Official Community Position on Ficsearches (Which Are Not Rec Posts!)
Fic searches are an integral part of this community; they bring older and/or less well-known fics into the light for new readers to discover. Sometimes, however, the fic that is being searched for turns out to be (*gasp*) Not-Spander.
There appears to be some confusion as to the appropriate response when this happens. The most important thing to do is BE POLITE.
The community rules have now been modified. Acceptable Posts Rule 5 now reads:
5. Fic searches, which should, of course, be S/X. If you sincerely believe that the fic you are looking for is Spander, but it turns out not to be, please delete your post as soon as someone lets you know. If they do not let you know politely, please let me know so I can teach them the error of their ways. btvs_inquiry is a fandom-wide fic search comm - join it, watch it, use it.
If you post a search for a fic that is blatantly not Spander, be prepared to lose your posting/commenting privileges for an amount of time to be determined by me.
We operate on the honour system here, but there are limits, people. Please play nicely with others and don't take advantage.
BTW, if you see a search for something that is blatantly not-Spander, it only takes one polite comment to let them know they are out of order. A simple, 'This is not Spander. Please read the rules on the profile page,' is enough. Multiple similar comments are annoying and not productive. And did I mention annoying?
Do not provide links in response to fic searches that are blatantly not Spander-related.
If you see a ficsearch that you think has been mis-identified as Spander, you may provide a link to the non-Spander fic that you think you've correctly identified. You should also politely point the poster to the rules so that they can self-delete the post if your link proves to be the correct one.
It is entirely possible to mis-identify a fic, as has recently happened. There is no shame and no blame in this. Do not feel it. Do not cause it. Mistakes happen. However, if someone posts asking for recs, then all recs should be Spander, no exceptions!
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Keep up the good work, everyone! Keep bloodclaim focused on the Spander, and KEEP IT FRIENDLY! {{{hugs to all}}}
There appears to be some confusion as to the appropriate response when this happens. The most important thing to do is BE POLITE.
The community rules have now been modified. Acceptable Posts Rule 5 now reads:
5. Fic searches, which should, of course, be S/X. If you sincerely believe that the fic you are looking for is Spander, but it turns out not to be, please delete your post as soon as someone lets you know. If they do not let you know politely, please let me know so I can teach them the error of their ways. btvs_inquiry is a fandom-wide fic search comm - join it, watch it, use it.
If you post a search for a fic that is blatantly not Spander, be prepared to lose your posting/commenting privileges for an amount of time to be determined by me.
We operate on the honour system here, but there are limits, people. Please play nicely with others and don't take advantage.
BTW, if you see a search for something that is blatantly not-Spander, it only takes one polite comment to let them know they are out of order. A simple, 'This is not Spander. Please read the rules on the profile page,' is enough. Multiple similar comments are annoying and not productive. And did I mention annoying?
Do not provide links in response to fic searches that are blatantly not Spander-related.
If you see a ficsearch that you think has been mis-identified as Spander, you may provide a link to the non-Spander fic that you think you've correctly identified. You should also politely point the poster to the rules so that they can self-delete the post if your link proves to be the correct one.
It is entirely possible to mis-identify a fic, as has recently happened. There is no shame and no blame in this. Do not feel it. Do not cause it. Mistakes happen. However, if someone posts asking for recs, then all recs should be Spander, no exceptions!
#
Keep up the good work, everyone! Keep bloodclaim focused on the Spander, and KEEP IT FRIENDLY! {{{hugs to all}}}