If you choose to participate in the discussion here at Outsider Outbox, you’re agreeing to treat everyone with respect. We welcome any and all people from all walks of life. Any personal attacks will not be tolerated, and neither will anything even remotely racist, sexist, homophobic, etc.
Use of any of the curse words and/or slurs we have on our blacklist will automatically flag a comment, so it won’t appear on our site. Sometimes these words are used as part of a good discussion. These comments will be approved by a moderator when appropriate.
Comments can also be flagged for review by our readership. Please do not abuse this option for other users you simply disagree with; it makes our moderation jobs a lot harder.
You don’t have to agree with anything anyone else posts ever, but you’re going to have to disagree in a respectful way. That means attacking the OPINION, not the person giving the opinion. I’m pretty serious about this. I’ll accept some comments on the edge about me, but if you attack the personal qualities of the other commenters, you’re going to face consequences up to and including permanent expulsion.
I understand that we spend a lot of time on here insulting people we’ve known for years and it is normally pretty hilarious. I would advise against doing that with new users or people you don’t know well because things can escalate pretty quickly.
I also understand some people just generally don’t get along. Familiarity breeds contempt and all that. I encourage you to just ignore whoever it is or use the block feature. Why give yourself unnecessary offense? Speaking of offense, the moderators are not the emotional support animal of the website. Football can be a chippy game, likewise with fans. If you are easily offended, you may find this is not the place for you, and that’s okay. Things can get pretty heated sometimes and you may find you just need a timeout.
I don’t want to make this bigger than the NFL rule book, so let’s simplify:
*Think before you post. If you type something, read it over and think for a second. Does it directly target another commenter (with whom I don’t have a buddy rapport)? If the answer is yes to these, you should reconsider hitting the post button.
Consequences:
I’m actually pretty hard to offend, but if I see behavior targeting users, it won’t be tolerated.
– At first, I’ll delete your comment(s) and maybe tell you to knock it off.
– If you ignore warnings your activity with be suspended and you’ll be banned for a day. Reinstatement will occur after 24 hours.
– If you continue to act up and are a repeat offender, you’ll be booted for a week. You’ll need to send an e-mail with an apology (possibly to another user) to be reinstated. Your apology will be the featured comment. Hey, if you’re going to be a jerk and take shots at someone’s dignity, I’m going to make an example of you and embarrass you.
– If you go any further than this, expect to kiss this place goodbye. Maybe not forever, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. The best you can hope for it to face a panel of your enemies and they’ll take mercy on you.
– Immediate bans: This will happen to sexbot 2000, trolls, and obvious riff-raff. You will go to jail, directly to jail. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.
Please do not send e-mails complaining about other users. If you are really offended, flag the comment, block the user, and go find something else to do for a little while. While you may be justified, you may just prove yourself unable to get along with others and could become a problem yourself.
Remember the words of Justice Potter Stewart: “I shall not today attempt to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced… [b]ut I know it when I see it…”
Also, Bill S. Preston, Esquire and Ted Theodore Logan: “Be excellent to each other.”
These guidelines are but a framework and subject to change at any time without warning.