Bolthorman
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Post: 2503204_1 created on Sun Jun 06, 2004 7:38 amPosted: Sun Jun 06, 2004 7:38 am
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First, a couple of relevant announcements.
danjel I have already moved numerous threads on the topic of "do you like Bush". This is getting ridiculous. These threads are always below ED standard, being, usually, only one sentence in length. They are nearly always repeat threads, as there are already a number of threads on the topic of Bush and his policies that do satisfy the requirements for an ED thread. Be aware, if you post such threads here in ED-P, you will be warned for spam. Shaviv Please for the sake of all that is holy, stop creating "Conservativism/Liberalism is a mental illness" threads. They've been done to death, they don't usually satisfy the requirements for an ED thread, and they very quickly degenerate into flamewar. Now: How to be a Respected Member of ED Politics I. Reliability of Information II. Concision and Grammar III. Style and Tone IV. Content V. Having Manners I. Reliability of Information a. When a source is required b. How many sources are required c. Which sources to use d. How to properly cite a source e. Using the source to your full potential a. A source is required only when a new piece of information is brought to a thread discussion. A respected ED regular will usually open up a thread with an interesting fact followed by a source that they got the information from. b. The number of sources required depends largely upon the claim. The claim that Kennedy was never shot will not be respected no matter how many sources you reference. The claim that George W. Bush is presently (6/5/04) the President of the United States of America will generally be accepted without a source required. Generally, only one source is required, but as your claim is less believable, it is wiser to reference more material. c. Generally respected sources usually end with .gov or sometimes .org. News media is often respected as a source of information, though perhaps accused of shading the truth. d. Citing a source is most properly done by means of using the URL button or quoting something using the Quote button as follows. www.whitehouse.gov President Bush on Friday presented the Medal of Freedom to His Holiness Pope John Paul II. e. When citing a reference, make sure you know what the entire article is about. Many times an article will be used for one specific fact mentioned in it despite the contrary messages the rest of the article gives. II. Concision and Grammar a. Grammar b. Spelling c. Concision d. Emoticons e. Word Porcessing Program a. Grammar is not always necessary when trying to prove a point, but many times the point of a post will be lost because it is impossible to understand. Respected Gaians understand the importance of being understood and write in a manner that is intelligible. b. Spelling is far less important than grammar, but if one misspells words too often, their posts are overlooked due to difficulty to read. Respected Gaians will not trash another for their spelling, but will be careful not to make too many typographical errors or other misspellings. c. Concision is beautiful. A post need not be five pages long to get the desired message across. Reiteration is generally viewed as redundant and unnecessary. A five-page post is perfectly acceptable assuming that there is no repetition of information. d. Emoticons can not express how you are feeling as well as words can. While you may have good intentions when using the rolleyes emoticon, the image gives negative connotations. Personally, I like the emoticons, but people will have a tougher time respecting you when your posts are littered with them. Use them only when you truly feel they express what you are feeling. e. If you know you can't spell, but want to post, and want people to not look down on you for spelling or grammatical errors, open up a Word Processing Program and Spellcheck/Grammarcheck your post and then copy/paste into the message box. III. Style and Tone a. Respect b. Flames c. Sarcasm d. Avatars e. Profanity a. It is always important to respect other Gaians if one desires to be respected. A degree of accepting other people's stances and when they are correct is key to being a respected Gaian. Many Gaians choose to believe that other Gaian's beliefs are 'stupid' and will claim as such leading to their own lack of respect, and the next point. b. Flaming people may help you feel better about yourself, but will only anger the posting you have flamed and make them more inclined to disagree with your beliefs. Said flames also deter outsiders from wanting to agree with you, in the long run, hurting your goal. A certain level of heated conversation is acceptable, even expected; but there is never a need to cuss someone out and insult/threaten them. c. Sarcasm is a tricky style to master, and even trickier over the Internet. Sarcasm is often misinterpreted and even shunned by many who do not understand it. Sarcasm does not hold well in political debates in general as it does not help to introduce any new fact so much as insult the belief of somebody else. Sarcasm can only be used to humor oneself and those who share their beliefs. Beyond that point, it is useless. d. For some reason, many people judge the quality of posts based on somebody's avatar. This is ridiculous. It is most proper to ignore a person's avatar and focus on their post (even if they are wearing flame clothes). e. Used with taste, profanity can express how passionate you feel about a certain topic. Used too often, profanity leads to the general consent that a poster is ignorant, or worse. IV. Content a. One-liners b. Relevance a. To earn respect among Gaians, one should tned to avoid contributing a post that raises no new information to the post. These "one-liners" prove nothing and make other Gaians resentful of the poster and their post. Avoid letting adages like "Love is love" and "Love it or leave it" be your entire post. In addition to being unproductive in a conversation or debate, these posts are often removed by moderators and their posters may be warned/banned (based upon moderator discretion). More about One-liners and argumentum ad hominem. b. Speak to the topic and not to the speaker. A person might not believe what they are saying, so to prove them wrong does little. To prove their arguement wrong is much more commendable. Avoid talking about people's grammar, spelling, clothes, political background, personal beliefs. Talk about the topic. V. Having manners a. Don't Whine b. Guilt by association a. It's admittedly annoying to see new pointless Bush threads pop up three times a day, but rather than pointing it out in the thread, effectively keeping the thread alive longer by inadvertedly 'bumping' it, it is wiser to seek out a moderator and report the thread to them. b. Guilt by association isn't fun, but it exists. If you are part of a guild or club, bear in mind that all actions you perform reflect on your guild. Like, if I were to go completely crazy and start bashing every new person who came in here, the ED Politics Regulars Guild might lose some validity, How to Start an Excellent ThreadCourtesy of Kurd Jam I. Title II. Introduction III. Body IV. Conclusion I.- Title Specificity is the key to making a proper title to a thread. The more specific you are, the more likely people will respond to your thread in a positive manner. Witty titles are also very important. Even if someone doesn’t normally talk about Gun Control, a thread title like “Oops, gun control really is stupid after all” will entice that Gaian to enter the thread. II.- Introduction. By writing a good introductory passage you may be able to catch the attention of a bigger number of Gaians, which later will result in a wider variety of views reflected in your thread and that may benefit the course of the debate. biggrin It's recommended that the first (few) paragraph(s) of the thread serve(s) an introductory purpose, this way readers will have a vague idea of the issue that is brought to debate, and by doing so you will have already made a selection amongst the potential participants in a future discussion. Again, specificity is your friend; use it freely. A well-written introductory passage will reduce part of the hostility that sometimes arises from people who feel they have been misled about the subject of the thread and may consequently torch the topic and the person who created it. Two great things are accomplished by writing a well-thought out introduction; you start a good debate, and you help decrease flaming by just writing one decent paragraph of text. III.- Plot of the thread Here's where a poster must explain, using the clearest terms possible, the matter that has to be debated later by the rest of Gaians that may enter the thread. Separating ideas in paragraphs is a must-do-thing that helps the reading and comprehension of the original poster's ideas. Big long blocks of text often deter conversation from the actual point of the debate. Have in mind there's no limit to the paragraphs needed to get your point across; if you can do it in a few paragraphs then it's perfect, lengthy posts will have scarce replies but they are most likely to be from people that are really interested in the subject, so the size of the post would be determined by your intentions when creating the thread. Reminder : A good and brief post is good, but a reading bad and lengthy post is a chore,, and also bear in mind the one-line rule, Proper punctuation, capitalization and spelling are important things that should also be taken into consideration, for they will make the reading of the post less of an eye torturing experience. Have in mind we are in an online forum, your writing speaks for yourself, Zo iT'S nOt dAt HArt tO GuEsZs ThE ImPREsiOn Ur GivIN WEn TiPYng LIkE Dis !! Use sources whenever it's required ( and given the nature of this subforum, that will be quite often ). Personal experiences generally don’t make a good standing point, so internet links from reliable sources, like the ones listed in this sticky, are good to cite. Here are some links that may help you create a good argument: Guide to logical fallacies Online dictionary and thesaurus Spell checker IV.- Conclusion Here's where the posters personal opinion regarding the subject of the thread should appear. All evidence should have already been stated, and massive conclusions are unnecessary. A couple paragraphs as a maximum should suffice to give the author's personal impression on the subject that will be debated. Things to have in mind : 1. By following this guide, the success of your threads is not granted, however, we grant you that by following this advice your threads will be formally excellent. 2. You may still get flames despite following this guide, but don't let trolls and flamers put you down; ignore their comments and report them to an online mod immediately. 3. Although your thread is well presented, that doesn't guarantee that you are right. Generally good stuff to know about Gaia not specific to politics.-Includes all the vocabulary that may be confusing along with how to use quotes and stuff like that.* * This paragraph originally linked to a short explanantion on how to use the different posting options this forum offers. This was done way before the site's appearance was revamped, therefore the link in it does no longer work. With the new layout it's pretty easy to guess how to use them, however a quick guide could be added to the sticky if needed. |
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