Eagles Nest Terms of Participation (Please Read)

Harry · April 10, 2017

The Eagles Nest is a public forum, open to all individuals of all political persuasions, dedicated to the discussion of all non-sports related topics including politics in general. People from all walks of life are welcome to join the discussions in the tradition of vigorous yet respectful debate. The purpose of this forum is to help create an environment that is inviting to as wide a spectrum of people as possible, however that does not restrict the ability of users to express their political views, even if those views are considered by some to be controversial or unorthodox. GoMeanGreen.com is primarily a sports site but we believe it is important to provide a place for our members to discuss subjects beyond sports and bring opposite views together to relate their perspective and hopefully learn from one another.

The Eagles Nest was unfortunately recently closed to political conversations during the latter part of the 2016 US Presidential election. This was a difficult decision, as we had some great discussions and very informative posters and topics over the years. However, as a very devisive election unfolded, we saw good North Texas fans who peacefully coexisted on the Sports forums become bitter and sometimes bloody enemies due to political differences. This bled over to the sport forums and was taking its toll on the site. After careful consideration, we have taken some time to rethink how to re-introduce politics to The Eagles Nest with clearly defined expectations and will outline them in detail here.

We have officially reopened The Eagle’s Nest to include politics. However, if you cross the line in terms of the site rules, you will immediately lose privileges to The Eagles Nest and will only have access to the sports sections of the board. It has become very clear that there a few posters who seem to cause the vast majority of issues in The Eagles Nest. Some view this as a badge of courage and consistently push the limits of what is considered reasonable interaction. The vast majority of our members are respectful of one another and play by the rules. They deserve a place to talk about non-sports subjects. Starting today, we will be taking swift action to address these issues and remove them from the forum. There will be no warning, appeal or mediation… if you choose to push the envelope you will immediately lose access and will no longer have the privilege of posting or reading the topics discussed therein. The Eagles Nest will no longer be visible to you and you will no longer have access to it. There will be no appeal or reapplication for access.

In terms of what is acceptable behavior in The Eagles Nest, we would first ask you to review and comply with the following rules:

PERSONAL ATTACKS AND INSULTS

Personal attacks and insults are not tolerated here. When replying to a post, your own post must be about the post to which you are replying, not the poster themselves. Any personal remark about another poster that - in the judgment of a moderator or administrator - could reasonably be regarded as an intentional insult in the context of that discussion will be subject to infraction. Please also keep in mind that simply saying something that's not very nice is not necessarily an insult, nor does the fact that you are offended necessarily mean that you have been insulted.

The rules regarding personal attacks extend not only to individual posters, but to groups as well. For example, calling all Republicans idiots is the same as calling every Republican on the board an idiot, and will not be tolerated. A certain amount of latitude may be granted in discussing the policies and the practices of a political party or other political organization, but posters should be advised that this is thin ice, and be cautious about making remarks that personally insult the members of such parties or organizations. And again, simply saying, "I hate Republicans" does not constitute an attack or an insult against Republicans. "I hate Republicans because they are corrupt" is an attack, because it is attacking the character of all Republicans.

Attacks against public officials, political figures, celebrities, etc, are allowed, as long as they do not violate the guidelines concerning threats or incitement to violence (see below.)

FLAMEBAITING

Posts or images that, in the judgment of a moderator or administrator, are specifically intended to provoke emotional responses or personal attacks from other posters, rather than civil discussion, will be considered flamebaiting.

HARRASSMENT, BAITING, TAUNTING

Stalking or harassing other members is forbidden, whether in the public forums, through PMs, or in social groups or albums. If you don't like someone, leave them alone or put them on ignore. Any attempts to bait or taunt another poster will be considered infractions, including posters who are banned from the forum or banned from a thread, and thus unable to reply. This includes quoting other members in your signature without permission, or mischaracterizing their statements by quoting them and changing the quotes. Disclosing personal or confidential information about other posters or staff - including but not limited to personal identities - or disclosing confidential communications may be considered harassment.

TROLLING OR DERAILING A DISCUSSION

If you don't want to discuss the topic, stay out of the thread. Posts that are, in the judgment of moderators or administrators, intended to disrupt a discussion rather than actually contribute to it will be considered trolling.

THREATS OR INCITEMENT TO VIOLENCE

Any post that expresses a direct, indirect, or veiled threat to anyone - whether it be another member, some other individual, or a group in general - or an incitement to violence will be dealt with severely, may result in an immediate permanent banning, and may be reported to the appropriate law enforcement agency. This includes (but is not limited to) what are known as "indirect threats," such as (for example) wishing that public officials or police officers come to harm, or expressing a desire for armed insurrection against the government.

RACIAL, ETHNIC, HOMOPHOBIC, GENDER, OR RELIGIOUS SLURS

Any post or image that is - in the judgment of a moderator or administrator - a slur against any such group will be subject to infraction.

ATTACKING OR CALLING OUT STAFF OR ADMINISTRATION

Moderators are volunteers who work very hard and make a number of personal sacrifices to make the community as welcoming as possible. They may not always be right, because they're human - but they will always act in good faith and with the best of intentions, and this forum would not be possible without their efforts. When they're posting on the forums, feel free to debate and argue with them just as you would any other poster, but attacking or calling out a staff member who is acting in their official capacity is against the rules.

We welcome constructive criticism or complaints, but the public forums are not an appropriate venue for criticizing the staff, administration, or ownership of the site. If you have questions about a specific moderator decision, feel free to send a PM to that moderator, an administrator, or the site owner. Or, alternatively, members can always start threads in the Feedback forum to ask the entire staff questions about specific moderator actions or general questions about forum rules. Please be aware that the rules prohibiting personal attacks against staff also apply in all GoMeanGreen.com forums.

PROFANITY, ADULT CONTENT, AND GRAPHIC IMAGES

Any posts, signatures, or images that are considered obscene or profane are forbidden, as well as any links to any such material. This includes (but is not limited to) profane language, nudity, and pornographic or excessively graphic images. We'll allow as much latitude as we reasonably can for images or quotes that are directly related to a legitimate event, but if in doubt, you might want to check with a moderator before posting.

THREAD CREATION

The opening post of a thread sets the topic and the tone of the discussion. It should contain a member's opinions or questions with sufficient elaboration to establish a foundation for respectful discussion and debate. Threads should not be posted in the wrong forum, or be duplicates of other threads and/or topics (creating multiple threads with fundamentally the same topic is not allowed). Images, links, quotations, etc., should be used to support a member's opinion, not to replace it. Quoting from an article is optional. If a quote is added, it must be clearly distinguishable from the personal commentary. Quotes may only contain a small portion of the article. We do not allow the entire article to be posted. Personal commentary must be a paragraph with at least 3 sentences of respectful elaboration. Thread titles should be a description of the thread topic (and if not they may be altered by the moderators). Whether a thread has sufficiently set a basis for respectful debate on the thread topic will be at the discretion of the moderators. All other board rules apply to thread titles and creation. Threads may be deleted, merged or closed for not meeting any of the requirements listed.

All thread titles must be copy/pasted from source article titles. Article titles that are too long to fit, should be abbreviated, keeping as close to the original title as possible. No personal opinions are allowed within thread titles. Threads must have a sourced article or news video, and the full article/video must be accessible upon clicking. (Content behind a paywall does not qualify as a source.)

AVATARS

Avatars and profile pictures are governed by the same rules regarding other content - images that are obscene, insulting to any individual or group as defined in Rules # 7 or 9, or violate Rules # 3, 4, 6, or 9, are not allowed and are subject to infraction.

SIGNATURES

Signatures must comply with all applicable forum rules, especially those on 'Flamebaiting' and 'Personal Attacks'. The use of quotations from other members in a signature is subject to the express consent of the member being quoted. Member signatures should not contain links. Staff signatures should contain internal (PoliticalForum) links only. In order to keep signatures reasonable in size (to prevent them from overpowering the posts in a thread) the normally accepted criteria is that they should not be larger in total than 4 lines at normal (size 2) text size.

MULTIPLE USER ACCOUNTS

Multiple user accounts are not allowed. The use of anonymous proxy IP addresses and systems, which are often used to hide identities for the purposes of creating multiple accounts, is also prohibited. Usage of these tools can lead to immediate and permanent banning.

LINKS, ADVERTISING, IMPROPER QUOTING, AND COPYRIGHT VIOLATIONS

No commercial advertising is permitted anywhere on the forum - links in posts must be relevant to the discussion, and must not be intended simply to direct members to another website. Quotes, links, and images should be used to support a member's opinion, not to replace it - all posts containing them should also contain the poster's own comments as to their relevance. All quotes from other sources must be given appropriate credit, preferably with a link to the original article - long articles should be quoted from and/or summarized, not quoted in their entirety. Content copied from other sources must meet "fair use" guidelines, and violations of copyright will be deleted and subject to infraction. When quoting other posters, we ask that you use the site's "quote" function, so that other members can backtrack the conversation if they wish.

Linking to websites that require user registration is discouraged, but where it cannot be avoided notice should be given that that is the case. No links should involve any sites or material that are illegal or pornographic, and warnings should be posted with any links to material that might be considered 'graphic' or 'offensive' (and such links should only be posted when strictly relevant to the discussion).

LongJim · April 10, 2017

TL;DR most of it. The applicable parts are--in my opinion--the phrases "in the judgement of a moderator or administrator", and "there will be no warning...", etc.

I've had a couple of threads shut down that I felt were worthy of debate, and was interested in the opinions of others regarding them, but alas...and you know what? Harry's board, Harry's rules, and I have absolutely no issues with that.

So, better to keep politics or opinion out of here, in my case.

UNTFan23 · April 10, 2017

Personally, given the political climate, it be better to keep politics off the site as I don't see any end to the discourse any time soon.

Army of Dad · April 12, 2017

I take a few weeks off from GMG and come back to find politics is allowed again and mods are apparently willing to use a ban hammer more frequently.

Interesting.

Quoner · April 12, 2017

10 minutes ago, Army of Dad said:

I take a few weeks off from GMG and come back to find politics is allowed again and mods are apparently willing to use a ban hammer more frequently.

Interesting.

Feels like a well set trap to trim some people for good, right?