Shoutbox Rules.

[Cherri Tart]

how about if we police ourselves? and yes, this is coming from a former SB abuser *blushes* still, i am reformed and if everyone just sets a good example and 'ahems' at bad behavior, shouldn't that be enough?

[Karma]

If I had felt self-policing was being effective I wouldn't have made the thread, Cherri dear...

[Will]

how about if we police ourselves? and yes, this is coming from a former SB abuser *blushes* still, i am reformed and if everyone just sets a good example and 'ahems' at bad behavior, shouldn't that be enough?

You'd think.  But we've all been reminded multiple times, in threads and in the SB itself, to try and reign it in.  Somehow I doubt that just saying "Whoa-oa!  Keep it on the cool side, folks!" is going to solve the problem.  It hasn't yet.

I'm not saying I want more rules though, nor do I feel like having a staff-selected babysitter watching and waiting on me to screw up.  I'm grown.  We all are.  Or are supposed to be, at least.  But grown-ups shouldn't be having this problem.  Unfortunately, in my experience, the only way to handle immature behavior is constant supervision and correction. 

[The Golden Touch]

I agree with Trieste that adding staffers just to watch over the SB is iffy.  I do disagree that self-policing will work.  An event last night showed me that, since I am sarcastically witty at 2 am and have trouble going "Wheeee! CALM DOWN!"  People don't think they're doing anything wrong by joking and taunting their best friends, but as a public side, it may be a little off.

Because the SB is at the top of the window, its very noticeable when someone says something out of place.  I believe that maybe the SB should be limited to members sight only... If that is even possible.  It would prevent public notice, and only members would see anything.  That does mean things would probably go back up into the racy scale though.

This hardly makes sense I'm sure, but I tried.

[Greenthorn]

Ehhh making the SB non-public = the HB

Well..the HB was created for non-pg-13 SB antics.

[Karma]

Heh, I've mentioned making the SB a membership benefit in the past. Vekseid has mentioned multiple Shoutboxes, so it's something that may well yet happen, but I assume it's not high up on the list. Unfortunately, doing that probably wouldn't have as much effect as any of us would like.
As for the Hotbox, I've made it clear that I don't like the plodding, hard-to-track pace of active forum-based socializing, and I know I'm not alone in this.

[The Golden Touch]

I am in agreement with Karma on this one... Socializing via a forum base is difficult.  I always found that having twelve posts appear every time I wanted to try and post was the most difficult aspect of the HB itself.  At least in the SB I can read everything as it appears and its an insta-post and I rarely miss anything.

[Will]

Ehhh making the SB non-public = the HB

Well..the HB was created for non-pg-13 SB antics.

Does that necessarily mean we're obligated to keep the HB from becoming obsolete?  As has been said, I think a lot of people would prefer an auto-updating chat format to a post-by-post one anyway.  I mean, making the SB non-public seems like a decent solution to me.  It does feel a little like accomodating for immaturity, but... still. 

[Desan]

Heh, I've mentioned making the SB a membership benefit in the past. Vekseid has mentioned multiple Shoutboxes, so it's something that may well yet happen, but I assume it's not high up on the list. Unfortunately, doing that probably wouldn't have as much effect as any of us would like.
As for the Hotbox, I've made it clear that I don't like the plodding, hard-to-track pace of active forum-based socializing, and I know I'm not alone in this.

If we're going to have multiple SB's (or channels more like it?) Then why not just integrate IRC with the SB in some way if possible?

[Karma]

I wonder if that's possible... heh, are there IRC clients that can be integrated in such a way without being Java based and thus total system hogs? I sure don't know.

[Desan]

In fact, why not just make IRC the new SB since there's OP's there already, channels (even games like Charm) and you have the ability to PM someone directly to get their attention.

Though I could see some abuses with IRC if there were so many people on it. as well as the constant highlighting, PM abuse...spam etc

[Greenthorn]

Sorry everyone...I did not mean that the HB should replace the SB.

I tried to say that the SB issue is not a new one.

Errr....

Yeah...sorry.

(I have successfully confused myself)

[The Golden Touch]

The only problem is that my computer has problems with the IRC.  I'm sure others do as well, and that would cut out a few people that actually wanted to be in it.  >>

[Caeli]

Why would self-policing not be effective? Everyone who is a member here is an adult - or supposed to be one. The staff should not have to spell out every single rule for our members to know what is not okay, when it's not okay.

"Be civil, be polite, be respectful."

This is all we really should need to police the shoutbox. Members shouldn't be afraid to step up and say "Hey, can you guys get a room?" or "Chill out - you shouldn't be calling people names" or even "You know, I think that might be more suitable for a rant than for a 100-line monologue in the shoutbox". That is mature, responsible behavior. Every member on E is capable of that.

We don't need more rules to 'police' the shoutbox. We don't need a staff member just to sit on the shoutbox to wait for a mistake to happen.

In light of new posts: Making the shoutbox "private" (members-only) isn't much of a solution, considering that the problem right now is our member base.

We expect you guys to be responsible when there isn't a staff member around. We trust that if you see something going on that shouldn't be, then you will take the initiative and give a gentle nudge so that things remain as they should be.

And hey, you know what? If you guys can't play with your toy responsibly, it's not that difficult for us to get rid of it.

[The Golden Touch]

Even when I politely remind someone that vulgarity, or rudeness is not kosher, I get the short end of the stick.  I believe I can count the number of people that actually listen on one hand, and I do not even need all my fingers. 

[Karma]

"Be civil, be polite, be respectful."

This is all we really should need to police the shoutbox.

I absolutely agree with this. Unfortunately, it makes an assumption about the maturity level that is, of late, too optimistic.
TGT has a major point as well - if your name isn't green, there is a significant portion of users that won't even take a second look.

[Bliss]

I absolutely agree with this. Unfortunately, it makes an assumption about the maturity level that is, of late, too optimistic.
TGT has a major point as well - if your name isn't green, there is a significant portion of users that won't even take a second look.

We assume and EXPECT all our members to be and act like adults; maturity is one of our main criteria for membership.

If you guys are trying to ask other members to behave in the SB, and they aren't listening, the next step is to contact a staff member. If none of us are on? Send a blanket PM to ALL of us, with a brief rundown of the SB issue and when it occurred. We have log access. We can pull out the evidence of the issue and deal with it.

[Bliss]

This thread has reached the point of becoming a circular discussion, and as such this thread is now locked.

Issues have been completely noted and are under active discussion by the staff.