Discussions: Tips and Rules
The Eurovision Times is proud to have one of the most active communities on the web. Here are some tips and rules about how you can participate in the discussions. As this blog is hosted by wordpress.com we have no traffic limit and thus no server problems in Eurovision week, which is a big advantge. Unfortunately that means we also have to let wordpress advertise on the site (To block most adds you can use the firefox plugin “Adblock Plus”.
How do I get a personalized avatar?
Any user can reply to any post and state their opinion. If you do not have a wordpress.com account a general avatar will appear next to your comment. In order to get a personal avatar so people can recognize you go here: http://en.gravatar.com/ There you can find video that explains you how it works. The avatars and profiles on wordpress are all based on gravatar, so you will need to create an account there.
The Rules:
- comments with xenophobic, pornographic content will not be published or deleted immediately
- Spam Comments: Spam is automatically held back by Askimet and will not be published
- Respect Your Counterpart: The discussion should be founded on mutual respect. You can disagree, but never get personal! Disagree without being disagreeable.
- Respect Your Fellow Participants: Read everything in the discussion thread before replying. This will help you avoid repeating something someone else has already contributed. Acknowledge the points made with which you agree and suggest alternatives for those with which you don’t. Be thoughtful and generous in your response to other people’s messages – try to consider what might be useful in what they are trying to say even if you disagree with it. Some would say this is the most important guideline of all!
- No Flaming! Criticism must be constructive, well-meaning, and well articulated. Please, no tantrums. Rants directed at or about any of your classmates are simply unacceptable and will not be tolerated. The same goes for profanity! (Expressions that are frequent in oral English are exempted from this rule)
- Respect Diversity: It’s a multicultural world in which we live. Use no language that is offensive—or could be construed as such— toward others. Racist, sexist, and heterosexist comments are unacceptable, as are derogatory and/or sarcastic jokes directed at religious beliefs, disabilities, and age.
- No YELLING!: Be friendly. Using bold, upper-case letters is bad form, like yelling at somebody, NOT TO MENTION BEING HARD ON THE EYE.
- Proper Writing Style: Correct spelling, grammatical construction and sentence structure (as far as you are capable) should be correct and at least understandable.
- The language of the blog is English! If you use other languages please add a translation next to it so everybody can understand you!
- Keep your messages within the general topic area
If you do not respect these general rules, you can be banned from the discussions!
