Our Community Guidelines

Lighthouse Hockey Community Standards & Gudelines

Updated October 8, 2010

Don't tell the SBN hosts, but my goal for Lighthouse Hockey is not traffic.

Long-time readers would probably agree that I have never sought to build this site through cheap traffic-boosting gimmicks. (Hence no boob shots (sadly), no misleading headlines, no proliferation of "10 Secrets that will Win Your Fantasy League" type of posts -- hopefully not too many posts you felt just wasted your time for a cheap click.)

The reasoning is purely selfish: I wanted to build a community of readers and contributors that I liked to virtually hang around with. People who are fond of a certain kind of tone, a certain kind of cordial dialogue about hockey, a willingness to test each other's opinions respectfully, with a tolerance for bizarre humor a must.

In a word, I wanted this place to build organically: slowly and naturally. To that end it's been a success, which is why I've never had to post Community Guidelines before. People have always acted according to their judgment, which is ideal.

But with a fresh season comes a surge of new members and traffic, so I wanted to set some basic Community Standards that new members can look to and all of us can follow. I hope you'll find them reasonable and, if not, you'll at least understand where I'm coming from. For people who have been around here a long time, this isn't a change in policy from how we've done it, but rather a codification of the boundaries. Here goes:

Watch, Assess, then Participate

New members are welcome to comment as soon as you sign up and are able. HOWEVER: If you're new and your first post/comment is just a rant or criticism of another commenter, maybe take a step back and get the lay of the land first. A first impression like that might turn others off, since they don't know you and if you're not communicating clearly and precisely, that might make them not want to bother. There are no cliques here, but some people know each other better than others, so they can get away with harsher jabs and satire with each other that might appear to test these guidelines, because their rapport here is established and they know no harm is intended.

Debates vs. Personal Attacks

The golden rule here is: Don't say anything to another commenter here that you wouldn't say to Trevor Gillies' face. While this rule is intended to keep a civil tone here, it actually has a much higher purpose: The less people attack each other or drag the conversation down into petty flaming, the better the discussion remains, and the more likely intelligent people are to comment here and stay. So debate opinions all you want, but don't engage in personal attacks on community members, directly or through sarcasm/belittling, e.g., "You're an idiot," "You're just clueless and exactly like the fools who think X." "You know nothing about hockey," etc. Criticize opinions, not people. Use evidence.

The "community brotherhood/we're all a lovable dysfunctional family" caveat: One of the nice things about this community is people start to know each other and, in turn, can give each other the business like old buddies busting each other up at the bar. If you see an exchange that makes you uncomfortable, it might be one of those. Don't mimic it unless, again, you have an existing rapport with your counterpart.

Forbidden Topics

My instinct is to say no topic is off limits, but I know that is Bad Idea Jeans. You just can't keep the reins on an Internet forum that way. Consequently, it's better if we all avoid the following (with rare exceptions at moderators' discretion, or in truly genius works of parody):

Harassing/Baiting of users, e.g., "The Islanders suck and will never get better" posted 10 times in 3 minutes, etc.

Intolerance/Discrimination: Comments that are intolerant or prejudiced (sexist, racist, homophobic, etc.) in nature are not tolerated and simply not welcome here. We can all quip about our heritage (I will sometimes rib my Czech family, for example), but you should know the difference between that and hate speech. Cultural differences are fun; blanket aggressive statements directed at a gender/race/sexuality are tacky.

Politics: Just don't go there, unless it's an obvious comedic theme that illustrates your point/metaphor/satire. (e.g. Don't care who you support, saying "Bettman to Campbell: 'Heckuva job, Collie'" is funny and harmless, and not really about politics anyway. Likewise "McSorley to Bullard: 'I didn't impale.'")

Personal Attacks on Members: Enough said.

Profanity

Far, far more effective in select doses. An accessory, not a meat. I'm not censorship-inclined, and I respect that adults use profanity (I'll sometimes use it here, albeit rarely) -- but I also understand that some people have no place for it. In communication, we need a happy medium. So NEVER use profanity in FanPost/FanShot headlines. DON'T put it in the subject line of comments. Please don't use it above the story jump in your FanPosts (if you need to use it that soon, you might need to step back and take a breath).

If you ever feel the need to use it -- it can happen particularly in game threads when emotions run high -- just don't go crazy with a profanity-laced tirade. We're not the censoring type, but we reserve the right to delete comments that are nothing but sailor-worthy cussing tirades.

If you can't go three comments without F-bombing the world, you'll be warned and then dealt with in a decreasingly patient manner.

Understand that when there's profanity in your comment or post, you are asking for much more scrutiny from moderators.

User Names

Obviously don't pick a foul/profane username, since your username appears as a byline everywhere you participate.

Also: Stick to one user name. If you desire to change your name, just let me know. I can have SBN mods change your username pretty quickly. Your name here is attached to your profile interests (if you provided them) and more importantly your comment history. That helps others know you and understand what you're about. It improves communication. (e.g. "Oh, he's a Mets fan stung by tonight's loss; I'll cut him some slack.") If you create multiple usernames for the purpose of trolling or deception, the Danish Backhand of Judgment will rule swiftly on your fate. Don't do it.

Advertising/Self-Promotion

If you want to advertise on the site, contact me and I might actually make enough to pay a bar tab off this place. Otherwise, anything created for the sole purpose of advertising commercial services will be deleted and likely result in your banning.

Consequences for Violating Lighthouse Hockey's Community Guidelines

Complaints about possible violations of the Community Guidelines should be directed to Dominik or another mod for review and consideration. Most of the mods' email addresses are accessible at the bottom of every page.

Lighthouse Hockey will aim to balance a high tolerance for the importance of free speech (and humor!) with low tolerance for minor or petty complaints. Here is the general procedure; there may be exceptions to this, at my sole discretion:

1. If you think a violation has occurred and it troubles you, either contact me, flag the post, or mention it in the thread. I will then deal with it in private, hopefully finding a meeting of the minds.
2. If multiple violations are made by the same user, I reserve the right to take more serious action, anywhere from a stern talking-to to, as last resort, a ban.
3. Seriously, people: I don't want to play babysitter nor bring out the banhammer. I just want to maintain a fun site. The latter desire takes priority though, so if you are a nuisance you'll either change or be gone.

Finally, please realize the purpose of these guidelines is to maintain a fun, witty, smart environment at Lighthouse Hockey with a tolerance for the bizarre and wacky to lighten the mood. This is just sports. It's for amusement. Respect these goals and your fellow members, and all will be fine.

Now that you've made it through all of that, you can check out the FanPost/FanShot tutorial when you're ready to add your own posts to the discussion.