In the spirit of the Ancient Greek Agora, we invite you to join our vibrant community - a contemporary meeting place for the exchange of ideas, inspired by the practices of old. Just as the Agora served as the heart of public life in Ancient Athens, our platform is designed to be the epicenter of meaningful discussion and thought-provoking dialogue.
Here, you are encouraged to speak your mind, share your insights, and engage in stimulating discussions. This is your opportunity to shape and influence our collective journey, just like the free citizens of Athens who gathered at the Agora to make significant decisions that impacted their society.
You're not alone in your quest for knowledge and understanding. In this community, you'll find support from like-minded individuals who, like you, are eager to explore new perspectives, challenge their preconceptions, and grow intellectually.
Remember, every voice matters and your contribution can make a difference. We believe that through open dialogue, mutual respect, and a shared commitment to discovery, we can foster a community that embodies the democratic spirit of the Agora in our modern world.
Community guidelines
New posts should begin with one of the following:
Only moderators may create a [Vote] post.
I disagree. Is your point that it's "uncivilized"? Personally, I don't mind whatever language anyone uses in this community, unless they're verbally attacking another user which I think should be handled by mods like any other forum.
Edit: calls to violence and bigotry should be handled by mods too
Edit2: Also, the word shit, one most would consider "vulgar", is in the instance name, so it's kinda ridiculous to want to ban such words from this community
Also, the word shit, one most would consider “vulgar”, is in the instance name, so it’s kinda ridiculous to want to ban such words from this community
Yes, I don't care about vulgarity (hell I'm a repeat offender myself), but I agree with OP that overly obscene comments don't have their place in this kind of "serious" community.
Where do we draw the line for "overly obscene"? And is this even a problem? Can I see a link to an example?
Where do we draw the line for "overly obscene"?
When it gets to the point that it elicits a strong emotional response and it derails the conversation I guess? But then it would amount to trolling, which is already discouraged on this community?
And is this even a problem?
Don't think so, I was speaking in the abstract, but I guess it could become one if the instance becomes more popular.
Whose strong emotional response? If it were a rule that users should be civil to each other, or that we need to stay on topic for the post, I'd agree since those are I think more easy to delineate. But if I just use a word you don't like, and it's not a slur or targetting hate at you or anyone else, I don't think it should be against the rules.
Rule number 1 for the instance is "Be respectful..." which I think covers most cases here.
It's possible to be respectful while using "vulgar" language and vice versa etc.
Yeah, I'm not sure I agree.
Definitely understand your point, but this is the internet after all. Will I be reprimanded if I use "fucking" or "shit" to really make a point I'm passionate about? Is it okay if the context is alright? Is it bad if I use 2 curse words but 1 is okay? Who's to say?
Context will be big. Straight up vulgar, hateful speech is already not allowed, so I don't think we need to add to it unnecessarily.
The problem here, as many have already stated, is that this is a very subjective proposal. And it is very hard to codify a rule based on a subjective. What you consider vulgar or obscene my not be close to crossing the line for me. Rules need to be objective in nature. They need to have the ability to have clear set guidelines that mean the same thing to everyone.
It is similar to the old argument about porn. What is porn? I've seen artistic photographs of nudity and I have seen porn. But where is that line drawn? That line is going to be somewhere different depending on the person. There are those that would say any photograph or video where the subject is nude is pornographic. Some would say only if there is a depiction of a sexual act, it is pornographic. And there are a lot of people that fall between those two and go further to the extremes in either direction. In that case, you cannot easily write an objective rule that everyone will interpret the same way. You could, say, write a rule about not having any depictions of nudity. That is more objective. Still not perfect...because what if it's just one breast but the subject is otherwise clothed?
Anyway, this is getting way more wordy than I intended. The TL;DR is that trying to codify a subjective rule is both difficult and a really bad idea because no two people will interpret the rule in the same way. We need to focus on objective rules that leave little-to-no room for misinterpretation and solve or prevent actual problems.
But this is a great discussion on civility guidelines and I do think we need some of those. Though, again, they will likely have to be somewhat vague because of the subjectiveness of it all.
Nay, much too subjective
I think vulgarity / obscene language is a pretty objective category. As opposed to 'keep things constructive' which can be interpreted in a variety of ways.
You will not be reprimanded for using bad language. But don't engage in personal attacks.
Calling someone an idiot isn't a useful way to have a conversation. Be respectful, super fucking respectful if you can manage it.
at the moment i'm not a fan of the idea.
....
but i love the mental image of some kind of John Bercow Bot shouting "ORDEEER!" at people if things get out of hand
this is required in the near future, IMO, if this community is to have any value at all!
What the fuck?
😉