Class, Crass and Naked Ladies...the CPF Gray Zones

Here on the CPF we have a great example of how a forum can be family oreintated and still be a blast. We have, as a group, monitored ourselves with class and respect for others. As our membership grows however, I wonder if it may be time to shore up a few gray areas.

Many of our members are younger...and now we are even picking up a few ladies...a trend I would love to see grow...I feel sure there must be a lot of female flashaholics.

Generally, what do you feel should be our guidlines.

A: Nothing to do with sex or weird should be posted.

B: Ok, as long as no one complains, at which point it should be removed...no argument, no questions asked.

C: If it would not be found on main street in Disney World it does not belong here.

D: Other (explain)

Keep in mind this forum is owned and maintained by David and therefore you may not want to ramble on to long about free speech and how your rights will be harmed if you cannot post that "special to your heart" pic. Posting here is not a right...it is a privalage David has made possible for us.

Ken

Ken, Well said and thank you Bushman

How about: "If you wouldn't feel comfortable posting it on your church (temple, mosque, elementary school [added for Chris M. ] ) bulletin board, you shouldn't be posting it here."

Too prudish? Just right?

Wouldn`t work for me since I don`t have one (I don`t have a religion). My philosophy:

"If they can say it on the Simpsons, it`s fine by me"

Here, they show the Simpsons on TV every weekday at 6PM, prime time viewing for just about anyone of any TV-watching age. I figure that if it`s acceptible by the majority for that time on TV, it`s probably fine for here too.

But also remeber:

"It`s nice to be nice" (-Mark Radcliffe, BBC Radio One DJ)

...so keep it friendly!

Originally posted by Quickbeam:
How about: "If you wouldn't feel comfortable posting it on your church

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Yeah, I'm afriad this wouldn't cramp my style nearly enough either

"It's nice to be nice, to the nice"-- Major Frank Burns US Army MASH 4077th

This is a tough crowd! It's the spirit, not the letter, of the suggestion that counts! Sheesh!

Originally posted by Quickbeam:
How about: "If you wouldn't feel comfortable posting it on your church (temple, mosque, elementary school [added for Chris M.

] ) bulletin board, you shouldn't be posting it here."

Too prudish? Just right?

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I at least think this is a good guidline to follow, but for you who don't have a chuch, mosque, temple etc. How about "if you can't feel comfortable posting it in front of your mother, you shouldn't post it here."

Here, they show the Simpsons on TV every weekday at 6PM, prime time viewing for just about anyone of any TV-watching age.

To Chris M,
What area do you live in? They show the Simpsons where I live at 6pm also. Are we near each other?
(not that I'm a stalker or anything)

How about "if you can't feel comfortable posting it in front of your mother, you shouldn't post it here."

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Now THAT wouldn't work for me! My mom lets me get away with a lot of *BEEP*.

I don't say anything here I wouldn't say in front of my parents, my parents-in-law, my grandparents, my boss, etc. Similarly, I don't say anything that would shock most folks coming out of the mouth of grade-schoolers. Granted, some of them are really rough around the edges, but the majority are okay.

That doesn't mean that I don't toss an "<insert alternate name for donkey here>", "<add an `n' to the end of a water-holding structure>", or "friggen" around when I get too emotionally involved with a subject. I tend to stick with Simpsons and "prime-time" Beavis and Butthead stuff, butt-munch, fart-knocker, those sorts of things.

It's worked for me so far on over a half-dozen forums I participate in, and so far, no problems.

Ok, so far we have:

Quickbeam suggesting...only what you would post in a church. (this might work)

Bigwuss sugesting...only what you would feel comfortable posting in front o your mother. (this might work)

Darell suggesting that...it should be more strict than that. (church idea)

Chris M suggesting...we use the morales from a TV cartoon show "The Simpsons" as our guide.

Bushman quoting...a somewhat goofy fellow from the Mash TV show..."we should be nice".

Alright...this is going great... lets keep those great suggestions coming in.

Ken

Originally posted by KenB:
Darell suggesting that...it should be more strict than that. (church idea)

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Yikes. This is a good example of what happens when you take stuff out of context! My only point was that what I may say in a church (or in front of my mother for that matter) really knows no bounds.

I personally am VERY tough to offend. That said, I don't particularly want to see the board spiral down the toilet - possibly scaring off new members. But the membership really does seem to do an excellent job of moderating itself. (with the possible exception of the recent joke thread).

My thinking would go like this: Don't type anything that you wouldn't yell out in front of 2307 friends and strangers. There's the reality of it. For this to work you don't need to attend church, go to grade school, or even have a mother for that matter.

Is this going to be some sort of "chiseled in stone" policy or rather an unstated way we ought to do things?

I suppose a standard could be what would you say in front of a priest, the Pope or a church but to be honest, I really don't think we need a policy.

We police ourselves pretty well, rag on others when they are out of line, all without the benefit of a rule. At the same time, we have something called The Cafe where we can pretty much say what we want and that's worked well since day one.

If someone says something that others find offensive, we've always chatted about it and while we don't always agree on what's appropriate, at least we're civil (somewhat) in our disagreement.

I don't think we need a rule. Wouldn't you all like to blurt something out to a priest or the church just for the shock value? You don't do it because it'd be wrong and you know it's wrong without there being a rule.

My vote: no formal rule. We police ourselves and if every acts like a gentlemen no one will be offended.

Man, this is a can of worms.

I hate to come up with a bunch of D@#^ PC rules and things like that- but at the same time, I don't really care for all the near smut that has been posted lately.... I don't mind it for myself, but just don't think that it should be here on a Light Forum.

I think that joke contest thread brought out the worst of a lot of us- (myself included).

My solution would be to have TWO Cafe type threads: one for general use, and another for Restricted access where all the sexual and NON-PC stuff could go, and available only to registered members at least, or if UBB permits it, only to people that actually sign up for permission to access it.

Either that or get rid of the Cafe completely and keep everything else on-topic.

Lots of rules on a big pop up that shows up every time you post? NO please...that's too much like school.

Some "guidelines" on how one should conduct oneself? I'm all for it.

Just common sense and behaviour like in everyday-life should be enough I hope..

Durn, I guess I didn't see the naked ladies. I'm always a hour late and a dollar short.

OY! I'm with Silviron. This is a HUGE can of worms! So how about we just don't go there? Or if y'all really feel that we need to, here's what I think:

B: Ok, as long as no one complains, at which point it should be removed...no argument, no questions asked.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">YEP! I'm all for this. And being the token female for now and very difficult to offend, I'll be the judge if y'all want.

Setting rules in stone or having them written somewhere is a MESS! We're all big boys and girls. We all know what's acceptable. And if someone comes along who doesn't know what's acceptable or appropriate, the mods and admins will discuss it in private with each other and the individual and then take action.

Bottom line is as Ken stated. It doesn't matter if it's in writing or not or if it offends me or Darell or Saaby or Ken or whoever! It's David's board. And if he doesn't like it for whatever reason, it's gone! Plain and simple.

So let's just leave this alone now. I'm getting queasy.

Originally posted by darell:
Yikes. This is a good example of what happens when you take stuff out of context! My only point was that what I may say in a church (or in front of my mother for that matter) really knows no bounds.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Thanks for clarifying this Darell. We might have to have special rules in place for you to follow

I was hoping to create some guidlines for us to follow...and a clear understanding of what one might expect when they stray from the rules.

Death by hugga bugga does not seem like a good choice. But when a person post a pic that another member finds questionable and request that it be removed...should it be removed without question or debate if it depicts a strange act or to much skin? Personally I think it should be. Out of respect for what the other members find offensive. That is the question before us.

Ken