Decency Standards

It's time.

We have not really had any problems yet, but the issue has been raised enough that it should be addressed BEFORE it becomes a problem. Self policing has sufficed for now, but this can only be effective for so long. The blog has grown to the point where it is prudent to put our heads together and adopt and establish decency standards, so that collectively we can determine what is allowed on the site and what is not. You have a voice in what the personality of this blog will become.

We have several persons that can act as moderators, and have the power to delete inappropriate posts and comments. But this is useless unless there is an agreed upon standard by which the moderator can refer to, and act upon.

Let me establish first -- This blog is built upon free speech, and it will remain that way.

But with freedom there is responsibility. Each person is accountable for their own speech. Words have the power to build, but they also have the power to harm. While people have the freedom to express their ideas, they are not immune to the effects and reactions to them.

This is also true for groups of persons that wish to unite their voice for a common purpose. Like it or not, when we express ourselves in this blog, while we enjoy the benefits of free speech, we affect ourselves and the other team members with our words and content. We are identified as being part of this group of contributors. We can affect them positively or negatively. In this way we have a responsibility to each other.

That being said, I would like to open up the subject of decency standards (or lack thereof) for discussion. What comes of this will become written policy, for a protection, so that everyone's experience here will be a positive one, and harm will never be a subject of this forum.

So, please, give your honest opinion on the following points. Your opinion really matters. You are helping to set the direction of this blog for years to come.

1. What do you think is our target audience? Should 12 Seahawks Street be considered a place where men, women, children, and minorities will feel comfortable? Or should contributors be able to post content that would typically be offensive to individauls of these groups?

2. Should certain words be disallowed? There is a broad range of opinion regarding expletives. Some feel that an environment where 'everything goes' allows for the most entertaining expression. Unfortunately, this alienates some of our audience, and causes us to lose some credibilty in the eyes of official sources and organizations. A happy medium seems to have been found on airwave television and radio. Should this standard be adopted? Or is there another commonly known standard that will be better? To requires certain things like 'PG', 'PG-13' or 'R' on posts seems to be unneccesarily burdensome. It would be better to have a single standard and stick to it.

3. Should the site be actively moderated, complaint-driven, or both? This affects the role of the moderators. Guidelines in this way will be helpful. If they put a stop to something before it gets out of hand, it could be good. But being the 'moral police' is not a fun job, and it makes others less than comfortable, too. But very few people actually complain about a site -- they just stop participating.

I know I'm getting into some seemingly unjustified depth here, but my hope is that the standards will be 1)agreed on, 2)established, 3)understood, and then 4)never become a problem, because everyone will know what is expected.

Please let me know, fully, openly, and honestly. I know this may take a little time, but it will pay off in the long run. Soon we will have a simple standard, and not a bunch of rules, so that commentary will be free and fun, and not overly regulated. That is my goal. I just would like your input, because you guys are smart, and I tend to go overboard.

And thank you for making this blog such and awesome place.

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