Posted by Brendon Baillod on November 09, 19103 at 22:13:04:
In Reply to: Posting Guidelines posted by Brendon Baillod on November 09, 19103 at 20:46:24:
Great Lakes Shipwreck Research Group Posting and Decorum Guidelines
Please exercise common courtesy and maturity in your posts on this forum. The forum is for the discussion of a broad range of ideas and issues concerning Great Lakes maritime history and Great Lakes shipwrecks. However, it is not a forum for complaints or derisive commentary about specific individuals or institutions. Neither is it a platform for the resolution of personality conflicts or back and forth argument of an interpersonal nature. The following guidelines are general policies that I have established respecting posts that are made.
1. Posts with defamatory or inflammatory content directed at individuals are prohibited.
2. Posts that are entirely unrelated to Great Lakes shipwrecks or maritime history in general are discouraged.
3. Announcements and advertisements should be directly related to Great Lakes maritime history or shipwrecks.
4. The use of foul language in posts is prohibited.
5. Please do not respond to posts with defamatory or inflammatory content. If you believe a post is inflammatory or defamatory, please email me personally and I will evaluate it.
6. I reserve the right to remove any posts from this newsgroup. However, I will delete only those that violate the above guidelines.
If you have questions or comments about the guidelines, please email me at brendon@baillod.com.
: All,
: Well, it has finally happened. I have been forced to enact posting guidelines. Here's why.
: I am a private individual and I run this group out of my own pocket. In addition to the fact that flame wars and personal attacks waste disk space, annoy other readers, and hurt the newsgroup's credibility, I have been informed that I can be held personally liable for the content of defamatory posts directed at specific individuals, whether true or not. If I leave such statements in public view, legal action can be taken against me for leaving them up. As such, I will continue to remove any posts that contain defamatory statements about specific persons.
: I will now create some general posting guidelines, which will define the boundaries for discussion on this forum and I will moderate it more closely.
: I believe this will improve the overall quality and credibility of the newsgroup and will keep it focused on appropriate topics. I have always been very liberal about the types of posts I allow, and I will continue to remove posts only as a last resort.
: Please email me personally if you have any thoughts or comments about the policy or the guidelines, which will be posted soon.
: Thanks for your understanding in this matter.
: Brendon