/meta/ - site discussion

July 14, 2015

Minimum age

The minimum age to use the site is now 16. It was previously 14.

July 15, 2015

Personal armies

A new global rule has been added:

>6. Do not try to use lolcowchan as your personal army.

This means what it sounds like. Don't post a thread about someone with false or misleading information, or a thread about someone you know personally who is not of much interest to the community, with the intent to attack this person or harm their reputation in some way. This rule will only be enforced in blatant and egregious cases, not simply for making a thread about someone who staff and users don't consider to be lolcows.

July 15, 2015

/pt/ thread criteria

The /pt/ guideline for new threads has been adjusted to make it explicit that not only must you post evidence, but staff reserve the right to move your thread if they don't consider your evidence good enough to prove the person is a lolcow. I've italicized the changed sentence.

>If you are posting a new thread about someone who isn't widely known, and there are no previous threads about this person, then in the OP you need to include an explanation of why you consider them to be a lolcow. You should include links, pictures, videos, screenshots, quotes, or other evidence. If you do not do this, or if lolcow staff deems your evidence insufficient, incorrect, or irrelevant, then your thread will likely be moved to /b/.

Additionally, I added a new paragraph to clarify that not all threads necessarily have to be about lolcows. They can be about figures of interest who may have been considered lolcows at one point but now may not be. This rule only applies to people who are very well known in this community and similar communities.

>Threads about well-known figures who have been discussed heavily in the past but may not currently be considered lolcows, such as Dakota, may be posted in some cases. This typically only applies to people near-universally known to communities like ours.

July 16, 2015

Auto thread locking

This isn't exactly a rule change, but:

Threads will now automatically lock shortly after the bump max of 1200 posts has been reached.

This will encourage people to make new threads without letting the thread slide around and get lost in the later pages. It will also prevent people less familiar with the site finding perma-sage'd threads and making posts on the last pages which few people will likely ever read.

July 19, 2015

Race discussion ban

(As with all rule changes, this rule change can be discussed here >>1023)

Discussions of race and ethnicity are now banned in /pt/, unless the posts are 1) very relevant to the thread and the discussion, 2) not hostile, inflammatory, accusatory, or targeted at other posters, and 3) as objective as possible. Even in those cases, such posts should be made infrequently, and you should not post about it in a particular thread multiple times over short periods. This also applies to blanket stereotypes suggesting that a certain culture or nation is superior/inferior, or good/bad.

This ban is in place purely to reduce the chance of threads quickly derailing into off-topic arguing, bickering, and spamming. Race discussions are banned for pragmatic, not moral or intellectual, reasons. I think people should be free to discuss these things, but they're simply too prone to causing major derailments.

This does not apply to mere use of controversial language, so long as the language is obviously not intended to make a racial statement. For example, saying "shut up nigger" as a general insult when the target's race is unknown or not black would not be considered a racial remark. Exceptions will also be made for certain non-serious replies like >>>/pt/139716

Race discussions are universally banned in /g/ with no exceptions.

It also applies to /b/, with some exceptions. The ban applies to /b/ threads which are not dedicated to race topics, but the rule will be enforced somewhat less harshly. However, generally speaking, you should not make a hostile or off-topic racial comment in a /b/ thread if the thread is not about race.

/b/ may be used to host race "containment threads" where people can say whatever they like freely without any sort of moderation (as long as global rules are obeyed). There are already some threads like that, and it is recommended that you choose one of those threads rather than making a new one. You may make a new /b/ thread to discuss race or ethnicity if 1) all of the existing threads do not sufficiently cover what you want to discuss, and 2) there has not been another race thread made recently. Please carefully check the catalog before deciding to make a new thread, and make sure a new thread is truly needed.

If you're in /pt/ and really feel the need to make some sort of comment related to race, you should probably find one of the existing /b/ threads, link to the /pt/ post you're replying to, and keep the new discussion in /b/.

July 21, 2015

No more samefag refutation

Some posters occasionally request that I confirm they are or aren't a certain person, or aren't a samefag. I actually already mentioned this a month or so ago, but: I will no longer reply to these requests and have not responded to one in some time.

I've done so a few times previously, but 1) it's time-consuming for me, and 2) it eliminates some of the point of having an anonymous imageboard with no IDs. Particularly, there are currently no rules that disallow samefagging on any board (unless the samefagging is done to break one of the global rules, such as the rules against personal armies and deceiving lolcow staff).

Every time a non-samefag makes this request and I confirm they are not a samefag, I am effectively helping the community "cheat" and potentially figure out who samefags are by looking at the ones who do not make such requests.

Some form of poster IDs may be added at some point. But at this current time, samefagging, by itself, is still not against the rules, and I will not doing anything to prevent it. Samefagging is taken into consideration when deciding whether to move a thread from /pt/ to /b/, but even in those cases, the fact that someone was samefagging is not revealed publicly.

August 23, 2015

/snow/

An experimental new board, /snow/, has been created. See >>>/snow/1 for details.

September 30, 2015

Minimum age is now 18

People have occasionally brought up the issue of minors potentially being exposed to nude pictures on this website, which is illegal in the US.

This site is not based anywhere near the US, and this is also a law I don't really agree with. However, to reduce liability, it is probably a good idea to make 18 the new minimum age to read or post on the website.

This could also address occasional issues of 16-17 year old shitposters. Most issues I've seen were with posters who claimed to be 14-15, with only one issue I can think of regarding a 16-year-old poster. But it certainly can't hurt.

If you state or imply you are under 18, I have no option but to permanently ban you. (If you later turn 18 and can prove it, I may unban you.)

October 17, 2015

Weight derailment

Staff are going to take a somewhat more active role in moderating thread derailment. Specifically, derailment related to weight discussions.

Anyone who posts excessive amounts of unnecessary information about themselves (weight, calorie intake, waist size) in an off-topic manner (especially in /pt/ or /snow/) may be tagged with a sticker and warned. This applies to /g/ to a lesser extent, and does not apply to /b/.

Other forms of overly off-topic discussion about weight may also result in a warning or a short ban.

Please report these posts if you see them.

October 24, 2015

Self-posting

>>1359
Similar to this rule, excessive self-posting in /pt/ or /snow/ may result in moderative action.

Posting details about yourself is fine in many scenarios, but giving your life story or inserting unnecessary remarks about yourself in an off-topic manner is irritating. No one cares. You may be given a warning, a label, and/or a temporary ban.

December 20, 2015

General threads

After a long discussion in the most recent townhall, we've decided that most general threads should go in /b/.

Rule of thumb: if a general thread is about a large group, subculture, community, or website (like a thread for all of Tumblr), with many different people mentioned, it should go in /b/. If a thread primarily focusses on a small number of specific people, it should probably go in /snow/.

As a result, the Tumblr thread was moved to /b/. The HAES and fatty threads were also merged and moved to /b/.

General threads like those frequently lead to lots of discussion and debate around broad issues; often sociological and political ones. They tend to derail easily and not focus so much on specific people. The key theme of /pt/ and /snow/ is that threads should be about specific people.

I know it can sometimes be confusing to determine whether a thread should go in /b/, /pt/, or /snow/. If it's a general thread, post it in /b/, and staff will move it necessary. If it's not, you should probably post your thread in /snow/.

December 21, 2015

Anorexic girl threads

Threads about anorexic/ED/wannabe-anorexic people should now all go into one single /snow/ thread. The only exceptions are Ashley and Aly. Ashley's thread will remain in /pt/, and Aly's will remain in /snow/.

December 27, 2015

Kawaii [X] girl threads in /b/

We've decided these threads will stay in /b/ (instead of /g/). The only requirement is that an excessive number of clearly unattractive people should not be posted in them. "Excessive" here is subjective, but if you're posting more than 2 in a day, that's probably excessive.

All other discussion is otherwise allowed.

January 4, 2016

Vendetta false flag threads

A new rule has been added:

>Do not post vendetta threads in the direct or indirect guise of a self-post, by impersonating someone you have a grudge against.

Vendetta threads are still not necessarily banned, but this specific kind of vendetta thread is. However, don't post a thread impersonating someone you have a vendetta against, with the intent of people calling them out for what they think is self-posting. It can be considered a kind of "self-thread false flag" attempt.

So, now, both "real" and "alleged" self-post threads are disallowed.

Example:

>>>/snow/33495

February 22, 2016

Unintegrated users

Any user who meets all of the following criteria may be subject to a permanent ban:

1. Explicitly says, or appears blatantly as if they found this site through another website like /r9k/, /pol/, Instagram, Tumblr, Youtube, MPA, or elsewhere.

2. Holds some extreme political, social, or religious view (e.g. a SJW or fascist).

3. Contributes nothing or almost nothing to the site other than discussing their views in various threads, and arguing with people.

To be clear, this is not a restriction on simply having far-right or far-left views, or arguing with people about them (as long as it stays in /b/ and doesn't derail other threads). Rather, if you've come to this site solely to talk about politics and nothing else, have no idea what the site is about, have no interest in lolcows, have not contributed any actual content, and haven't posted anything on-topic in any /pt/ or /snow/ threads, then you might be banned.

We have no problem with people finding this site through other communities, as long as they lurk before posting and try to integrate themselves. All 3 of these criteria must apply in order for a ban to be warranted.

April 27, 2016

Multiple rule changes and clarifications

See >>2430.