Commenting Rules and Guidelines. Yes, really.
LolSnaps currently uses the Facebook and Disqus commenting systems so you can express yourself and share information with other users. For the most part, you're free to speak your mind… but during the past several months, it has become clear that we need to put in place ‘commenting rules and guidelines’ so everyone is clear about the comments that are welcome and those that are not. We want the LolSnaps community to be a friendly and welcoming place for everyone.
One of the critical features removed from Disqus many months ago was the public downvote system. Sure, you can still downvote someone’s comments, but the original commenter has no way of knowing their comment is being downvoted. This has given some commenters a sense of ‘false positive’ because they only see the upvotes. Additionally, comments are only flagged to a moderator when they receive 5 or more downvotes. This has effectively neutered the community from self-governing the comments section the way it largely does through the picture VOTE system. More and more of the comments showing up on LolSnaps are not appropriate.
Individual users will have their own interpretation of these rules and guidelines. What someone defines at pornography may be interpreted very differently to others. We’ve trusted the community to use common sense in the past and will ask you to use common sense moving forward relative to these rules and guidelines.
First, the rules:
Don't post outright racist, sexist, homophobic, or otherwise bigoted comments.
Don’t post threats or encourage self-harm.
Don't post OR link to anything pornographic or disgusting. As is the case with our picture guidelines, LolSnaps is a place to get some laughs. We are not a porn site, so don’t post comment pictures of nipples, vaginas, or penis parts.
Don’t overdo it with explicit comments by telling us how you’re gonna squirt your love juice all over someone in the snap, another LolSnaps community member, or your ex-girlfriend.
Don't spam: don’t indulge in repeated self-promotion or paid referral links.
Comment frequency: if you feel the need to comment on virtually every single post, this is tantamount to spamming the community. No excessive posting.
People who break these rules will have their comments deleted, be forced to play a fan-made ‘My Little Pony’ video game, and will likely be banned permanently. And, yes… the rules may be difficult to interpret in terms of exactness so refer to the earlier statement about using common sense. The moderators will do the same.
We also have some general guidelines. We will ban people if they break these repeatedly:
Don't be intentionally rude. We think most LolSnaps users are lovely people in real life, but it’s easy to sound like more of a dick than you really are in a comments thread. Take it easy, be nice, and you'll find that everyone's generally pretty cool.
If you disagree with someone, say why. If you agree with someone, say why. If you like or dislike something, say why. And, of course, utilize the upvote/downvote feature in the Disqus comment system. If you can't be bothered to say why or to cast a vote, that's fine, just move on.
"Meh" is not a valid sentiment. If you don't care, don't reply. The same goes for “First", “Meanwhile in Syria", and other non-contributory meme-style statements that will likely be deleted by the moderators without warning.
All of the rules can be neatly encapsulated in our golden rule: don't be a dick.
If these rules and guidelines are unacceptable to you, that's also fine. You are, of course, free to express yourself elsewhere. Publishing comments on the site is an editorial decision and we ultimately have final say over what appears here.
To use a slightly labored analogy: Imagine the comments section as a party. Everyone is invited, and we want you all to have a good time. But if you throw up on the carpet, don't be surprised if you're asked to leave.
If you're interested in volunteering as a community moderator, feel free to shoot an email to [email protected], and include your Disqus username.
If you have comments or questions, click on the little clock in the lower left-hand corner to open the Disqus comments.