Ellington

If you are reading this, you were probably directed here because you are in violation of the JFP user agreement. It is important to remember that this is a privately owned forum that is offered for your use and pleasure, and in order to encourage respectful discussion of a variety of ideas. There are several important points to remember about your agreement to abide by the rules of civil discussion:

1. Ad hominem attacks will not be allowed. An ad hominem attack is of the person, rather than of their ideas. ("You are a racist," rather than "I believe your comment sounds racist, and here's why."). Therefore, making blanket statements or stereotypes about a person, calling them names, etc., is not allowed on the site. We will delete such attacks, often without notice, and will usually give you a warning. However, no more than three "troll" attacks will be allowed before your account is suspended without further discussion—perhaps fewer if your comment is deemed particularly incendiary. The definition of a troll attack is entirely up to the discretion of JFP management.

2. We do not expect everyone to be experts at debate. However, we encourage you to study up on logical fallacies. More fallacy info here. If you continue to commit the same fallacies repeatedly and purposefully, especially in a way that is clearly intended to simply discredit someone who disagrees with you such as by putting words in their mouth, then your account will be suspended.

Also, remember to always include a link to a source when you have one in order to corroborate your statements. And never post a full article on the JFP site—just post a few "money quotes" and a link to the original source. And do not post any images here without permission of the copyright owner.

3. Suspending someone who is on the site to "troll" (pick a fight) is not "censorship." (Not that a private business can "censor" you anyway, but we quibble.) It is up to all users to take personal responsibility for your comments here and to self-regulate your comments. Please understand that such a User Agreement is the only thing that stands between a smart forum where all ideas from many people are welcome, and one where a handful of people call you names if you dare to disagree with them. The JFP is not that kind of forum, and we urge anyone looking for that to look elsewhere. Threads that take on a personal tone overall will be deleted or closed to further comment. The JFP site is not a place for filling anyone's need for personal drama.

4. Everyone slips up now and then in the heart of passionate discussion and insults someone else. We ask that you be big enough to apologize if you do that. It is usually very clear who is on the site only to cause rancor, and those who slip up on occasion. It is the user's responsibility to discuss civilly and to disagree without being disagreeable.

5. We allow a variety of opinions about issues on the JFP. However, note that does not include personal insults, bigotry and belittling of other posters. Period. No one has ever been suspended from the JFP site for having a certain opinion about an idea or issue. However, you will be suspended for violating the rules of civil discussion and respect—or for posting nasty "opinions" about other people.

6. We will make efforts to keep topics "on thread." Thus, your comments may be deleted or move if they go too far afield from the subject at hand. Also, if a thread goes too far afield and devolves into personal discussion, it may be closed without further notice to discourage further rancor.

7. It is important to understand that no poster has to "answer" your comments. People blog on the JFP of their own free will, and just because people do not respond to you does not mean they agree, disagree or have no further opinion on the topic. It does not mean you have "won" an argument; often people stop posting on a thread because the logic has become circular and nothing new is being discussed. DO NOT harangue someone for not continuing to argue with you about something. It is not up to you.

8. Please do not keep repeating the same thing over and over again in a way clearly designed to agitate readers and the site's owners. That is also trolling and will be deleted.

9. Any potentially libelous statement will be deleted immediately. It is important for you to understand that just because you believe you "know" something to be true does not mean it has met the criteria for publication on this Web site. If we deem the post relevant to the discussion, we will ask you for the source and potentially re-post when it has been checked out. However, unsubstantiated statements about other people or businesses will be deleted without notice. Related comments that follow the deleted posts may also be deleted without notice.

10. Ascribing motives to other users, including moderators and the JFP, will not be tolerated, and is grounds for suspension.

11. Badgering the moderator(s) is also not allowed and will lead to suspension. Complaints about the way the site is run will be deleted; all such comments must go to [e-mail missing] Rants about the management of this site or newspaper, its owners, management, participants or other users will not be allowed. We make our decisions carefully and do so in the interest of fostering the widest possible discussion and participation. If you disagree with any policy or individual action of the part of the management of this blog, we apologize. You are always free to start your own blog.

12. All user agreement decisions are up to the owners and managers of the Jackson Free Press. If you disagree with a decision, or would like to ask us to reinstate you after you are are suspended, please e-mail us directly; do not post it on the Web site to further disrupt other discussion. Those comments will be deleted without notice.

Please e-mail [e-mail missing] if you believe we have missed a violation of the User Agreement, providing the link to the page the statement appears on, and we will decide whether it is in violation of our User Agreement and act accordingly.

Otherwise, thanks for great discussion. As you all know, a very small percentage of users violate this agreement, and we appreciate you all for abiding by the rules of civil discussion. Cheers to you. And to everyone: We welcome debate and discussion; just remember to disagree without being disagreeable!

Previous Comments

ID

171149

Comment

WHAT DID I DO?

Author

rone01

Date

2005-12-20T13:57:12-06:00

ID

171150

Comment

Huh? Rone, did someone say you did something? I'm not even sure who you are. You might be a bit less cryptic. ;-)

Author

ladd

Date

2005-12-20T14:27:26-06:00

ID

171151

Comment

Sorry, the 1st paragraph said that if i was directed here, I may have been in violation of the user agreement. Just tryin' to figure things out. Thanks, ladd!

Author

rone01

Date

2005-12-20T15:48:19-06:00

ID

171152

Comment

Hi, I'm relatively new to this particular paper and blog, etc. I've been perusing several of the conversations and my curiosity is piqued. Specifically I wanted to get your insights (and anyone else on staff with the JFP), about this question: What is (in your opinion) the most important freedom Americans have? Interested in hearing your comments!

Author

twixter

Date

2006-08-01T12:40:56-06:00

ID

171153

Comment

Twixter, this thread isn't the place to start a thread; it's a posting about the user agreement. Please go to the forums and start a thread on whatever issue interest you, and folks will engage as their interest if roused. Can't promise any staff; they're a busy lot, but you might get lucky. ;-)

Author

ladd

Date

2006-08-01T13:03:34-06:00