Announcement: Sociology and Psychology: Rules and Guidelines

[The Admin]

Sociology and Psychology Forum Rules and Guidelines

Welcome to the Sociology and Psychology forum, a sub-forum of Extended Discussion! Sociology and Psychology is intended for in-depth discussions on topics including sociology, psychology, behavior, human sexuality, and cultural studies. Keep in mind that it is a sub-forum of Extended Discussion, and as such topics should be thoughtful, multi-dimensional, and encourage discussion from other users.


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 Sociology and Psychology
   
4. Reminder on Discussion Guidelines
   
5. 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:

Abuse/Trolling: Abusive posts are not tolerated in the forum, or anywhere else on Gaia for that matter. The forum is meant for civil discussion and there is no reason to flame another user. This includes swearing DIRECTLY at another user, telling a user to GTFO of your thread, or otherwise harassing them. Trolling, or "intentionally posting inflammatory content in order to incite negative reactions from posters" is not allowed anywhere on Gaia. Do not make purposely inflammatory or offensive posts or threads. This includes threads with spoof titles if the intention of the title is to provoke a negative reaction from posters. Again, the forum is meant for civil discussion.

Spam: Spam posts belong in the Chatterbox, not in any of the discussion forums on Gaia. Posts with no content will be removed, and threads that have either little content or consist of gibberish will be moved to the Chatterbox forum. In addition to that, threads on topics that are persistently repeated may be recycled unless the old threads are inactive or the new thread offers a previously undiscussed angle.

Explicit Content: Discussion on sexual matters is allowed within the forum, provided that it abides by the Gaia TOS and is not overly explicit. Keep in mind that sexually explicit material is not allowed on Gaia, and if your post or thread does not follow this rule you may receive an official warning from a moderator.

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 Sociology and Psychology

Threads that belong in Sociology and Psychology:

• Threads related to sociology, psychology, behavior, human sexuality, and cultural studies, provided they allow for EXTENDED discussion.
  
  
• Threads with some personal experience provided they include a discussion. This is not the place for threads seeking advice; however some personal experiences may be relevant to a particular thread.
  

Threads that do not belong in Sociology and Psychology

• Life Issues threads. The Life Issues forum is for users seeking advice on personal problems. If you only want advice on how to deal with a personal issue, then please post there instead. It moves faster than this forum, so you are more likely to get a quicker response as well. However, if you are asking about techniques others use to cope with a disorder or in a specific situation, your thread may be acceptable in Sociology and Psychology if it provokes discussion.
  
  
• General discussion threads with lower content. A short post simply asking "what do you think of gay people?" does not really provoke the in-depth discussion required for this forum. Depending on the content, it would be better suited to either the General Discussion or the Lifestyle Discussion forum. Low content topics will be moved.
  
  
• Survey/Poll threads: This is not the appropriate forum for a quick survey, as it requires people to respond without actually creating a discussion. Please keep surveys in the Chatterbox where they belong.
  
  
• Dream Interpretation Threads: This is not the appropriate place asking for other people to interpret your dreams. If you want to discuss the practice of dream interpretation or dream interpretation in ancient cultures, that is fine. However, the forum is not the place for "I had a dream I was flying, what does it mean?" Use the Chatterbox please.
  
  
• Threads that would be appropriate elsewhere: This forum is not the place for asking Gaia related questions, buying and selling Gaian items, music threads, sports threads, etc. Please go to the appropriate forums.
  

[The Admin]

Reminder on Discussion Guidelines


If the discussion standards for Sociology and Psychology are still confusing, here are a few examples to consider:


Threads NOT appropriate for S&P:

Example 1

What makes people gay?

This topic does not facilitate a more extensive and developed discussion, and therefore does not belong in the forum.

Example 2

I think I have [insert psychological disorder here] because I have these symptoms. Help me!

In this topic, the user is asking for psychological advice. Advice seeking threads in general belong in the Life Issues forum, NOT S&P. In addition to that, please keep in mind that the ideal place to get a diagnosis for a psychological disorder is from a trained professional in real life, not an online forum.

Example 3

Who here suffers from schizophrenia and what are your experiences with it?

Although this thread discusses a psychological disorder, it is asking for personal experiences. Threads of this type belong in the Lifestyle Discussion forum.


Threads appropriate for S&P:

Example 1

What are you thoughts on homosexuality? I have long heard about the debate between nature versus nurture. Personally, I believe in _____ because I feel it has more scientific backing. This source [link] supports my claim. Which do you feel is more plausible/sound?

This offers more points of discussion as well as relates to sociological/psychological theories on the subject. Also, remember that citing reliable sources to back up your claims is a plus in Extended Discussion.

Example 2

I don't think internet addiction should be considered a disorder. A lot of people use the internet in their day-to-day lives to look up information or communicate with people all over the world. For example, just because my sister spends 6 hours a day online doesn't mean she is addicted. Do you really think it qualifies as an addiction?

This thread uses a brief personal experience, and is also open for other people to add personal experiences (examples of someone who would be addicted/not addicted). However, the focus of the thread is whether someone should be considered a legitimate psychological problem, not the personal experiences.

[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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Use this form to report ongoing Abuse or Harassment. If you are reporting harassment or abuse that is occurring directly in a thread, please use the "Report This Post" button instead.