PLEASE READ: Forum Guidelines

[Ruth]

 

I don't stand in a restaurant mouthing off opinions not caring if someone will get offended, so why do it here?

 

 

That's a good point. Now we have so many 'guests' on line it really is much more public.

 

Maybe some of the chatty threads could be in the members only section, then at least we know more clearly who's around.

 

 

Oooops, sorry for crashing into your conversation!

[A. Clay]

Yes, that's it, Wendi -- I tried to make it more concise, but we

kept hearing how people wanted to KNOW EXACTLY what things were

and how things were done... so we put it all out there to make it as

clear as possible.

 

dcdeb

 

FAIR NOTICE: MY NEW WORDS FOR ALL UNWELCOME (BANNED) WORDS

IS GOING TO BE "PICKLE JUICE!"

[keti]

I totaly agree with these rules...

[dcdeb]

Just an update to these guidelines...

 

We've been discussing how we ought to set up a "grievance" or appeal

process for someone who doesn't agree with a ban (or infraction)

they receive. At the moment, we have Niki27 away on holiday and

Freddie just away for the weekend, so it may be a few more days

before we post something on that...

 

Just so you don't think we've forgotten or are trying to sweep it

under the carpet

 

dcdeb

[dcdeb]

Bump...

 

Just want to make sure everyone gets the

chance to read these...

 

dcdeb

[RosinaKiwi]

dun get it?!?!?!

does this mean too the end of all sarcasm here on MFC?

or will we have to point out that its sarcasm like *insert sarcasm here* or [sarcasm]...[/sarcasm] because that gets old really fast!

I do understand that some people read peoples jokes as something more than a joke...but how are we to prevent this...bann joking from here entirely? becasue I can tell you even the most light hearted jokes can be taken too literally!

 

no im not joking or piss taking here...nor am I trouble making. do not get me wrong I do understand the bases behind these guidelines...and I understand their need and to an extent i also agree with most of them! just pointing out some issues I feel I want to address!!

[Kelzy]

dun get it?!?!?!

does this mean too the end of all sarcasm here on MFC?

or will we have to point out that its sarcasm like *insert sarcasm here* or [sarcasm]...[/sarcasm] because that gets old really fast!

I do understand that some people read peoples jokes as something more than a joke...but how are we to prevent this...bann joking from here entirely? becasue I can tell you even the most light hearted jokes can be taken too literally!

 

no im not joking or piss taking here...nor am I trouble making. do not get me wrong I do understand the bases behind these guidelines...and I understand their need and to an extent i also agree with most of them! just pointing out some issues I feel I want to address!!

Joking is fine. Having fun is fine. Being sarcastic without the intent to offend a single person or collective group of people is fine. Acknowledging the difference between friendly sarcasm and hateful sarcasm is truly worth our while.

 

What this joking guideline means is that if you make a post, or an insulting remark at someone, and then they or someone says 'I didn't like the way you said that', don't hide behind the 'I was just joking - getting over it' alibi. Make an effort to either apologise or explain what you meant by your post so there is no confusion.

 

Just take responsibility for what you post and try to use common courtesy and common decency.

 

It's not hard to put a wink at the end of your post if you are making a friendly joke.

Or is it?

[lollipop_monkey]

Joking is fine. Having fun is fine. Being sarcastic without the intent to offend a single person or collective group of people is fine. Acknowledging the difference between friendly sarcasm and hateful sarcasm is truly worth our while.

 

Amen! Kelzy for President!

[Kelzy]

Amen! Kelzy for President!

:roftl:

You're my adviser then!!

[greta]

no restrictions about fanfics, innit?

[dcdeb]

no restrictions about fanfics, innit?

 

Fanfics are absolutely restricted in that they are governed by the same

guidelines as all other posts. They are not *prohibited*, if that's what you

mean, though.

 

I think we've been tolerating fanfics as long as they adhere to the

guidelines -- that is, no obscene or profane material,

no explicit (or strongly implied) sex, respecting the privacy of

others and the fact that Mika and

his family read here, not condoning illegal activity, etc.

 

Are you writing something, Greta?

 

dcdeb

[pam]

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.

 

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.

 

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 other members. 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. We consider spam to be:

- advertisements

- 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.

 

10. 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).

 

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 Mod Team

 

dcdeb

happikali

Niki27

Diana

Queenie

lollipop_monkey

Christine

FREDDIESDOUBLE (admin)

 

 

I totally agree with everything, and thank you for the same.

[greta]

Fanfics are absolutely restricted in that they are governed by the same

guidelines as all other posts. They are not *prohibited*, if that's what you

mean, though.

 

I think we've been tolerating fanfics as long as they adhere to the

guidelines -- that is, no obscene or profane material,

no explicit (or strongly implied) sex, respecting the privacy of

others and the fact that Mika and

his family read here, not condoning illegal activity, etc.

 

Are you writing something, Greta?

 

dcdeb

me? Nothing at the mo..but Caz's fanfic flow reminded me of Ingie's one..I was really saddened when you{general}blocked her from writing more, coz i still don't know what was wrong in them {yep I collect some MFC stuff just in case..}

oh well, in any case there are still pms, but for me sharing laughs with most of the MFCrs it's better

[Pam Travers]

My personal views have no bearing on how the MFC is run: it's a privately-run forum and therefore has the right to set whatever guidelines or rules that it pleases. It has every right to say to me: if you're not happy with it you can leave.

 

I am personally completely against censorship, I'm pro people saying exactly what's on their mind and others accepting that the definition of "acceptable" and "insensitive" is arbitrary and subjective and therefore won't take offense. But that's my ideal and not the MFC's.

 

Why are we treating "censorship" like it's a dirty word to be avoided? This is a private forum which has the right to set its own guidelines which if you wish to participate you must adhere to. One of the guidelines that it has set is that this forum is moderated. Moderation is inherently a form of censorship because it involves drawing lines and any line inherently limits freedom of speech. Any absence of absolute freedom of speech = censorship. What you're calling "self-control" is one and the same thing: it's a member controlling their opinions to fit within what the MFC defines as acceptable (which may or may not be in line with what you personally feel is acceptable). And it's fine, as a private forum the MFC has every right to dictate its own rules and censor what it deems needs censoring.

 

I don't need to agree with it to live with it. If didn't I conform to guidelines that I disagree with I would have ended up in trouble a long time ago. I accept that I must do so if I want to participate in this forum. It's not fair but hey it's reality.

 

What'll happen when/if we become official, though, is a different matter. That's why I've been putting off my decision of whether I want to continue participating the MFC or not until after we become official (if ever)... the whole dynamic of the place may change.

 

 

i must say that it is [sarcasm]surprisingly[/sarcasm] the most interesting post ive read here...that for me sums up the whole thing, i would LOVE to believe that you get banned because you dont follow the rules, as you said its a private forum if there are rules and you dont follow them , you are free to leave , that would be simple and effective and CLEAR

 

BUT the fact that the moderators are active members will never fit, because those people "know" you on the forum and once you know or think you know you judge and if you judge and dont like you destroy, humans are destroyers and we all are humans. I dont like the fact that people hide behind guidelines and rules to be in fact plainly subjective. Again it would be a dream come true if the rules were the only thing you could base a ban on.

 

ex:

rule1: you cant say ****

X said "****"

X got banned

= thats only normal, that was the rule

 

but here its more like

 

rule1: you cant say ****

X said "****"

reunion of the mods" yes X said **** but X is like us, lets NOT ban X" or "X said **** and X is not like us what a twat anyway of course we ban X!!!"

= hello subjectivity

 

I think non members people could stick to the exemple number one because they wouldnt give a **** about being subjective ( since they wouldnt be fans of mika), they would only do their job= i think some people need to be hired =get paid to apply the rules if its the choice of a forum to have rules

 

someone in a post asked what we were expecting, I personally am expecting that mods admin etc wouldnt hide behind rules to cast away people they strongly dislike but that seems impossible since its exactly the same in our society

 

if a forum is private it can work out without rules, the only rule would be not to virtually kill someone else.period. for instance i have a very small forum dedicated to mika and my rules are: "No Rules" BUT it brought up some "problems" people think that no rules means to be vulgar which is ridiculous but hey they have the right to be vulgar and i do have the right to ban them for whatever reason I LIKE because thats my forum and thats private and I AM BEING TOTALLY SUBJECTIVE, i can ban someone because i dont like the way his/her pseudonym sounds...=i dont hide behind rules

 

so the whole point is: if you make up rules, thats great and a big forum probably needs rules especially if there are kids around but make sure that people in charge respect them and respect them the same way for everyone

 

now to rosinakiwi who said:

 

does this mean too the end of all sarcasm here on MFC?

or will we have to point out that its sarcasm like *insert sarcasm here* or [sarcasm]...[/sarcasm] because that gets old really fast!

 

 

well yes some people want to be put everywhere or insert sarcasm here, which i understand but its a problem since sarcasm doest work with smilies at all, it ruins the whole thing, plus sarcasm isnt meant to be dead funny, like falling out of you chair when reading it or anything (though it happens sometimes) so i dont know whta to tell you, maybe go to the apple thread, it seems that smilies are not required there but maybe you were not born an apple and wont fit there so in that case i dont have any solution, i personally stopped doing it.

[Pam Travers]

Fanfics are absolutely restricted in that they are governed by the same

guidelines as all other posts. They are not *prohibited*, if that's what you

mean, though.

 

dcdeb

 

are satires allowed? or are they totally prohibited or allowed but with smilies only?

[dcdeb]

someone in a post asked what we were expecting, I personally am expecting that mods admin etc wouldnt hide behind rules to cast away people they strongly dislike but that seems impossible since its exactly the same in our society

 

You know, Pam, I could understand this type of statement if we had banned

hundreds, even scores of members.

 

But the thing is, most of the members who have been banned have been

spammers. They are banned automatically -- like yesterday, someone

was spamming the forums with ads for Nokia phones. He (or it, in case

it was a bot not a person) was banned.

 

I can promise you that I personally have not banned anyone that I 'strongly

dislike.' Mostly because I can't think of anyone on this forum that I do

strongly dislike. I'm not hiding behind anything.

 

After the spammers, there have been, I would guess, fewer than 10

members banned over the course of about 15 months.

Several of those were temporary bans. A few were

permanent bans for various reasons. But those bans occurred

before we had these guidelines in place -- so perhaps mistakes were

made. You have to remember that this forum started out relatively

small and members were close-knit. There wasn't much need for

rules. But like Mika's career, things mushroomed quite quickly and started

getting out of control. So we're trying to learn how to deal with that.

By putting these guidelines

together we are trying to avoid FUTURE mistakes and problems.

 

I understand that some people don't like rules or guidelines of any sort.

But I don't think most of us can live with that sort of anarchy. We prefer

to have a sort of order here.

 

I am hopeful that these guidelines are not so restrictive that people feel they

can't post *anything* any more. Judging by the extensive

activity on this forum,

I think I'm right. I don't think "outside" moderators could do a better job,

and quite honestly, as long as moderating on this forum

is an unpaid position, I don't think you'll find anyone EXCEPT a fan to do it.

 

dcdeb

[sienna]

You know, Pam, I could understand this type of statement if we had banned

hundreds, even scores of members.

 

But the thing is, most of the members who have been banned have been

spammers. They are banned automatically -- like yesterday, someone

was spamming the forums with ads for Nokia phones. He (or it, in case

it was a bot not a person) was banned.

 

I can promise you that I personally have not banned anyone that I 'strongly

dislike.' Mostly because I can't think of anyone on this forum that I do

strongly dislike. I'm not hiding behind anything.

 

After the spammers, there have been, I would guess, fewer than 10

members banned over the course of about 15 months.

Several of those were temporary bans. A few were

permanent bans for various reasons. But those bans occurred

before we had these guidelines in place -- so perhaps mistakes were

made. You have to remember that this forum started out relatively

small and members were close-knit. There wasn't much need for

rules. But like Mika's career, things mushroomed quite quickly and started

getting out of control. So we're trying to learn how to deal with that.

By putting these guidelines

together we are trying to avoid FUTURE mistakes and problems.

 

I understand that some people don't like rules or guidelines of any sort.

But I don't think most of us can live with that sort of anarchy. We prefer

to have a sort of order here.

 

I am hopeful that these guidelines are not so restrictive that people feel they

can't post *anything* any more. Judging by the extensive

activity on this forum,

I think I'm right. I don't think "outside" moderators could do a better job,

and quite honestly, as long as moderating on this forum

is an unpaid position, I don't think you'll find anyone EXCEPT a fan to do it.

 

dcdeb

 

I am so glad and sometimes happily surprised over your moderators patience!

 

Thank you!

 

 

In my language we have an expression: The right man on the right place!

[soangel]

well yes some people want to be put everywhere or insert sarcasm here, which i understand but its a problem since sarcasm doest work with smilies at all, it ruins the whole thing, plus sarcasm isnt meant to be dead funny, like falling out of you chair when reading it or anything (though it happens sometimes) so i dont know whta to tell you, maybe go to the apple thread, it seems that smilies are not required there but maybe you were not born an apple and wont fit there so in that case i dont have any solution, i personally stopped doing it.

 

Okay.. I' not arguing here, just giving my opinion,

 

The way I see it, in real life you have tone of voice and body language and personal relationships which help you decide when your being sarcastic. What I say to someone in real life as sarcasm, could be totally taken the wrong way online, hence the reason for the smilies. Misunderstandings happen all the time with sarcasm online so while it doesn't work with smilies in real life, it needs something extra online

 

(eg the difference between me saying to someone "I hate you" and "I hate you" , or even "I hate you":newyear:)

Oh and about the apples....

 

and are faves of theirs

[hopelesscandy]

How positively delightful! These rules are very easy to adhere by, and just branching out into these forums, I feel welcome and safe. This seems to be a pretty nifty place.

 

: )

[lollipop_monkey]

How positively delightful! These rules are very easy to adhere by, and just branching out into these forums, I feel welcome and safe. This seems to be a pretty nifty place.

 

: )

 

Welcome! Feel free to introduce yourself here:

 

http://www.mikafanclub.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=3

 

And take a minute to read our FAQs in brown bar at the top of the site, if you haven't already done so.

 

And I must say - wow, you've certainly been lurking a while. I'm glad you've finally come out of the shadows!

[hopelesscandy]

Welcome! Feel free to introduce yourself here:

 

http://www.mikafanclub.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=3

 

And take a minute to read our FAQs in brown bar at the top of the site, if you haven't already done so.

 

And I must say - wow, you've certainly been lurking a while. I'm glad you've finally come out of the shadows!

 

Hey, it's never too late to jump out and join in the fun! It's time I did so. : )

 

Thanks again! I'm off to the introduction thread now...

[Juliem]

Thank you, I think this is very useful, don´t remember if I followed these rules for a 100%, but now that you mention, fans forget about MIKA´S BAND and STUFF or their families. We think of him as an extraordinary, superlative and extremely gorgeous:mf_lustslow: Human Being, but yeah, like or not, he´s just a singer, with a song (Freddie´s:punk:) maybe more....

Anyway, all manhood are called to sanctity!

Sorry, hallucinated that last night:shocked:

[Mikatching]

hiall,

 

Hey, hello...I'm from portugal, i'm new here, but i like it a lot...just found out about mx recently due to his summer festival concert in portugal...started browsing the net and found u guys...

[RAK1]

hiall,

 

Hey, hello...I'm from portugal, i'm new here, but i like it a lot...just found out about mx recently due to his summer festival concert in portugal...started browsing the net and found u guys...

Hi there, and welcome:wink2:.

If you go to the Introductions thread, you will get a lovely warm welcome from many other MFCers.

And check out the FAQ link for any questions you need the answers to.

[avoca]

Hi there, and welcome:wink2:.

If you go to the Introductions thread, you will get a lovely warm welcome from many other MFCers.

And check out the FAQ link for any questions you need the answers to.

 

rose, we shall add the tee with tails question to the faq ones..