PLEASE READ: Forum Guidelines

25 March 2008

 

Dear MikaFanClub.com members:

 

MikaFanClub.com (The MFC) is a worldwide community of Mika fans,

and as such we feel it is important that we make sure to treat everyone

with respect and contribute to an open, comfortable atmosphere for all members.

 

As we have grown significantly over the past year, and in light of

recent events, it has become clear that we need some better defined

guidelines for forum behavior. We have therefore developed these guidelines

to help both new and established members as we move ahead. Keep in

mind that these guidelines apply to posts made on the forum and should

also apply to any private messages you send.

 

Please take the time to read through the guidelines and if you have any

questions, don't hesitate to contact one of the moderators (listed at the

end of this post).

 

Many thanks to all those whose efforts and input contributed to these

guidelines, including the authors of the awesome FAQ (read it HERE)

which we used as our starting point.

 

We hope that these guidelines will allow for a more enjoyable forum experience for all.

 

The Guidelines

 

1. Hateful language, including but not limited to racist, sexist,

homophobic, and/or bigoted speech is prohibited here. Personal insults and

attacks are also prohibited, and will result in a ban from the

forums. These include name-calling or insults about a person's religion, sex,

sexual orientation, race, age, nationality, physical impairment, etc. Do not

mock someone because of their appearance, or the way they speak/write, or

the amount of time they spend on the forum. And please do not hide behind

saying your comment was meant as "a joke", or use the

rose-colored glasses icon or white text to disguise a nasty remark. Just

saying you didn't mean something as an insult doesn't make it any less of

one.

 

Relating to this, avoid spreading propaganda of any organizations, movements,

religions or political parties. This includes using avatars and signatures,

other symbols, texts and links to websites, to advertise principles related to

such groups. (rev. 8/8/08)

 

2. Posts containing obscene or pornographic material will be deleted,

and can also lead to a ban. Moderators may edit or delete any post deemed

unsuitable.

 

3. Adult topics are not directly prohibited, but we have many younger

members, some under 13. Keep in mind MFC's universal audience, and avoid

profanity, explicit sexual posts, or other content that may be

inappropriate. This would include posts that describe a sex act,

or strongly imply one. The forum system automatically blanks out certain

curse words, but there are some that it won't catch and you may be asked

to stop using those words by a moderator.

 

4. Since Mika's family are not public figures, posting photographs of them

that are not officially taken at publicity events, or soliciting personal

information about them, is not permitted. Keep in mind that Mika, his band

and management, and his family and friends read these boards at times.

 

5. Any Mika-related material that can be purchased through regular channels

cannot be posted. This includes all studio recordings, clips from the Live in

Cartoon Motion DVD, iTunes files, etc. In addition, we ask that demos and

studio outtakes not be posted on MFC, as Mika has specifically requested

those items not be shared.

 

NOTE: When posting links to other content (such as TV appearances, live

recordings, etc.) please be sure to read the terms of use for the external

sites you are using. YouTube in particular has been known to pursue claims

of copyright infringement, even shutting down the accounts of users who

post content against the terms of use. MikaFanClub.com is not responsible

for any repercussions that may occur in regard to content posted on

external sites.

 

6. Respect the privacy of others. Do not post personal

information (i.e. personal photographs, addresses, phone numbers,

passwords, or any other private information) without permission.

 

7. Spamming is not permitted. Posts that are seen as spam will be

deleted and the spammer will be banned automatically.

We consider spam to be:

- advertisements (including ads for items on sale on eBay)

- multi-posting the same word or link in a thread, without contributing

anything else to it

 

8. Multiple threads on the same subject will be closed, with a redirect

to the other thread on this subject (which is usually the one started

first or with the most posts in it). Use the search function to

determine if a similar thread already exists before you start a new

thread. Also, name your threads clearly, so that a reader has a

good idea of the content without opening the thread.

 

9. In general, avoid condoning illegal activity. This

includes sharing copyrighted material, as well as

promoting illegal drug use, fraud (such as failing to pay for tickets

that were purchased on your behalf), and other illegal activities.

This also includes "scalping" or reselling tickets to a show at a premium

in order to make a profit.

 

10. Do not register multiple accounts. If a member is

found to be using multiple accounts for inappropriate reasons (to

avoid disciplinary action for example), moderators may take steps to

disable the secondary account(s). (rev. 9/19/08)

 

Violation of the above guidelines can lead to either infractions

or temporary or permanent banning from the forum.

 

When any of the forum guidelines are violated, the MFC mod team will

determine an appropriate action. This includes (but is not limited to) public

warnings, private warnings, temporary account suspension, permanent

account suspension and server bans. Note that there may be occasions

when a situation calls for a moderator to make a judgement call that

strays from the stated guidelines.

 

An infraction is a notice applied to a user's account to denote that

he/she has somehow violated the forum guidelines. You'll see the

infraction in the user profile, with the reason the infraction was given.

The member will receive notification whenever he/she receives an infraction.

 

Multiple infractions lead to a ban.

 

If the moderators ban a user, that means the user will not be

able post on this forum. A temporary ban means that the user will

not be able to post for a specific period of time. A permanent ban

is only applied if a user is persistently abusive or otherwise

continuously disregards the forum guidelines. If a banned user returns

to the forum using a different screen name and continues to disregard forum

guidelines, the moderators may issue a ban against the person's IP address.

 

In general, moderators do not want to ban any members, although

spammers and those who post pornography will be immediately banned.

 

In other situations, here are the general guidelines for issuing a ban.

 

1. If a user violates the forum guidelines, a moderator first sends a

warning via a private message (PM) or publicly.

 

2. If the user continues to disregard the warnings, an infraction

is placed against the account.

 

3. If a user receives three infractions, they will be

banned from the forum temporarily, usually for one week.

 

4. If, after returning from a temporary ban, a user continues the

pattern of negative behavior, they may be permanently banned.

 

Note that a ban will normally be determined by a majority of the

moderators/admins whenever practical.

 

There may be times where this procedure can not be

followed (not all moderators/admins can be contacted, for example).

At those times, the moderators who are available will make every

attempt to confer and decide on an appropriate plan of action, at their discretion.

 

If a situation requires immediate action, a moderator may give a

24-hour ban until a majority of the mods/admins have been consulted.

 

========================================

 

You will note that most of these guidelines fall under common courtesy

and common sense. If you have any concerns or suggestions,

feel free to let the moderators know.

 

The MFC Mod/Admin Team

 

dcdeb

happikali

Niki27

Diana

Queenie

lollipop_monkey

Christine

robertina

guylainem123

 

FREDDIESDOUBLE (admin)

StandardToaster (admin)

Edited January 19, 2009 by dcdeb
updated guidelines

Thanks Deb and everyone else who helped. I hope this helps make the MFC a more fun and peaceful place to be. Let's put an end to the drama.

Thats me and half of the mfc banned on just point one then lol

No more - Noooo!

 

Thank you for making this clear Deb

Hope this will give you the clarity you've been asking for!

Hope this will give you the clarity you've been asking for!

 

Except it doesnt say no Dutch

GLAD to finally see clear set rules!!!!!!!

Well said!! Here Here! Or is it Hear Hear? I never know!

Except it doesnt say no Dutch

 

Don't push it now.

4. Since Mika's family are not public figures, posting photographs of them

that are not officially taken at publicity events, or soliciting personal

information about them, is not permitted.

I totally agree with that :thumb_yello: and for everything else, of course:wink2:

Don't push it now.

 

Ik zou het niet doen!

I agree, with everything.

 

 

hope i didnt break any rules

Thanks for this Deb and all the other wonderful mods and admins.

I'll keep this in mind when posting.

Except it doesnt say no Dutch

 

oh no:fisch:

I agree with everything!! thanks for explain!!!

Mods thankyou.

 

I am sure this took a lot of careful consideration.

 

May I make one suggestion?

 

I think having a stated avenue of appeal or grievance procedure might also be helpful.

Mods thankyou.

 

I am sure this took a lot of careful consideration.

 

May I make one suggestion?

 

I think having a stated avenue of appeal or grievance procedure might also be helpful.

 

Thanks, Blue Sky

 

Would you believe that as I was hitting send, I thought to myself, "Hmm...

maybe we should have something about what to do if you don't agree

with a mod's decision..." GMTA

 

But... we can modify this. And in a day or so, I plan to have the guidelines

emailed to every single member on the forum, so that everyone has

the chance to look them over.

 

dcdeb

thank you for the guidelines and also for all your hard work...

it's not always an easy and pleasant job i imagine!

 

to you all

Great work Debs, very thorough, even moreso when you incorporate the grievance procedure.

Not a criticism, but maybe we should have had this up and running on day 1, then we might not have had the problems we've had over the last month. Just an observation.

Does anyone have an infraction yet?

 

I want to see what they look like on the person's profile.

 

But don't give me one.

 

*duckduckgoose's Jessica*

Does anyone have an infraction yet?

 

I want to see what they look like on the person's profile.

 

Well, if you're really curious I could...

 

But don't give me one.

 

Rats! If only I hadn't kept reading...

 

dcdeb

Does anyone have an infraction yet?

 

I want to see what they look like on the person's profile.

 

But don't give me one.

 

*duckduckgoose's Jessica*

 

That's the last time I lead prayers for your dinner parties!

Rats! If only I hadn't kept reading...

 

dcdeb

I'm too quick for ya. You know how we PA girls are.

 

That's the last time I lead prayers for your dinner parties!

 

Thanks to the mods for making this clear!

 

 

(I expect we'll see a bit less of now.... )

 

I use quite a bit, but I usually do it when the other people in the conversation know it's a joke.

 

Like:

 

"Sarie, are you going to the Paramore concert in April?"

"Duh.:mf_rosetinted:"

Read & Agree with everything.

Especially about it being common decency and common sense.

I'm wondering about how the sexual remarks or innuendo guideline will go, however, as 'girls will be girls' sometimes. I assume this means the Knitting thread and Mikagasmic threads will be/are already heavily modded? I take that for a comment to lead to an infraction or banning the remark must be extremely graphic. Is this the end of "chicken"?