Admin Note on Rule Breaking Posts

Hey: So we know that posts are made in Controversy Corner that are either in the wrong group (not controversial, etc) or are anonymous, or any number of other things.

Yes, these things are against the rules. If you see a post breaking the rules, report it! But here's what we don't want to see: pile-ons on the people posting them, or nasty comments about "can't you read" or anything of that nature. 

A lot of the people breaking the rules genuinely are unaware. Many of them are new users who don't know any better, and the next thing they know, they've got five people jumping down their throats and being rude to them. They get defensive; they lash out; we the admins end up handing out a lot of bans that could have been avoided with just a modicum of politeness and civility. 

No one enjoys that. There's a rule on Wikipedia about assuming good intentions, especially when people are in error. This principle should be applied here as well. 

We're still kind of horrified that a new Community user accidentally posted in this group about a relationship TTC issue that had her so upset she titled the post something like "hysterically crying" and the responses to her were completely viscious, and the responses to the one person who sympathized with her were equally horrible, and started from taking the worst possible interpretation of the woman's comment. In any of the TTC forums, those responses would have triggered instant permanent bans, and that's made us question whether we've been too lax with CC, because this has become the culture here. We'e watched as thoughtful, kind, and supportive users have fallen into these same habits (easy to do when everyone's doing it.) Let's change that. It's easy if we all do it together. 

At the end of the day it comes down to this: Newbies do not know the rules. Long time users should not use that as an excuse to beat up on them. It's not what this Community is about. 

So: when you see a post you think shouldn't be here- regardless if it's from a new user or a long-time user- Report it. One of the admins will remove it, move it, and/or email the person who posted it to remind them of the rules. Hide the post if it really, really annoys you. 

Let's make this a more pleasant place for everyone.