Members
of Harry Potter for Grown Ups’ Movie list are requested to observe certain
rules of 'netiquette' and good practice, as outlined below. These rules were established for our book
discussion list, and they apply equally to the Movie list.
If you
wish to discuss the Harry Potter books, please join our main list:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups
Please
note that we have separate club areas for OT posts and Announcements:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-Announcements
Bear in
mind that the Moderators will be standing over you, flexing their wands and
eyeing
up that
box of Howlers sitting in the corner of the cyber-office. You may get the odd
advisory
e-owl from us if we think you're getting a bit unruly, and if you're really,
really naughty,
you may end up being turned into a ferret and getting bounced. Consider
yourselves
warned!
[Moderators
exit, stage left, cackling...]
CLICKABLE CONTENTS:
IF YOU HAVEN'T POSTED HERE BEFORE...
KEEP THE SUBJECT LINE RELEVANT TO THE CONTENT OF THE POST
CLEARLY DISTINGUISH YOUR OPINIONS/THEORIES FROM FACTS
TRY TO AVOID ONE-LINE AND ULTRA-SHORT POSTS
TAKE CARE WHEN RESPONDING TO POSTS
TAKE THE TIME TO PROOFREAD YOUR POSTS
BE CONSIDERATE OF OTHER MEMBERS' FEELINGS
It is
worth reading a few days' worth of messages before posting your own. You can do
this either by "lurking" (reading messages, but not writing them) for
a few days, or by going back through the most recent messages. This way, you'll
get a "feel" for the group, and you can make sure you're not
repeating something that has been posted recently by someone else.
Message
board conversations, like "real life" ones, will often drift from one
subject to another.
If the
subject line does not change to fit the direction of the conversation, it can
frustrate
the
reader.
When replying
to a message, please take the time to check the subject line and make sure it
still
matches your post. It isn't very
helpful if your post is headed, for example, "Digest #345" or "A
question."
If you
are expressing an opinion or espousing a pet theory, be sure that the other
readers will
recognize
it as an opinion or theory. Using phrases such as IMO (in my opinion), "I
believe,"
"This
is all speculation but I think ....," etc. will make it clear that your
statements are not
necessarily
based on facts from the books (canon) or movies (movie-canon). It can be very
confusing for everyone if someone
puts
forth a theory without any qualifying language.
In such
a large and active group, it's easy for discussions to go off on a tangent. If
a couple
of you
find something in common other than Harry Potter, wonderful! Getting to know
people is,
perhaps,
the best thing about clubs. But if you find your discussion getting away from
the main
point
of the club, please continue it off-list.
Please
take a moment to think about the following guidelines on short posts:-
-- Consider expanding on your point. For example, if you are
posing a question about the HP movies
("What about so-and-so?"), could you add some thoughts
of your own to lead off any discussion?
-- Consider combining your shorter points/responses with a few
others in a multi-topic post, making
sure the topic line indicates this. However, if your point is
substantive (or just plain lengthy),
it is best to give it space on its own to make the thread easier
to follow.
-- Avoid "me too!" and "LOL!" posts that have
absolutely no other content.
Sometimes
a brief response is perfectly acceptable; for example, if you are correcting an
error
someone
has made that might be of general interest.
If you
are replying to a message, please indicate the name of the person who wrote the
original
and
include any relevant segments of their post, or a brief summary of their
point(s). At the
same
time, please try to delete any parts of the original post that are not relevant
to your
point(s),
especially if the original was really long! Please avoid putting your reply at
the end
of a
very long quoted segment unless absolutely necessary. In most cases, it will be
easy enough
to
delete some or all of the quoted material.
Remember,
also, that if you respond in a fresh post rather than using the 'reply' button,
your
response
will not appear in the "replies to this message" in any search. In
general, if someone
asks a
question that has a unique answer, please try to check through the message
headers to see
if
anyone else has responded to it before posting the answer. It's understandable
that several
people
may dash off a response just after the original message, but there should be no
need for
further
posts after that.
If
you're used to forums where speed is important (chat rooms, role playing games,
etc.), it's
easy to
fall out of the habit of proofreading. Here, however, your post will be as
relevant in
five
minutes (or, usually, even in five hours) as it is now.
Before hitting
the 'send' button, please take a few minutes to look over your post and correct
any
typos,
spelling/punctuation errors, or problems with sentence structure or
capitalization. This
will
make it much easier to read and help in getting across your point.
Please
avoid using all lower case letters or, worse still, all CAPITAL LETTERS.
If you
disagree with someone's message, no matter how strongly, remember to respect
the other
person's
right to his or her own opinion. If you do wish to refute the post, do so
gently, by
building
up your own case, rather than just knocking down the other person's. And never
attack
your
fellow club members (name calling, personal remarks, etc).
Thanks!!
From your Magical Moderators
HPforGrownups-owner@yahoogroups.com