Forum Decorum
#Last Updated: 1/2/15
###Decorum - behavior in keeping with good taste and propriety.
"you exhibit remarkable modesty and decorum"
Hey guys and gals, and welcome to my post about Forum Decorum. Now, I’m sure, before anything, you have some questions on the subject so let’s get those finished real quick.
Who are you?
Well some older CB regulars have probably seen me around a bit, but if you’re new to the CB I’ve been pretty active over here and I would like to think myself as a good role model for forum behavior. If you disagree with that, or simply don’t like me, that’s your call and I’ll respect that.
You can’t tell me what to do! You’re not my real dad!
Completely agree with you, I can’t tell you what to do and I have no way to enforce any ‘rules’ even if I thought I could. But that’s just it, don’t consider this as a ‘rulebook’, think of this as agreed upon advice. Things we as a community want to see more of.
It’s just you talking! Not the whole community!
As I hope can be exemplified by my past posts I’m very much in favor of open mindedness and ‘comment participation’. If you feel I’m incorrect, unclear or missing something altogether please do not hesitate to call me out on it. I am not perfect and I will try my best to work with you to make the OP better.
#####With that out of the way, let’s begin!
#Always http://i.imgur.com/uMCz64W.gif
To start, let’s talk about things that make awesome forum behavior....
- Be Willing to Listen
The key word here is ‘willing’. Making an effort to hear someone else’s point of view, understand it and actively react to it in a constructive manner can be a major step to being an awesome role model here. A forum isn’t a place to just throw your own idea or opinion up and expect responses; it’s also a place to explore other’s thoughts and expectations. The more of an effort you make to learn from others usually leads to more people learning from you as well.
- Be Constructive
An occasional “Cool” or “I like this” isn’t a bad thing at all, but constructive feedback and OP’s (positive or negative) is infinitely more useful to the community as a whole and can help them on their way. Answer questions, give links, give examples, give things that they can use. This is one of the quickest ways to being known as a helpful and resourceful person.
- Ask Questions!
Don’t shy away from a possible debate or extended conversation, in fact do your best to do the opposite! Asking questions is a great way to poke and prod someone’s post and allows both you and the person you’re replying to further explore the topic. They are also a great invitation for other people’s thoughts.
- Be Patient
No one can be on the forum 24/7 and check in every minute, Rioters included. I know, I’ve tried. If you’ve replied to someone directly they will have an update alert, but they will answer in their own time or even possibly not at all. It can be hard sometimes, but if a post or comment of yours seems to be ignored don’t flip out. Instead retain your composure and think how you can come at it at a different angle or make the post/comment in question better. Spamming will get you nowhere.
- Be Respectful
On the internet, this is harder to do than you would initially assume. Just remember you don’t know who you’re talking to on the other end of the text, and as such should be polite and kind until you know where their specific lines are. Everyone’s is different and these forums have a lot of different people. No one appreciates a cursing childish troll, but a lot appreciate a respectful person who can stand for themselves without treading on others.
- Be Relevant
Stay on topic, if someone posted about a certain thing that’s what they want to talk about and if they wanted to hear about something else they would’ve gone elsewhere. Now if a conversation naturally progressed off-topic that’s okay, but just be wary of not de-railing someone’s discussion.
- Give Credit
This should be common sense, but just in case, giving credit where credit is due is a great thing to do and I very much encourage to not only mention a post, but provide links so others can go through the same thought process you do. Not only do you tip your hat to another in a respectful way, but you also give your own post depth and honesty. For example, a fellow summoner by the name of Mackledoge came up with the catchy name of this post.
#Sometimes http://i.imgur.com/EQK4a2D.gif
There is a time and place for everything....
- Be Emotional
Emotional can be awesome! Be enthusiastic! Be angry! Be disspointed! That’s all okay as long as you keep it in check! If you’re upset about a patch, sad about a missed sale or super excited for the next champ then tell us, but keep in mind that you =/= everyone so, good rule of thumb, if you won’t be able to handle someone disagreeing with you then give it some time. Don’t let your anger boil over to hate, or your excitement boil over to naiveté. We’re all people too and while we can be feeling same way doesn’t mean we are.
- Be Random
Random can be funny, off-topic can be a nice break, or maybe there’s just something you want to say that’s has nothing to do with League. This can be good, or it could be bad. Think about it before you try to be too random. Is there anything you are gaining by posting it here, in a League of Legends based community, than another site like Imgur or Facebook?
- Shout-out Ideas
Ideas are awesome! But be careful not to get too caught up in brainstorming. If someone has asked for ideas go right ahead, but make sure not to accidently take over someone else’s idea. Stay relevant to the person you are replying to and if you just had an awesome idea make your own post about it so it can grow separately.
This shouldn't have to be said, but it's going to be anyway....
- Insult a Person
Seriously, what is the point? What is telling someone “you’re stupid” going to accomplish? We could go on a whole tirade about how this can apply in-game and everywhere else in any situation but especially here you have to think about it. Insults never add more to an argument, they only remove respect for the speaker. Assuming you’re on the forums to actually be heard, people will be much more willing to listen if you are known not to shoot people down with nothing more than a few words and no basis. Even if you’re winning an argument legitimately, throwing insults will do nothing but demean and cheapen yourself.
- Name and Shame
This one is basic forum etiquette, anywhere, but probably also the easiest to accidentally do. Actively avoid stating other player names from games here. This is a public forum with other players, we can't do anything to help you! If you want someone banned for a justifiable reason, go submit a ticket. Do NOT go out and try to humiliate them or set them up as a public example. This will just bring you down to their level and will only really be seen as immature whining. Trust me, it's not worth it and a very easy way to get banned from the forums.
- Spam
This really will just piss people off. It could be a great idea, or a really cool thing you found. Just don’t post it everywhere!!!! You are crowding out other posts, showing a complete disregard for other people and therefore the spam post in question can easily be downvoted on that fact alone.
- Harass
This includes Rioters, they are a part of the community as well. Don’t follow a specific person just to keep poking them about something, it doesn’t even have to be malicious either. The profile tool can be a great thing to use to follow a person’s comments and posts to find other interesting things but when someone posts a reply or OP they do not want to hear about something that happened somewhere else a week ago, a day ago, or even an hour ago.
Just because you had an argument with someone in one post does NOT mean you can go to one his/her other posts and continue it.
Just because Ironstylus is being active in the forums does not mean you should spam his every comment asking about a Taric VU. Not only will this just distract from the actual conversations happening it will also decrease your chances at response (Unless, of course it is actually about a Taric VU).
DO NOT DO THIS.
- Incite
Throwing a post around about a hot topic with the sole purpose of just angering people is not only stupidly easy but just disappointing. Anyone can do it. You are not special if you win a “piss the most people off” competition. There is no award, there is no prize money and the only thing you get is just angry mobs. If you genuinely feel your post is constructive and should be heard, by all means go ahead, but don’t post just because you think you’ll be popular in your opinion. It’s a weak middle-school way of thinking and should never be something that justifies a post. A post should be written and supported on its own merits.
