Community Standards

I hate having to post this, but things have gotten a little out of hand in the last week or two at GGN.  I have had to do more moderating in the last week than I've done in the prior 6 months combined.  So it seems we may all need a refresher course in some things that are not appropriate on GGN.

1.  We attempt to keep this a family friendly site.  That means if Johnny Nine Year Old Jets Fan wanders on to the site, we try to make sure Johnny's parents wouldn't be shocked and appalled to find what Johnny's been reading.  So, no cursing.  We recognize that occasionally in the heat of the moment some of you may become a bit more... ahem... colorful.  But it should only be done rarely, and only in the heat of the moment.  It also should go without saying that there is an unspoken hierarchy in colorful language.  As you should all know, dropping the F bomb is particularly inappropriate, and if you make a habit of it you will be warned.   If you continue to make a habit of it, you will be banned.  In addition, replacing a letter or two with symbols so that it technically is not an offensive expletive does not change things at all.  If Johnny Nine Year Old can decipher the meaning, then it's the same as if you posted the actual word.  Don't do it.

2.  Just because you aren't cursing doesn't mean you're in the clear.  Particularly salacious means of expressing excitement involving lurid descriptions of overt sexual acts may not be cursing, but they are equally inappropriate.  Please refrain from doing this.  If you wouldn't want your young child  listening to such a conversation at home, please don't bring it here.  If you are unsure whether it's appropriate or not, err on the side of caution.  Find a different way to express yourself other than NC-17 rated sexual language.

3.  Especially troubling in recent weeks have been the repeated violations of the No Personal Attacks rule.  Ad hominem attacks (i.e., addressing the supposed defects of the person you are conversing with rather than the particulars of his argument) are strictly forbidden.  So don't insult people, don't tell people they're stupid or naive, or don't know anything about football, etc.  Tell them why they're wrong.  Argue your points as forcefully as you wish, but don't make it personal.  This applies equally to blanket statements like "some people around here are irrational" or  "typical Jets fans, panicking, etc... ".   Just because you insult a whole group of people rather than just one individual doesn't make it any less of a personal attack.  Again, dismantle the ideas, but do not attack the person(s).  I've had to issue too many warnings about this lately.  I don't want to have to ban anyone.  Please stop the personal attacks, everyone, on all sides of whatever issues are being discussed.

4.  I posted this as a comment elsewhere, but it is important enough that it bears repeating here.  I just had to delete a comment that read "Mark Sanchez dead." Yes, it was a joke. No, that doesn’t matter. I have had to issue multiple warnings about this over the last week.  We at GGN do not condone or tolerate any member wishing for, making threats of, or otherwise talking about violence or death to any other person in an approving manner, whether or not it was a joke.  If it happens again the offending member will be banned.

5.  The infamous Eric Decker article opened up a lot of interesting discussion involving race issues.  That's OK, to a point.  But we will not tolerate certain language.  Use of the N word, regardless of whether certain letters are replaced by symbols, is absolutely forbidden on GGN.  No exceptions.  Don't use it, regardless of context, meaning, nuance, joking, etc.  I don't care why you're using it, using it will get you banned.  The same goes for all other racial epithets.  If you use them, expect to be banned.

6.  Authors of articles produced outside of GGN have intellectual property rights to their works.  That means if you copy and paste their works in their entirety into something here on GGN without the author's express permission, you are in violation of intellectual property laws.  Do not do it.  Every website depends on page views to support the advertising that makes the site's very existence possible.  If you reproduce somebody else's work in its entirety and post it on GGN, then that outside author will not get your traffic on his site. In essence, you are stealing from that author.  The proper way to handle this is to post a few small snippets from the article, then post a link that readers can click through to the original author's site.  That way GGN readers get the benefit of all the good work being done elsewhere, and the authors get the benefit of the page views that their works are rightfully generating.  Everybody wins.  Please note that if you do post items in their entirety without the author's express permission, you will be notified of it and asked to edit your work to bring it within these guidelines.  If you fail to do so, your work will be taken down.

These are basically common sense rules for civil discourse people.  I shouldn't have to be reminding everyone of this stuff.  But the heat of the last week or two has sometimes brought out the worst in us, and it has gotten a little wild and woolly here at GGN.  That stops now.

Simple rules to live by.  Please follow them.  If anything is questionable or gives you pause, find a different way to express yourself.  Thank you all for attending to this and keeping GGN the kind of site we can all be proud of.