Posting Etiquette

Netiquette

Netiquette (network etiquette) refers to the correct way of communicating on the site, and acceptable discussion board behavior.

  • Community members are human. It’s easy to misinterpret other people’s posts, and for them to misinterpret yours. Remember that you are communicating with real people that have feelings.

  • Respect the public forum. The site is open to more people than just you. Understand that others may choose to post on the site, or reply to your topic, and that they may greatly disagree with them. Users should also understand that other people may want to participate in the topic, and a discussion between only two people is hardly open.

  • Offer expert knowledge. Regardless of the effort initially put into a discussion, many knowledgeable people will read it. Offering intelligent answers will benefit those who participated in the topic, and anyone who visits the topic in the future.

  • Forgive mistakes. Most people contribute in good faith. Sometimes people post things that they later regret. Be polite in pointing out mistakes, and give people the benefit of the doubt.

Thread Necromancy

Thread necromancy involves the manipulation of a thread that results in it appearing more active than it actually is.

  • Necroposting is the action of reviving an arbitrarily old thread by posting on it long after discussion has ended, causing it to appear above newer and more active threads. It is often seen as spam, as most necroposts do not contribute anything substantial to the original topic.

  • Bumping occurs when someone posts with the specific purpose of just having the topic go back to the top. The post is often a short one-liner, such as “bump”.

  • Shadow-bumping happens when a user creates a post and then deletes it, in hopes that the topic is bumped without evident reason. It can also occur when a topic is created, deleted, and then posted again at a later date to try and get more attention.

Sockpuppetry

Alternative accounts are allowed, but sockpuppetry is prohibited.

  • Sockpuppets are alternative accounts used to deceive users, and are often meant to bypass bans or other punishments by posing as a third-party unaffiliated with the main account operator.

  • Meatpuppets are a form of sockpuppetry that involves multiple different users creating sockpuppet accounts for the same purpose, such as to support the same side of a dispute.

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