Talking Chop Community Guidelines

Free Speech at Talking Chop

At Talking Chop, we believe strongly in free speech and in having a diversity of people participating, and sharing ideas that are relevant to the community. As a TC member you are, in general, free to express your opinion without fear of retribution. The diversity of personalities, beliefs, and styles is exactly what makes TC the strong and vibrant community it is. We want to make TC is free and open to everyone interested in the Braves.

Under normal circumstances posts will not be deleted or censored in any way, shape or form unless it is a blatant violation of these guidelines. However, in such cases, Talking Chop reserves the right to delete posts without notice.

Since TC is a community, you should know that free speech does not mean the right to say what you want, when you want, and how you want without being sensitive to, and respectful towards, individuals and the community as a whole. In a community, speech is not completely free as it comes with responsibility.

The following are simply not acceptable on TC (excepting, in some cases, for obvious humor between people with an existing rapport) and are subject to sanction as outlined below:

1. Excessive profanity is not permitted. As most of us are adults, and in sports profanity can be common, it is allowed in small doses. Just don't go over the top with a F-bomb-laden tirade. You may not put any cuss words in your signature.
   
2. Creating multiple user names for the purpose of trolling or disrupting the community is not permitted. Persons creating such user names will have those names banned and/or deleted without notice. Similarly, posts made for such purposes will also be subject to deletion without notice.
3. Posts created for the sole purpose of advertising or other commercial purposes will be deleted without notice.
4. Posts created in any part for the airing of grievances about this site.
5. Personal attacks on community members, directly or through sarcasm/belittling, e.g., "You're an idiot", "You don't know what you’re talking about, moron", "Apparently, you've never seen a baseball game, or you'd know?", "My Chihuahua knows more about baseball than you do", etc.
6. Comments that are intolerant or prejudiced (sexist, racist, homophobic, etc.) in nature, e.g., "Why don't you go play with your dolls?", "The Braves shouldn’t sign black players", "Doesn't Francoeur look like a fag?", etc.
7. Harassing/Baiting of users, e.g., "The Braves will never win this game" posted 10 times in 3 minutes, etc.
8. Comments that bring politics into TC (which is a non-political blog), e.g., "Obama/Bush/Clinton ruined this country by", "Check out this link about the war in Iraq," etc. That said, you may occasionally see a political advertisement on TC. Running such ads does not imply an endorsement of the candidate or views expressed in the ad, just as any such ad on a television station or network or in a newspaper does not imply endorsement by such an entity. Editorial and advertising at TC are separate, and I do not have control over advertising.

Consequences for Violating Talking Chop's Community Guidelines

Complaints about possible violations of the Community Guidelines should be directed to any of the Authors/Moderators listed at the bottom of the page for review and consideration. My email address is available by clicking on the envelope next to my name (gondeee) at the bottom of every TC page. Feel free to contact me at any time for any reason.

Talking Chop will aim to balance a high tolerance for the importance of free speech and low tolerance for minor or petty complaints, with enforcement of the stated guidelines on behalf of the entire TC community. Here is the general procedure; there may be exceptions to this, at my sole discretion:

1. If you think a violation has occurred, either contact me, flag the post, or mention it in the thread. I will then contact the offending user privately, either by email or by issuing a formal warning on the site. No other action will be taken.
2. If a second violation is made by the same user, I reserve the right to take more serious action, up to and including a temporary ban (i.e., asking you to stay away for a few days).
3. A third violation through this process means some sort of action will definitely be taken. That might be as simple as another temporary ban -- or, it might result in you being permanently banned from TC.

If it seems clear that your primary motive is disrupting and/or upsetting specific individuals or the community as a whole, then, as noted above, TC reserves the right to ban you before going through this process.

Finally, please don't take any of these guidelines to mean that I am "clamping the hammer down" or any such thing. As noted above, TC is intended to be a place for freewheeling exchange of ideas about the Braves and baseball. Almost anything goes, if you are respectful of others.

FanPosts and FanShots

The guidelines for posting a FanPost are:

• A FanPost must be at least 75 words long or it is considered to be unsubstantial and will not be accepted by the site.
• A FanPost must in some way belong on TC -- in other words, it must relate to the Braves or to baseball or to TC or to an existing thread, etc.
• If you feel you must post something off topic, prelude your post title with "OT".
  
• It is not permitted to use FanPosts, FanShots, or comments for advertising. Anything posted in a FanPost, FanShot, or comments that contains commercial advertising is subject to deletion without notice.
  
• That said, advertising your own personal site in your signature is okay. In fact, if you have a related site, it is encouraged. (Unless of course your name is bigjoe and you choose to have 20 links in your signature.)
  

Tips on writing good posts:

Some of the qualities that the most popular FanPosts often have in common are:

• They expand upon the main idea with supporting examples, or statistical data, or a link to a relevant article, or a "thinking question" for others to consider, etc. -- something beyond just the main idea itself. Don’t just post a large quote from an article and say "What do you think?" Post your own opinion, too.
• They explore a topic, idea, or question that has not been explored recently, or at all, at TC. Please check both the FanPost and FanShot recent post lists to see if your topic is already being discussed.

Keep in mind that if your post contains only one point or idea that is not developed, expanded on, or supported with arguments or data, it is really not a FanPost -- it is a comment that should be posted in an existing thread, or posted as a FanShot. For more information on how to construct your posts, please see this post containing some suggestions and ideas on FanPosts and FanShots.

Disclaimer: These guidelines are intended to help you understand the policies, procedures, and processes generally used by Talking Chop. While you are using TC, which is a part of SB Nation, you are also subject to the SB Nation Terms of Use. Also, please take note of the SB Nation Privacy Policy, to which this site subscribes. Both of the above links are also available at the bottom of TC's front page. Finally, it is entirely at our discretion as to how to interpret and implement these guidelines, which are subject to change at any time without notice... it's kind of like Facebook in that regard... :)