A note from your friendly moderator! :)
Hello, you lovely grammar_nazis!
It looks like the last entry posted here got everyone a little riled up. While sometimes riling up grammar_nazis leads to fun and enlightening results, this time it just lead to a bunch of petty, childish drama that normally this community is found to be beautifully lacking. When I'm here reading up on posts and approving memberships (which, remember, is something we do to avoid trolls as much as possible), I often smile and muse to myself how wonderful it is moderating a community of such enjoyable, yet mature, members. I beat my chest with a little Tarzan/Mother Hen pride when I hear of other moderators having to ban half of their members each week because of excessive name-calling and rudeness. Well, let me just say now, very simply: I found there to be excessive name-calling and rudeness in the comments on that last post.
To clarify a few points:
1) We love snark and sarcasm here. Absolutely. Name-calling crosses the line.
2) If a member makes a post ragging on someone else's grammar, but theirs also leaves much to be desired, please feel free to gently knock them off their high horse -- without being a total jerk about it. A little jerk? Totally cool. Total jerk? Not cool.
3) Sometimes, members will post grammar-related things that they found somewhere else, including text snippets and images. If those grammar-related things contain grammatical errors, it does not necessarily make the member who posted those snippets or images an idiot, and it does not necessarily mean that the member who posted those things agrees 100% that the grammar of the OP was perfect. To assume such and to repeatedly berate the grammar_nazis member about it is childish and quite a bit silly on your part, especially when that member explicitly states before the snippet, "Found these on another forum. Thought this comm might appreciate them."
4) We do not allow anonymous comments on posts in this community. Again, this is a measure to keep the trolls at bay. This is a community setting, not one that can be adjusted when a user posts here. It hasn't been an issue at all before, but was mentioned in comments on that last entry, so I thought I should clarify for everyone.
5) One unrelated to this post, but with the sudden influx of new members I feel I must point this out: it is absolutely not allowed that people post text snippets from a Livejournal user's personal journal, whether or not you include their name. Half of us have Livejournal friends whose journal grammar is godawful, but whether their journal is private or not, junyr and I, with some help from other grammar_nazis members have decided that it should still be kept private. However, if someone posts in a public community and makes absolutely no sense grammatically, and is just hilarious about it, feel free to post it so that we may be entertained. In that case, use your best judgment as to whether you should include a name. I would say most of the time, it's not the best idea.
There's a line, people. Use your best judgment about where that line is, and try not to cross it. I don't like having to step in like this, because as I mentioned above, I've always sort of taken pride in this community's ability to moderate itself. If I have to step in again, I'm sad to say I may have to start handing out bans as parting gifts. I'm certain, though, that all of you naughty ones will get the message and straighten up. Right?
Thanks for being awesome, guys and gals. :)
- edit -
I'm now screening all of the comments made on that entry. It's so not worth the drama dealing with trolls who aren't even grammar_nazis, so sorry to all those who missed it and are sad about it!
It looks like the last entry posted here got everyone a little riled up. While sometimes riling up grammar_nazis leads to fun and enlightening results, this time it just lead to a bunch of petty, childish drama that normally this community is found to be beautifully lacking. When I'm here reading up on posts and approving memberships (which, remember, is something we do to avoid trolls as much as possible), I often smile and muse to myself how wonderful it is moderating a community of such enjoyable, yet mature, members. I beat my chest with a little Tarzan/Mother Hen pride when I hear of other moderators having to ban half of their members each week because of excessive name-calling and rudeness. Well, let me just say now, very simply: I found there to be excessive name-calling and rudeness in the comments on that last post.
To clarify a few points:
1) We love snark and sarcasm here. Absolutely. Name-calling crosses the line.
2) If a member makes a post ragging on someone else's grammar, but theirs also leaves much to be desired, please feel free to gently knock them off their high horse -- without being a total jerk about it. A little jerk? Totally cool. Total jerk? Not cool.
3) Sometimes, members will post grammar-related things that they found somewhere else, including text snippets and images. If those grammar-related things contain grammatical errors, it does not necessarily make the member who posted those snippets or images an idiot, and it does not necessarily mean that the member who posted those things agrees 100% that the grammar of the OP was perfect. To assume such and to repeatedly berate the grammar_nazis member about it is childish and quite a bit silly on your part, especially when that member explicitly states before the snippet, "Found these on another forum. Thought this comm might appreciate them."
4) We do not allow anonymous comments on posts in this community. Again, this is a measure to keep the trolls at bay. This is a community setting, not one that can be adjusted when a user posts here. It hasn't been an issue at all before, but was mentioned in comments on that last entry, so I thought I should clarify for everyone.
5) One unrelated to this post, but with the sudden influx of new members I feel I must point this out: it is absolutely not allowed that people post text snippets from a Livejournal user's personal journal, whether or not you include their name. Half of us have Livejournal friends whose journal grammar is godawful, but whether their journal is private or not, junyr and I, with some help from other grammar_nazis members have decided that it should still be kept private. However, if someone posts in a public community and makes absolutely no sense grammatically, and is just hilarious about it, feel free to post it so that we may be entertained. In that case, use your best judgment as to whether you should include a name. I would say most of the time, it's not the best idea.
There's a line, people. Use your best judgment about where that line is, and try not to cross it. I don't like having to step in like this, because as I mentioned above, I've always sort of taken pride in this community's ability to moderate itself. If I have to step in again, I'm sad to say I may have to start handing out bans as parting gifts. I'm certain, though, that all of you naughty ones will get the message and straighten up. Right?
Thanks for being awesome, guys and gals. :)
- edit -
I'm now screening all of the comments made on that entry. It's so not worth the drama dealing with trolls who aren't even grammar_nazis, so sorry to all those who missed it and are sad about it!