Ambiguity on AN: New Community Guidelines
For the past few months as AN has grown to traffic proportions beyond my wildest dreams, there have been some growing pains to go along with it.
Several people have questioned the community guidelines and said that there was a lot of gray area.
Well, I've set out to change that and also change the procedure for reporting complaints. Together with an AN subcommittee, we've developed a new set of community guidelines (notice the new link in the menu) to try and clarify my position on everything from personal attacks to just having a general respect for your fellow ANer.
The AN subcommittee was formed out of a couple of things: first, longevity on the site and a clean track record in terms of personal attacks. Second, I used the newly instituted rating system and chose people with good ratings.
Why would I create a subcommittee you ask? The truth is that I realized recently that I've often spent more time trying to respond to the insane amount of email I get instead of working on the site quality. I need to somehow lighten that load. Instead of emailing me with complaints or reporting of community guideline violations, I ask that you email the AN subcommittee in the future at cgv@athleticsnation.com. The subcommittee will be reviewing each and every complaint or report of a Community Guidelines violation (thus cgv in the email address). The subcommittee will serve mostly as a filter. I will ultimately have the final decision.
The goal for all of this is to make AN a welcome place for all A's fans and have a clear set of rules. Of course, AN will always get the inevitable troublemaker that surfaces whenever Internet anonymity is in play and in that case, I will use my discretion accordingly.
When I created AN, my goal was to have a place where we could celebrate our Athletics in our OWN online sports bar. But even sports bars have rules. This isn't Thunderdome. We just finally took the time to make these rules more clear.
In the future, if you believe someone has committed a community guidelines violation, please email cgv@athleticsnation.com and be assured that it will be considered. Please don't email me with complaints or concerns directly.
Thanks. My hope is that I can spend more time in the future working on interviews instead of playing community monitor.
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nice guidelines
I think we all have a right to know
no
I do agree with you on this one.
But don't forget
And why do we need to know who's on the subcommittee? They are trusted by Blez and they are trusted by the site (through the comment ratings).
No, you don't have a right to know
I like the rules, fwiw.
i was gunna ask that...
So, we'll put this one up to Blez to see if he tells.
End the dictatorship, elect me for subcommittee!!!
by JJ on Aug 5, 2005 1:21 PM PDT up reply actions
New thread mojo for CGV committee member!
I suggest
by tblazrdude on Aug 5, 2005 3:39 PM PDT up reply actions
Subcommittee
The rules are becoming complex, but as you say, the site is growing fast. I've been impressed the past week or so that the number of diaries has been curtailed a bit. I think ideas like the "daily link dump" are fantastic and really help out.
Free Speech
I think people who want to move my Athletics out of Oakland and to some bush-league (pun intended) city like: Sacramento or Fremont, should write letters to bud selig, to get a expansion team.
by GrewUpAtTheColiseum on Aug 5, 2005 1:23 PM PDT reply actions
limited diaries!
very cool. Is this enforced by software or by mods manually?
Also when is the cut off point? 12am midnight?
so I could post 4 diaries right quick in a row from 11:59pm-12:01am?
Just kiddin!
by WhiteElephantGuy on Aug 5, 2005 1:30 PM PDT reply actions
So through great interviews
If Ratto reads here is he protected. Is Joe Morgan protected? IS Ken Macha Protected?
If you can not use language on AN that one could use on the street in front of a police officer I think this site is in big trouble!!!!!
I would like to make a formal complaint.
Are schizo's allowed to break AN violations by attacking their other personalities?
by WhiteElephantGuy on Aug 5, 2005 1:33 PM PDT reply actions
This is insulting to persons with schizophrenia
having read the Free Speech section
2 diaries per day-- even though it might throttle me back-- I can live with. But the free speech stuff is a slippery slope. This is all way too much Big Brother for my taste.
I would not worry about it
Viva AN!
The subpart about electrical
comerical implications.
This move though shows you do not care about comerical success, because this will clearly hurt you.
do you mean
i've got no problem with the commercial-ad campaigns on AN. But, if I interpret you correctly, you mean that commercial success will hurt Blez and therefore AN? there's no where to go but up, baby! like the athletics are doing now.
well, i can't see this KC game, but we bet greinke last year.
Misspelled the words
Blez, good move
re: Community Guidelines
BigElephant
"I'm not here...
Eau contraire...
Why, I heard that one of his balls sold for millions...
You smell different ...
He's never done it... INTENTIONALLY
I read in Canseco's book ...
Easy "monkeyball", or...
"One day, it will happen like this. One day you'II be on AN, day like this. And someone you know, someone close to you, will ask you a question. Any old question....and...
You won't see me ...
Folks
It dawned on me that I needed it when I was preparing questions for interviews and I had to take a lot of time away from that by responding to multiple complaint emails. My goal is to always make AN a better place for everyone and everything I do is to attempt to do that.
And I believe it's better for the subcommittee to remain anonymous to make sure that people don't just try and email them directly on matters (I know most probably wouldn't, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't happen). That was NOT the goal of setting this up. The rating system was set up for this purpose. As long as you keep rating people, you are, in essence, choosing the subcommittee.
I'm sorry several of you feel like I'm being Big Brotherish, but the truth is that before it was only my eyes that were judging community violations. Now, you'll have four sets of eyes plus mine looking at complaints. To me, it's a hell of a lot more democratic.
by Tyler Bleszinski on Aug 5, 2005 2:35 PM PDT reply actions
Omigod!
-Cindi
Forget it Cindi.
Blez Unfair to Thunderdome..
by calvin @ Athletics Nation on Aug 5, 2005 3:00 PM PDT reply actions
All I want to know
If I can't make fun of Morgan
by Tyler Bleszinski on Aug 5, 2005 3:13 PM PDT up reply actions
Also
What if happen to be the owner of an literate Chihuahua who has read Moneyball a dozen times and has a membership to BP and can calculate a player's VORP in his head?
In the stands......
by Duke of left field on Aug 5, 2005 10:43 PM PDT up reply actions
Whoa!
I had to cock my head back on that one [confused reaction]. Would that be like the detective that found the evidence in the John Wayne & Lorena Bobbitt case?
by LowcountryJoe on Aug 6, 2005 6:23 AM PDT up reply actions
Picture this......
by Duke of left field on Aug 6, 2005 8:37 AM PDT up reply actions
"he has no ears"
It doesn't matter what you call him, if he has no ears, he won't come, right?
Why do I get a feeling
"Shh...the cvg is coming!!! hide!"
"Where did Cindi Go? I think the CVG got her in the dead of the night"
"I heard this thread is tapped by the CVG. So hush!"
Also...I'm sure its just a coincidence that CVG sounds like and reminds me of the Russia's KGB.
by WhiteElephantGuy on Aug 5, 2005 3:22 PM PDT reply actions
No one EVER expects the CVG Committee!
KGB impression.
hmm doesn't make sense.
by WhiteElephantGuy on Aug 5, 2005 3:38 PM PDT up reply actions
Our chief weapon is...
[CGV Committee exits]
WhiteElephantGuy: I didn't expect a kind of CGV Committee.
[JARRING CHORD]
[The CGV Committee bursts in]
NOBODY expects the CGV Committee! Amongst our weaponry are such diverse elements as: fear, surprise, ruthless pitching, an almost fanatical devotion to the General Manager, and nice green and gold uniforms - Oh damn!
by FormerHuntsvilleStar on Aug 5, 2005 4:11 PM PDT up reply actions
and the spanish inquisition
we're here to talk baseball.
the glory of the green and gold.
who's with me?
Add that
hahah
by WhiteElephantGuy on Aug 5, 2005 3:36 PM PDT up reply actions
who
Do we really need
by WhiteElephantGuy on Aug 5, 2005 3:39 PM PDT up reply actions
Rock on, Blez.
A question to the Community Police
That's not my question.
Last night-- late-- my time-- I posted a thread. because it was rather unusual-- ahypothetical meeting of the brass to discuss whether or not to attempt to resign BZ--and long, I broke it into two parts. (Both of which were recommended, by the way)
So are those my two diaries for the day?
And if so, is the standard Pacific Time, or can I make a new thread/diary after midnight my time tonight?
The reason I ask-- speaking up for those of us in more eastern time zones-- is that at some point after that day's game is a logical point to make a diary. That is often after midnight back here. But if those of us who want to post then do-- then we are essentially limited to just one more diary the entire next day, whereas you guys in Pacific World can get your diary (or both) in before midnight-- and then post again twice during the next day.
I'll abide by whatever the rule is, but I do want to point out a basic inequity. i fwe go on Scouts' Honor, and post based on our own midnight the system would work much better. IMHO. Dear Community police or whatever you're knon as.
I realize
It's confusing!
OK-- those of us Back East have to realize that basically we get one diary during the day pre-night game, and one diary afterwards, presuming we post it before 1200 pacific. Right?
The problem comes when you're a night owl-- as some of us are-- and post a really late thread, but this is true for folks in all the time zones.
Speaking just for my own
From a programmer's
by WhiteElephantGuy on Aug 5, 2005 4:27 PM PDT up reply actions
clarification for me too!
it ain't my job
solution: outsource to other ANers
Like Macha says,
We'll be fine without Blez's 24/7 supervision, now that we have AN's version of Young, Hudgens, Geren, Lacheman and Washington.
Good thing? Bad thing?
And I have done my share of telling A's fans about our community here.
I have mixed feelings about the Community Guidelines issue. Good that we have them...bad that we need them. That may just be a corollary to growth.
I miss some of the discussions that early AN used to have...I miss some of the people who used to post regularly and wonder where they went..
I laugh at/with some of the posts these days, and then scan through much to get to some posts that are more specific to baseball, A's baseball.
It just sometimes feels that the best of AN gets buried these days.
Don't get me wrong here, I appreciate the heart and soul of AN (thank you Blez) and welcome the diverse perspectives and opinions...maybe we are just having growning (growing, groaning??) pains.
Looking forward to the KC series and really looking forward to being back at the Coliseum next week. Hope to see you there. Go A's!!!
People really email Blez complaining about posts??
best thing I've read in this thread
by rich @ Athletics Nation on Aug 5, 2005 5:07 PM PDT up reply actions
hey...
Didn't see anything in the community guidelines
I agree
Great job on the site Blez!! Sorry that all we do is complain and complain.
Learn something new every day.
is this clause...
Is this clause meant for guys like 3e8/JoeCool24 who were trolling+breaking up perfect games+account spamming?
Probably less
"A pack of gum? OK, that'll be $1,000,000.00."
"What??? It says 25 cents."
"Yeah, just changed it, didn't tell you. Sorry. Debit or credit?"
Oh God..
(I can say God, right?)
by fadedash on Aug 5, 2005 8:55 PM PDT reply actions
Lemme see if I've got this straight...
... Is that ONE violation, or FOUR?
by seedspeed on Aug 6, 2005 10:00 AM PDT up reply actions
Zero,
i guess i have to ask
by fadedash on Aug 6, 2005 1:30 PM PDT up reply actions
I can still make fun of the
by Duke of left field on Aug 5, 2005 10:49 PM PDT reply actions
Tangentially: Larry Krueger
Krueger referred to "brain-dead Caribbean hitters" and said that the Giants have a manager (who is Latino) that has a mind that's been turned into "Cream of Wheat."
I listened to that rant and thought -- as an A's fan -- that it was vastly entertaining, especially the part about the Giants having the worst farm system in the Majors and being doomed to a hellish existence for many years to come. Talk like this helps turn Giants fans into A's fans.
I am really surprised by the reaction. Krueger didn't say that the Caribbean players were brain-dead "because" they are Caribbean or that the manager has a mind like Cream of Wheat "because" he's Latino. In fact, Krueger said nothing about Alou being Latino. If Krueger had said that J.T. Snow sucks or dissed "whacked-out Norwegian players", he wouldn't have been pilloried for offending white people.
Who else listened to Krueger's rant? Do you think he crossed the line? Obviously this is relevant to the CG discussion and where the line should be drawn at AN.
It's a shame, because Krueger has been one of the few people at KNBR who hasn't been contemptuous of the A's, and he's interviewed a bunch people of A's people on his show. He'll probably be nuzzled like Poochini when he comes back.
by Checkswing HR on Aug 6, 2005 10:57 AM PDT reply actions
Awww...
IMO, anyone who sees the new guidelines as moving toward censorship or "big brother"ism, really ought to re-read the guidelines until they understand them. Seems to me that making rules clearer doesn't make them more harsh, and that talking about the rules doesn't make them more threatening.
Actually, I'm probably one of the hard liners
The Krueger thing set me off because it reminded me of how the people who slammed O.J. for offing his ex-wife were dismissed as racists in some quarters.
by Checkswing HR on Aug 6, 2005 11:56 AM PDT up reply actions

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