HillBuzz Commenting Rules
HillBuzz.org is a free, volunteer-driven online political magazine. Commenting on the site is open to anyone who respects the following commenting rules. By participating you agree to our Terms of Service and these Commenting Rules. There is a zero tolerance policy for violators: first offense puts you on the Moderation List (where someone will need to physically approve your comment to ensure you aren’t violating the rules); second offense put you on the Banned List. To date, the only people who’ve ever been removed from either list are those who’ve taken the time to write us and explain why they did what they did and promise to respect the rules going forward. If you feel you’ve been placed on the Moderation or Banned Lists without cause, please shoot us an email and let us know.
Commenting Rules
(1) DO NOT COMPLAIN ABOUT COMMENTS NOT POSTING. If your comment did not post, or was “deleted by the Administrator,” then something about it triggered the automated spam filter. We have no control over this. The “Administrator” is a computer; there is no one sitting at a terminal instantly reading what you posted and deleting it. Try rephrasing what you were saying without foul language, the overuse of CAPS, or other things the Administrator might see as spam or troll activity. If you ever wonder why the spam and troll wards are so strong here at HB just spend some time on sites with no moderation and see how nasty comment threads can get.
(2) IF YOU COMPLAIN IN COMMENTS, YOU WILL GO ON THE MODERATION LIST. Seriously. We really mean this. If you complain about your comments not showing up, you’re going onto the Moderation List — and if you keep doing it, you will be put on the Banned List. Complaining in threads is like how abandoned cars turn neighborhoods bad — because people see the abandoned car with the broken windows and burnt-out shell and think they can get away with spraying graffiti and breaking into houses. It’s an invitation to troublemakers who see that since complaining is allowed that trolling and spamming and other things of that nature can be allowed too. The site costs a lot of money and requires an enormous amount of time to keep running — and we’re sorry if you don’t like this, but we’re not going to allow you to spoil our hard work by peeing all over threads with your endless complaints. Got to Daily Kos or HuffPo and do that, where you will feel right at home no doubt.
(3) STAY ON TOPIC of the article you are posting on. If you have the urge to say, “This is off topic but…” then no doubt whatever you want to say belongs in the daily Open Thread instead. If it’s off topic, it will be deleted.
(4) NO EEYORISM: Eeyores demoralize others by being pessimistic and negative. Some people call this “venting” when they are upset about something. Why bring others down because you are in a negative place today? No good ever came from tying to export your soggy little rain clouds to someone else’s head.
(5) NO TROLLING or personal attacks against contributors or other readers. If you write like a troll and try to hijack a thread with troll tactics, then you will be called out for it. Public figures can be ridiculed for things they say, do, write, or wear — but should never be attacked for their race, sex, age, physical appearance, disability status, or other areas the Tolerant Left treats as fair game. Be aggressive in speaking truth to and about power, but be original and defensible while doing it.
(6) BE ORIGINAL with what you post. Try and think of a new angle to what’s being covered. Look for new ways for people to get involved and help the Resistance. Don’t fall into the habit of repeating stale, old memes the agenda-driven media seeks to regurgitate.
(7) NO PLAGIARISM. If you’ve read something on this site that you enjoy or found interesting, by all means share it with the Facebook or Twitter buttons. If you copy and paste, please credit the site and recognize the author with a “hat tip” (h/t). And try to spell the author’s name correctly: it appears under every article title and at the bottom of each post by the copyright notice.
(8) EMAIL US WITH ANY ISSUES. if you have something private to say or need us to know, use the CONTACT US tab under the site’s banner to send us an email. If that doesn’t work for you for technical reasons with your email, you can use the address HillBuzz @ gmail.com — just close the spaces so it’s an uninterrupted string of characters.
