas proud in ways that Dallas doesn't bother to do for itself. Your photography demonstrates that there's character in everything. And as a Dallas resident, it's easy to forget that. Thanks."

Or maybe your thoughts on a particular photo are rooted in specific memories. "I like the photograph with the hobo because it reminds me of my Grandma Josephine. After my pappy died, she used to drink several bottles of wine a day and pass out on the floor just like that guy! But at least she wore adult diapers to contain her bladder control issues. The homeless have no respect!"

The latter isn't exactly useful artistic feedback, but at least it's interesting.

[incrediculous]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2070/2253322973_0c59095b36.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ninjatune/2253322973/)

Oh, and nice pic.

/invoking a comedic waiver here, folks.

[DalLove444]

Instead of saying something like "nice pics," why not say specifically what it is that you like about them? It would mean more to the artist, I'm sure.....
Yes good point. i agree. :dsquare:

[xen0blue]

I think i'm one of the reasons for the whole quoting pictures thing (OK, fair enough, my mistake, I can do without that feature) or saying "great pic!" or "nice job!" in response to pictures is being brought up. Complaining about things that are so small and inconsequential seems, in my eyes, shallow and pompus...this is an internet forum, not the office. When i'm here, waisting my employer's valuable bandwidth, I want to be able to relax, not feel like I'm at work (cough). I agree with Scott Dorn and NinjaTune and think people need to lighten up and not take things so seriously, and I also believe that photographers need to be congratulated when they post pictures that deserve praise with small little comments now and then. I think NinjaTune summed it up perfectly when he said this:


"There's nothing worse than a pompous internet community. the snobbish, holier-than-thou attitude does nothing but turn people off and discourage members, both old and new.

i'm all for structure and proper etiquette, but some of you need to relax and try not to take things so seriously. i know most of us are fairly passionate people, but such earnest discourse is a surefire way to suck the fun out of things. a few compliments and single phrase posts here and there never hurt anyone."

:bslide:

One more thing: Although i'm not defending the practice (as I've now disavowed it), quoting pictures does not use additional bandwidth, as someone mentioned earlier, as the picture is already in the browser's cache when it loads it, it's simply drawing another instance of the same picture. It's obnoxious, and that's about it.

[portyhead]

I'll say one thing regarding these forum etiquette issues. I've been on a lot of other different city forums, skyscraper sites, et al. and I'll say this site is definitely one of the best structured and polite forum sites so I don't feel there is too much of a need to worry. I think these etiquette rules might be better posted on those other ones.

[Justin Terveen]

Totally agree there... I've always thought highly of our community. The level of maturity and knowledge here makes for a very well behaved, informative experience that can be difficult to find on other boards. I rarely visit the 'others' today for this very reason.

[cowboyeagle05]

I think i'm one of the reasons the whole quoting pictures thing (OK, fair enough, my mistake, I can do without that feature) or saying "great pic!" or "nice job!" in response to pictures is being brought up. Complaining about things that are so small and inconsequential seems, in my eyes, shallow and pompus...this is an internet forum, not the office. When i'm here, waisting my employer's valuable bandwidth, I want to be able to relax, not feel like I'm at work (cough). I agree with Scott Dorn and NinjaTune and think people need to lighten up and not take things so seriously, and I also believe that photographers need to be congratulated when they post pictures that deserve praise with small little comments now and then.


To add to nice behavior such as complementing Photographers for their work I would suggest to visit their Flickr page and comment there as well. Thats if they have such a forum for displaying their work publicly available on the internet. Course whats hard about that is when you look at all their pictures in their Flickr account you tend to want to complement all of them. One of the ways you can show appreciation I suggest is by Favoriting or staring them if you also have a Yahoo Flickr account. They get notification of your admiration and you can find your favorites easier when you want to look at them.