MINDSPEAK.COM provides a number of opportunities for readers who wish to discuss the content we publish and the issues we raise. Our aim is to ensure this platform is inclusive and safe. This document covers all aspects of community interaction and moderation on MINDSPEAK.COM, including comments on blogs or articles.
All comments posted to MINDSPEAK.COM are moderated. Moderation decisions are based on the following guidelines* and the context in which the comment is made.
1. Personal Attacks: Personal attacks, “trolling” or mindless abuse (on authors, other users or any individual) will not be tolerated. MINDSPEAK.COM is intended for intelligent discussion via resourceful and constructive ideas.
2. Hate Speech: We will not tolerate racism, sexism, homophobia or other forms of hate-speech, or contributions that could be interpreted as such. We recognize the difference between criticizing a particular government, organization, community or belief and attacking people on the basis of their race, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, disability or age. This is of particular importance because many of the cultural and religious topics brought up here have a history of intolerance. This includes flame-wars based on ingrained partisanship or generalizations. We don’t want to stop people discussing topics they are enthusiastic about, but we do ask users to find ways of sharing their views that do not feel divisive, threatening or toxic to others.
3. Language and Threats: Please watch your language and respect other people’s views, beliefs and emotions. We reserve the right to remove any content that might be found extremely offensive or threatening.
4. No Spam: Spam and advertising content will be removed. We actively discourage commercial entities passing themselves off as individuals, in order to post advertising material or links. This may also apply to people or organizations who frequently post propaganda or external links without adding substantively to the quality of the discussion on MINDSPEAK.COM.
5. Smear Tactics: Although we acknowledge criticism of our articles and our writers, we will not allow misrepresentation of MINDSPEAK.COM or its writers. We will distinguish between constructive arguments and smear tactics.
6. Relevancy: Please keep conversations relevant. Off-topic comments are subject to removal in order to keep the thread on track.
7. Quality: We encourage you to take responsibility for the quality of the conversations in which you’re participating. Maintain intelligent discussions on MINDSPEAK.COM by being respectful and considerate.
8. Be aware that you may be misunderstood, so try to be clear about what you are saying, and expect that people may understand your contribution differently than you intended. Remember that text isn’t always a great medium for conversation: tone of voice (sarcasm, humor and so on) doesn’t always come across when using words on a screen.
9. Legal – We will remove any content that may put us in legal jeopardy, such as potentially libelous or defamatory postings, or material posted in potential breach of copyright.
10. In general, act with maturity and consideration for other users, don’t be unpleasant. Demonstrate and share your intelligence, wit and wisdom. Exercise cultural competence.
Moderation approach
Participants who seriously, persistently or willfully ignore the guidelines above will have their posting privileges for MINDSPEAK.COM withdrawn. This is not an action that we take lightly or arbitrarily. However, we are aiming to create and maintain an online experience consistent with MINDSPEAK.COM values, and we reserve the right to make decisions which we feel support that. You may be contacted by email in relation to your participation, especially where an issue comes up in relation to these community standards. Any advice given or request made about your post should be adhered to. We only wish to enforce these community standards and create a constructive environment for everyone who contributes to our site.
If a comment should get passed the moderation process that later becomes problematic, we will, when necessary, remove the posting or comment. We will not edit user posts to change the meaning, spelling, or anything else intended by the user. Even if only part of a comment or posting is perceived as breaching the community guidelines, the whole thing may be removed.
We reserve the right to take steps or implement measures which we hope will benefit the whole community of MINDSPEAK.COM participants. Because we are ultimately responsible for everything which appears on this site, all actions and decisions taken by our moderators are final. Unfortunately, the potentially huge (and growing) quantity of user content means that we can’t enter into correspondence regarding specific moderation activity, although all correspondence will be read.
If you have suggestions or questions about any aspect of these guidelines, please use the contact form.
*Thanks to Mashable and The Guardian, who inspired these guidelines.
