Life Discussion Rules and Guidelines

[The Admin]

Life Discussion Forum Rules and Guidelines

Welcome to the Life Discussion forum! Life Discussion is intended for discussing different lifestyle aspects with people.

As a member, it is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with the forum's rules before posting. Posting in this forum implies that you read and understand the rules and guidelines and that you accept responsibility for the appropriateness of your thread or post.


Navigation:

1. Introduction
   
2. General Posting Guidelines
   
3. Rules & Guidelines for Posting in Life Discussion
   
4. How to Report

[The Admin]

General Posting Guidelines

Please be sure to follow the Terms of Service and Rules and Guidelines here, as in all forums.

Common violations to avoid:

Flaming & trolling. Posts directed at another member which are hateful, abusive, or intentionally inflammatory are considered flaming. Making intentionally inflammatory or provocative posts to incite responses from other members is considered trolling.

Spam. Posts that are gibberish, off-topic, contain advertisements or begging, or have low or no content are considered spam. Please ensure that your posts are on topic and contain an appropriate amount of discussable content.


Sexually explicit content. Posting, requesting, distributing, or offering sexually explicit material is not permitted anywhere on Gaia. Sexually explicit content includes explicit photographs, text, artwork, video, or cybersex conversations.

Terms of Service violations may result in a warning or a ban on your account.

If you find Terms of Service violations, or threads that may need moved to a different forum, please use an appropriate report. The procedures for doing so can be found here.

You can find online moderators by following the "View Forum Moderators" link at the top of the forum.


Gaia Staff will NEVER ask for your password! If anyone asks you for your password, report it

[The Admin]

Rules & Guidelines for Posting in Life Discussion

Threads that Belong in This Forum

• School Life Discussion
  School has a huge impact on people's lifestyles. In this forum you can discuss anything school related that affects your lifestyle from cliques, school events such as prom, to how your lifestyle choices mesh with what you learn and experience in school.
  
  
• Support Groups
  Note that these are not hangouts but rather threads created for the sole purpose to show support and discuss an issue. For example, a thread that discusses allergies and those with them can be considered a support group. It can serve as a place where people can discuss their struggles and their experiences.
  
  
• Weight loss threads / Tracker Threads
  Any thread discussing weight loss, diets trends, types of exercise, etc. are permitted in this forum. Tracker threads are similar to support groups and are permitted. Keep track of how much weight you've lost, discuss your struggles, and work together helping each other.
  
  
• Religious Life Discussion
  Lifestyle issues like finding certain kinds of clothing, finding/cooking kosher or halal foods, and a lot of things that also cross into ethnic/cultural celebrations such as festivals, dances, holidays, etc. are suitable for discussion in this forum.
  
  
• Architecture & Furnishings discussion
  Be it green or wealthy living, discussion of the home is permitted.
  
  
• Subculture Discussion
  Discussion of the behaviors and beliefs of subcultures is permitted granted that it is open discussion and not condemning or praising. Discussions that revolve around the subculture within society would best be suited in the Extended Discussion subforum.
  
  
• Genetic problems/illnesses/physical handicap discussion
  Keep in mind this should be focused mainly on discussion regarding lifestyles changes involved as well as ways of coping, etc. It must be open discussion that is not condemning.
  
  

Threads that Do Not Belong in This Forum

• Anecdotes & Personal Experiences
  Threads should have topics that are accessible to many members, not just to a small group or a single person. Threads must be on generating discussion rather than just sharing the story. If all you wish to do is share something that you have done or that happened to you, or to rant about an issue, we ask that you use your journal or the Chatterbox forum.
  
  
• Personal Habits / Behavior Discussion
  Habits and behaviors are more of a psychological pattern which are acquired through frequent repetition. Do not make threads discussing personal habits or behaviors in this forum. Please make use of the General Discussion forum or the Chatterbox forum as appropriate.
  
  
• Paranormal Phenomena
  Paranormal phenomena are not a lifestyle; therefore, discussion focused on them is not permitted in this forum. Instead, please make those topics in the Supernatural sub-forum.
  
  
• Dreams
  Dream discussion, if paranormal or supernatural related, should be posted in the Supernatural sub-forum. All other dream discussion threads should be posted in the General Discussion forum or the Chatterbox as appropriate.
  
  
• Love / Relationship Discussion
  Love is a part of life, but it isn't a lifestyle. If it isn't addressing a lifestyle or an aspect of one, keep all love topics in the appropriate forum. Make use of the General Discussion forum, Chatterbox forum, and Life Issues forum as appropriate for these topics instead of the Life Discussion forum.
  
  
• Guru / Information Threads
  As stated in the recent announcement, Guru threads are not permitted. These include threads meant to display as much information as possible regarding a topic or where the point of the thread is to generate "ask questions, get answers" sessions regarding a topic. Do not make these kind of threads in this forum.
  
  
• Debate Threads / Religious Advertising
  Serious debate/discussion threads are not permitted in this forum. Such threads belong in the Extended Discussion, and lighter god/faith discussion in the General Discussion forum. Any threads that are purely for converting or soliciting beliefs are not permitted in this forum, and will be moved accordingly.
  
  
• Low content non-structured threads
  While any of the approved threads are suitable to make, making really low content or non-structured versions are not. The idea is to provoke discussion, and if there's very little to discuss, it's just not suitable for the forum. Topics such as, "what are you doing this weekend" and "how is your life" are examples of what not to post.
  
  
• "Am I hot?" / Post your picture threads
  "Rate me", "Hot or Not", "Could I be a model?" and similar appearance validation threads are not appropriate for Life Discussion. Also, any sort of thread where the main goal is to get people to post pictures will not be permitted. Please post these type of threads in the Chatterbox Forum instead.
  
  
• Promotion of dangerous or harmful practices
  While discussion about these topics can be permitted, explaining how to join in a dangerous lifestyle or promoting a dangerous lifestyle will not be permitted. Some examples of this are anorexia or bulemia.
  

Commonly Misplaced Threads

• Threads Seeking Advice
  Any thread that is seeking personal advice is best suited in the Life Issues subforum. If you see anyone posting these types of threads, do not answer their question, and report them to be moved.
  
  
• Food and Drink Threads
  Any threads that deal with cooking, recipes and other food related subjects are best suited in the Food & Drinks subforum. If you see any of these types of threads, do not answer them and report them to be moved.
  
  
• Fashion and Style Threads
  Any threads about fashion, clothing brands, fashion trends, beauty/makeup, and hair belong in the Fashion & Style subforum. If you find any threads about fashion and its related subjects do not reply to them and report them to be moved.
  
  
  FAQ
  
  • What is considered "low content"?
    Low content threads include any of the following:
    
    
    
    • Threads that can be answered with one word or opinion (for example, "Do you wear makeup?" ).
      Note: These are discouraged as they tend to be more spam/chat than actual discussion. However, if your one-word response topic generates genuine discussion suitable for the Lifestyle forum, it will not be considered low content and can be permitted to stay.
      
    • Threads that list a topic to discuss but list nothing specific about that topic to discuss (for example, "Talk about religion." )
      
    • Vague threads that are too general and rely on replies to generate a discussion topic.
      
    • Guru threads where you invite others to ask questions and you give out answers (for example, "I'm a [x], ask me any questions you want!" ).
      
    • Threads that encourage others to post quotes, lyrics, and any sort of message that is copy & paste in nature.
      
    
    Read this to learn how to avoid making a low content thread:
    
    

    Example 1

    "Do you like Inuits?"
    BAD
    Explanation - This is a forum for discussing lifestyles, and since there is no discussion about a lifestyle here this would count as low content.

    
    

    Example 2

    "Discuss your opinions regarding the Inuit lifestyle and why you feel that way"
    GOOD
    Explanation - This narrows down specifically what it is you want to discuss, and it's a lifestyle so it would be suited for this forum.

    
    
    If you see anyone posting a thread that could fall into the low content category, please report the thread as spam.
    
    
    

[The Admin]

How to Report

Abuse of the report system will result in a warning or ban of your account.

Report a Post

Use the button when an individual post in a topic contains inappropriate content.

Reasons to Report a Post:


• The content of the post violates the Terms of Service or forum rules.
  
  
• The content of the post is off-topic.
  
  
• The member who made the post has a signature which violates the rules.

Report a Topic

Use the Report this Topic button at the bottom of the page when a topic is not appropriate for the forum.

Reasons to Report a Topic:


• The topic violates the Terms of Service or forum rules.
  
  
• The topic is in the wrong forum and should be moved to a more appropriate forum.

If you need to contact a moderator via Private Message, please use the "View Forum Moderator" link at the top of this forum to find a moderator.



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