My comments policy is pretty straightforward, and based on four main principles.

  1. Don’t be a jerk. Don’t be a jerk to me, don’t be a jerk to anyone else. Shouldn’t really be that hard, we’re all here for the same reason after all. Any kind of name-calling would be jerk behaviour from my point of view.
  2. Stay on topic, more or less. I don’t mind digressing a bit, but try to stay at least nominally focused on the stories and whatever issues they might bring up.
  3. Don’t be racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, or bigoted in any other way. Zero tolerance on this one.
  4. This should be pretty obvious, but no spam. I don’t really care how you make piles of money working at home, or where you get designer kitchens in Cornwall, UK (I’ve really seen this one). That stuff gets deleted on sight.

Generally speaking, if I think you’re redeemable at all, especially in the first two points, I’ll give a warning or try to communicate. But I don’t guarantee it, so if you’re too much of a jerk or a jerk who seems like they won’t respond to discussion, then you’re out and so are your messages. I don’t really care about your free speech or whatever.

Oh, and be careful about links. I do have a spam filter, and some of them get touchy about those. I try to keep an eye on it, but can’t guarantee being there right away or anything.

Otherwise, have fun!