Posting Rules and Guidelines - How to be Excellent to Each Other

This thread will outline how to post on r/BitcoinDiscussion. If you are wondering about what content is appropriate, please refer to the sidebar.

This will have two lists: rules and guidelines. The rules are strictly enforced. The guidelines are not strictly enforced, but are highly recommended.

Let's get into it.

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RULES

0 - Be nice. Pretty much everything else falls under this.

1 - No personal attacks or insults.

2 - No racism or sexism.

3 - No mean-spirited jokes or sarcasm. Humor can certainly be constructive to a debate, but in our space this is acceptable if and only if it is crystal clear that it is not meant to be at your fellow user's expense.

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GUIDELINES

0 - Keep it rational. Keep it friendly. Everything else is a subset of this.

1 - Avoid logical fallacies.

2 - Use the principle of charity.

3 - Make a genuine effort to understand others' point of view.

4 - Take pains not to misrepresent others' positions. We'd put this in 'rules' but it gets hard to enforce because it can happen accidentally.

5 - Highlight commonalities. We're all on team Bitcoin, but it can be easy to forget this in disputes. If you find a point of agreement, say so.

6 - Be humble and gracious. If someone who you disagree with makes a good point, acknowledge it. If you think you've made an error, admit as much. It will make it much easier for others to do the same for you.

7 - Frame conversations not as debates with a winner/loser, but rather as two (or more) people trying to get closer to a solution, or to the truth.

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MODERATION

If you break the rules, you will have your comment deleted. It will remain visible that the comment has been deleted, and the moderator doing so will publicly reply to it explaining the reason for deletion. Repeating violations will result in a suspension from the sub. Any violations after your first ban will result in continuously lengthier suspensions.

Even though the guidelines are not strictly enforced, it is in your own best interests to follow them. If you do so, you will not only be able to make your points more palatable to those on the fence or initially disagreeing with you, but you will also be less tempted to get drawn into a spat where the rules get broken, and conversation breaks down.

Also, in situations where there is a grey area or something is really walking the line, the moderation team will make an effort to be much more lenient to a user who has a history of following the guidelines to the best of his/her ability.

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If you have any feedback, please let us know below. We would be happy to add or subtract points from this thread if we feel it would be beneficial.

Thanks for reading, and happy posting.