Policies for the Odd Couple Message Board

If you have any comments/questions/suggestions about these policies, please send them to the message board owner.

Deleting posts

A post will be deleted if:

• the poster requests that his/her own message be deleted
• it includes excessive profanity that is obviously not part of a joke
• it is spam (unsolicited advertisements that have nothing to do with the Odd Couple)
• it is flamebait (posts meant only to start, or continue, an argument, instead of a discussion)
• it contains pornographic material
• it tries to start a debate about highly sensitive topics having nothing to do with OC, which will only result in arguments. (Such as trying to start a debate about religion, race, politics or abortion. Some discussion is OK, if a sensitive topic comes up as part of an existing thread, AND if it is discussed in a reasonable and mature way. But posts trying to start a debate, or change peoples' minds about these topics, do not belong here. This does not mean I will delete every post that mentions race. For example, the thread about OC quotes dealing with Martin Luther King Jr. is fine.
• it contains derogatory (not joking) comments about gender, sexual orientation, racial, or ethnic groups.
• it contains personal attacks against another poster, that is obviously not a joke

Not all off-topic posting is bad. Posts dealing with sports or entertainment are fine, and they are things that can usually be discussed without degenerating into disagreements or flamewars. (I personally have no interest in sports, but since many other people here enjoy talking about it, and it doesn't seem to cause any problems, it's fine with me.) Personal posts dealing with your life (new job, birthday, advice about a problem) are fine too.

Flamebait, and any posts responding to it will be deleted. I really see no point in keeping them up. This may not please
everyone, since in these situations, everybody wants to get the last word in, and gets disappointed if I delete the thread. Sorry, but I don't like to keep flamewars on the message board, and I'm not going to let the thread continue just so the insulted party can have the last word.

Posts will not be deleted:

• just because you don't like what somebody wrote
• just because somebody wrote something that is less than kind (There is a middle ground between personal attacks - as mentioned above - and friendliness, and I will decide which category a post falls into. If this board was nothing but niceness, peace and love, I'd be surprised. Besides, I don't want to have to be the "thought police." And since text on a screen cannot convey emotional cues like tone of voice or facial expressions, one must be careful to distinguish between jokes or sarcasm, and genuine insults.)

Banning posters

People will be banned if:

• they post spam (once)
• they anonymously post a message violating any of the above criteria for deleting posts (once) (Yes, it is possible to ban anonymous posters.)
• they frequently violate the above criteria for deletion of posts. (I will determine what "frequently" is.)

People will not be banned:

• just because you don't like them
• just because they don't like you
• just because their opinions differ from yours

Disputes between two posters

• Past behavior on the board will be taken into consideration, but will not be the deciding factor. Meaning, my decision will be based on the facts of the situation, and not solely based on the fact that one person has been on the board longer than the other.
• I will not be swayed by threats to leave the board or cause trouble if a situation is not resolved in your favor. If you decide to leave the board, that is your prerogative. However, using this as a threat or ultimatum to get your own way is not going to work, and if anything, it may cause your side to be seen in a less favorable light.
• I have the final decision on whether or not somebody should be banned from the board. If you believe that someone has behaved on the board in such a way that they deserve to be banned, feel free to let me know, but understand that I will make the choice about whether or not to ban them.

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This page was last updated on January 30. 2006.