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As a relatively long-time rantraver (Member Since December 17, 2008), I have been thinking over the course of the past two weeks about the site and our community. That thinking led me to sitting down and writing the following proposal to our RantRave community. I would like to propose that we all work together to form a code of conduct and then a pledge to follow it.
I don't know what everyone is thinking about lately, but I know that a lot of my fellow members of Amishking Land are probably starting to notice the numbers of members is growing to over 500, and there have been some dicey comment battles (most seem to have occurred when I was going against the president's instructions and vacationing in Vegas). While we have a legal "Terms of Use" to which we must legally adhere, we don't have a code of conduct developed out of the organic nature of the core rant-ravers and you know who you are. Without meaning to step on the toes of our excellent founders and creators of the site, I would like to propose that submissions be made as comments to this post, and that we ask then for our representative Alex Layton to serve as liaison in helping shape this code – maybe "code of conduct" isn't the right term?
So, here are some elements that I've been considering that could be part of the code.
(a) I will spend one day a week reading and commenting rather than posting. Comments are the key to a thriving community of commentary.
(b) When I comment, I will comment on the content and not the writer. I will challenge process and principle not person. I will ask for clarification rather than use intimidation.
(c) I will spend one day a week raving. There is already enough bad news out there. Let's spend more time finding some of the good, funny, and Hallmark-moment stories.
(d) I will focus my headlines so they include the topic rather than a vague category such as "My Pet Peeve".
(e) I will be welcoming of new Ranters and Ravers trying to hold off on my criticisms until they get their feet wet.
(f) I will try to post a comment as opposed to writing my own rant-rave-take on the topic unless my ideas cannot fit in the comment space or offer an entirely different, interesting, and unusual take on the issue.
(g) If I haven't been on RantRave for a while, I will read through the archives to ensure I am mindful and aware of what's been going on.
(h) I think of RantRave as a community and extended family of people working to enlighten, discuss, and engage each other in lively debate and discourse. I can agree to disagree. I will respect my brothers and sisters even if I don't agree with them.
Well, I look forward to hearing the opinions of everyone involved in this awesome endeavor. It's been a lot of fun, very insightful, and engaging. I know you'll have even better ideas than I do. If our RantRave.com leadership agrees with this concept, maybe they would be willing to listen to feedback on this and help install whatever this might come to be called. The legal terms of use are one thing, whereas this code of conduct could serve as sort of a set of community standards (self-enforced of course, kind of like an oath, but without penalties for violations or anything like that), that people could pledge to utilize or abide by.
Such a statement also would prove invaluable to those who join the community.