Disappearing Moment Perpetual August Community Guidelines and Content Policy
Welcome to Disappearing Moment's Perpetual August! This is where Disappearing Moment readers communicate with each other.
Community Guidelines
Disappearing Moment readers come from different countries, speak different languages, and represent different races, gender identities, sexualities, nationalities, cultures, religions, abilities, ages, incomes, immigration statuses, levels of education, and life experiences. When you post your ideas at Perpetual August, you agree to model the behavior you hope to see from others, treat them the way they wish to be treated, and follow these guidelines:
- Allow Others to Express Themselves
Think about what other people have to say. While it is OK to disagree, make space for others to speak about their experience. Keep the conversation on topic. Avoid turning the conversation into a discussion with specific people. If you see something that you find offensive or inappropriate, flag it for moderation and engage with the content of the post instead.
- Do Not Speak for Others
Speak from your own experience and perspective. Say things you genuinely mean (rather than using irony or sarcasm). Avoid downplaying a problem because it is not a problem for you. Avoid speaking on behalf of other people and discussing their experience like an academic topic; invite them to speak for themselves!
- Be Considerate and Respectful
Perpetual August is for conversation, not combat; add your own informed perspective and nuance instead of shutting others down. Extend goodwill in conversations and earn the goodwill that others are extending to you. Listen if someone says they are upset and be willing to apologize and step back.
- Be Sensitive to Context
Read a thread before commenting. Engage with what people mean (from the Hacker News Guidelines, “respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize”). Respond to people's mood and investment in a topic. Refrain from making light jokes in a serious discussion. Avoid analogies or hypotheticals in charged discussions (these can ignore or distort the context of the conversation).
- Be Aware of Your Privilege
Recognize your positionality. Be aware of how much space you are occupying in a discussion and avoid exclusionary or insensitive statements that can harm or alienate other people. Take active care to avoid making a conversation about yourself or diverting the topic (intentionally or accidentally), and be mindful when systemic power is involved (e.g., race, class, gender). Remember that each person has different stakes and direct experience in a conversation.
- Be Mindful of Microaggressions
Use each person’s correct name, gender, and pronouns. Be respectful. Do not exoticize or joke about another culture's touchstones (e.g., names, food, language, and religious concepts). Avoid stereotypes and outdated terms. Believe people about their own experiences. MetaFilter has a guide that describes microaggressions and ways to avoid perpetuating them.
- Accept Feedback Gracefully
Be willing to listen and apologize if someone says you have said something hurtful. If someone criticizes your ideas or statements, or points out harmful impacts, it is not a personal attack. Remember that you can do harm without intending to hurt anyone. Sometimes you need to take a step back and let the conversation progress.
- Use Content Warnings
If you are posting something that is not safe for work, or any other sensitive content, please include a content warning. Moderators may add content warnings if the poster does not include them.
Content Policy
At Perpetual August, we want every Disappearing Moment reader to feel welcome. We encourage open conversations and value the different contributions that make this community positive and dynamic.
In order to keep the discussions here healthy, we have adopted this Content Policy to describe the types of content and behavior that are considered inappropriate. Engaging in these behaviors may lead to removal of content, warnings, or having your account banned.
The following types of content or behavior will not be tolerated:
- Hateful or Insensitive Content
Perpetual August is an inclusive space. Avoid: posting racial slurs or stereotypes; deliberately misgendering or misnaming others; questioning the existence or validity of trans identities or other racist, misogynist, homophobic, transphobic, ageist, ableist or otherwise hateful speech. This includes making hateful or insensitive statements ironically or sarcastically, or linking to hateful sources (authors or websites).
- Name Calling
Avoid name calling or cursing at others in a conversation. (Pointing out that a statement is inappropriate or otherwise problematic is not name calling.) In general, cursing is OK; cursing at someone else is unacceptable.
- Trolling
Do not make posts or comments solely intended to upset, attack others, or provoke an angry response.
- Doxxing
Do not post someone else's personal information without their consent. If someone has not explicitly and intentionally brought their personal information into a public discussion, do not make that decision for them.
- Hacking, Impersonation, or Misrepresentation
Do not compromise or access another person's account. Do not pretend to be somebody else.
- Stalking or Harassment
Any unwanted and persistent attention or otherwise creepy behavior that makes other members uncomfortable is not allowed. This includes contacting someone after they have said they do not want you to contact them.
- Discrimination
We do not permit any type of discrimination or offensive content based on (but not limited to) age, appearance, body shape, ethnicity, disability, gender identity, race, religion, or sexual orientation. This includes demanding that members provide information about their identity.
- Spamming
Members may not post or advertise unsolicited commercial or promotional content. This includes self-promotion or funding campaigns.
- AI-generated Content
Perpetual August values its members’ knowledge and wisdom. While conversations about AI are acceptable, it is not appropriate to use large language models (LLM) or other Generative AI tools to write comments and posts for you. A moderator will likely remove these comments or posts, except in rare cases (e.g., someone asks for an example of LLM content).
- Violence
While it can be acceptable to talk in critical terms about people's words, do not cross the line into threats of violence or wishing harm on other people.
Want to Tell Us about a Problem?
If you want to report a post or comment, please click the flag icon to bring it to a moderator's attention. As moderators, we recognize that we have areas of ignorance: you can let us know if there is a problem we may not recognize by contacting us directly.
Creative Commons License
This work is based on MetaFilter's Community Guidelines and Content Policy, and uses the same license: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
