Twenty Simple Rules for Posting On My Book Forum

[author_by_night]

Earlier, I had a post on board etiquette... have taken it down because I felt there needed to be changes. So I've made them. ;)

I do want to note that I don't actually have a messageboard for books, but I go to many. And I wanted to play on the title "Eight Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter." ;)  I also want to note that these do not just apply to book forums, but all forums - I simply go to book forums more so than other forums, so I had a bit more to say specifically on that.

So:

 

Twenty Simple Rules for Posting on My Book Forum

  

 

1. When does the next book come out? We don’t know. But when we do know, you’ll also know, because it will be very obvious. There will be spoiler warnings everywhere, moderator/admin posts about making spoiler warnings, and the release date will be at the top of every page on the site.
2. When posting a topic, make sure it fits the forum’s title. For cases in which you are told it doesn’t, see #6.
3. Also check the first two pages to make sure there is not already a thread for your topic. Again, for cases in which you are told there is already a thread and you are deeply offended, see #6.
4. We don’t do your homework for you. We’ll help you understand something, because even those of us reading the books outside of a school assignment have questions, but we don’t write papers, answer a set of questions you don’t need to have read further than the first page to know the answer to, or agree that said book is stupid.
5. Don’t use chatspeak if you want to be taken seriously. Nor ALL CAPS. If you feel you "can’t spell," still refrain from using chatspeak – people can read poor spelling, and few members will claim to have won every spelling bee out there. However, we cannot read chatspeak. If you want further evidence, translate the following sentence in less than five seconds: “Tho u no, I $33 y he d1d tht.”

6. Don’t use dramatic subject lines just to get attention. Remember The Boy Who Cried Wolf? Yeah. Exactly.
7. If someone politely corrects you, saying your topic is in the wrong forum or that there’s already a thread, there is no need to throw a tantrum. We are not criticizing you as a person. We are not saying you deserve to be melted by an airborne girl wearing your sister’s shoes. We are making a correction. If you wish to contest the correction, do so without being obnoxious.
8. Nobody wants to know your personal information. Please, no details on your sex life, your bowel movements, or anything else.
9. In general, random isn’t always good. The general response to things like “hehe, the guy I like smiled at me” and “all they had was vanilla ice cream, booo!” will be: “… who cares?” That sort of thing is precisely what Livejournal, MySpace, Blogspot and IM conversations are for.
10. Don’t feed the troll. Of course, this rule is null and void if this troll is fun. (I’ve come across fun trolls.)
11. Also don’t feed the spambots; they’ll feed you spam.
12. This is the internet, and it’s important to remember that with the lack of facial expression and tone, things can be easily misunderstood. Also, the language spoken at the board is not necessarily everyone’s first language. Please read carefully before deciding someone said something they didn’t.
13. If you think the book(s) we like pave(s) the path to hell, don’t come near us. We’ll just use up all your garlic and sell your Bible to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears.
14. If you bump the thread you started five minutes after posting it, and keep bumping it for the next half hour because “nobody replied yet!”, guess what? The only replies you’ll get will be irritable ones. Be patient.
15. Don’t kill the newbies. Just link them to this. We’ve all been new, and we’ve all needed gentle reminders of the rules.
16. Mentioning your full name and address is a Bad Idea. Not everyone going onto the forums is 100% trustworthy. There are creeps out there.
17. That said, lying about significant things is also a Bad Idea. You are entitled to give people rough ideas of where you live – those of us in New York City and Toronto probably really live in suburbs like Oceanside and Oakville. But saying you are a sixteen year old in Dallas when you’re really a twenty two year old in London is going to look bad, even though you were probably just having fun.
18. “I’m leaving!” threats don’t work. If the forum is honestly filled with horrible people, (that can and will happen), chances are you’re not doing any good by letting yourself get upset. Full House scenarios where everyone apologizes and hugs are fictional and unrealistic.
19. “Bad day” is not ever an excuse for being a jerk unless your bad day consisted of being sent to a mental hospital by your therapist, being attacked by a demon in your kitchen, being attacked by a cave lioness, or finding out your godfather killed your parents.  Apologies will usually be accepted, of course; excuses alone will rarely be accepted.
20. Do not let this list scare you away from ever posting on a messageboard again. Most of us really are generally decent… as long as you  keep these rules in mind. ;)

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Comments

[famousdeaths.livejournal.com]

[here via metafandom]

or finding out your godfather killed your parents.
Hey! He was innocent! ;)

Ok, so you don't know me, but I wanted to ask you if you could rec me a good book forum. The ones I know get minimal traffic or were invaded by "help!!!1" topics.

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

Hey! He was innocent! ;)

True, but doesn't "finding out your godfather killed your parents" sound far more melodramatic than "finding out your godfather didn't kill your parents?" ;)

I know of a few good book forums... I suppose it depends on your fandom. For Harry Potter, I like Sugar Quill.net's forums and PhoenixSong's forums, and for Earth's Children, I like the ecfans.com forums.

Does that help?