 Webmaster
Community Manager
Posts: 3111
Loc: Allen, Texas
Reg: 01-24-00
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09-01-10 01:11 AM - Post#117754
These Guidelines apply to all Soap Box forums.
Special Guidelines
All users of the Soap Box are required to adhere to the Special Guidelines listed below. These Special Guidelines are a supplement to the standard forum rules which you accepted at registration.
Click here to view the Standard Forum Rules
The Soap Box forum is specifically designed for discussions that pertain to national, state and world issues. It is the place where you can make an impromptu speech on just about any political issue. Not permitted are discussions about Allen City Hall, Allen schools and other Allen related issues as these topics have dedicated sections elsewhere.
Buyer/User Beware.
This forum is not for everyone. Topics, subjects, and comments may appear very strong, harsh, and excessively argumentative. Issues appearing in the Soap Box forum may be of a highly opinionated nature and exhibit strong emotional and passionate comments and due to this fact, members are given a greater latitude in how and what they post and reply. This is much different than the approach exhibited in the other forums where the topics are not as potentially controversial. To this end alone, perhaps this forum may not be to your liking.
Become an Educated User.
Soap Box type forums come with a built-in doomsday feature. Controversial issues ignite discussions which lead to heated responses. Emotions can run so high that discussions eventually get closed down. It is simply the nature of the beast and while we hate to close any topic we will when necessary.
It is critical that members understand that rules and guidelines assist in creating a friendly, neighborly and organized environment for discussions. And while the extra latitude given members allows for spirited discussions, the forum rules cannot be disregarded simply because someone may feel that their issue is bigger or more important.
The standard forum rules state in part,
Freedom of Speech and Online Conduct. You cannot post any material which is obscene, vulgar, hateful, religiously disrespectful, potentially libelous, racist, sexually oriented, threatening or defamatory. These limitations are not unusual as similar rules and social standards can be found at workplaces, schools, courtrooms and probably in your own home.
Let Common Sense be your Guideline.
No member is above the rules. All members must be civil with each other. You can politely attack ideas but do not attack the speaker of the idea. Be careful with your words, there is a point where being direct crosses a line into blunt, in-your-face hostility.
Keep in mind that when you agreed to the forum Rules and Guidelines you accepted the social responsibility to follow them.
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