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Hello everyone,

Whether your are a long standing forum member or whether you have just registered today, it's a good idea to read and review the rules below so that you have a very good idea of what to expect when you come to Pacers Digest.

A quick note to new members: Your posts will not immediately show up when you make them. An administrator has to approve at least your first post before the forum software will later upgrade your account to the status of a fully-registered member. This usually happens within a couple of hours or so after your post(s) is/are approved, so you may need to be a little patient at first.

Why do we do this? So that it's more difficult for spammers (be they human or robot) to post, and so users who are banned cannot immediately re-register and start dousing people with verbal flames.

Below are the rules of Pacers Digest. After you have read them, you will have a very good sense of where we are coming from, what we expect, what we don't want to see, and how we react to things.

Rule #1

Pacers Digest is intended to be a place to discuss basketball without having to deal with the kinds of behaviors or attitudes that distract people from sticking with the discussion of the topics at hand. These unwanted distractions can come in many forms, and admittedly it can sometimes be tricky to pin down each and every kind that can rear its ugly head, but we feel that the following examples and explanations cover at least a good portion of that ground and should at least give people a pretty good idea of the kinds of things we actively discourage:

"Anyone who __________ is a liar / a fool / an idiot / a blind homer / has their head buried in the sand / a blind hater / doesn't know basketball / doesn't watch the games"

"People with intelligence will agree with me when I say that __________"

"Only stupid people think / believe / do ___________"

"I can't wait to hear something from PosterX when he/she sees that **insert a given incident or current event that will have probably upset or disappointed PosterX here**"

"He/she is just delusional"

"This thread is stupid / worthless / embarrassing"

"I'm going to take a moment to point and / laugh at PosterX / GroupOfPeopleY who thought / believed *insert though/belief here*"

"Remember when PosterX said OldCommentY that no longer looks good? "

In general, if a comment goes from purely on topic to something 'ad hominem' (personal jabs, personal shots, attacks, flames, however you want to call it, towards a person, or a group of people, or a given city/state/country of people), those are most likely going to be found intolerable.

We also dissuade passive aggressive behavior. This can be various things, but common examples include statements that are basically meant to imply someone is either stupid or otherwise incapable of holding a rational conversation. This can include (but is not limited to) laughing at someone's conclusions rather than offering an honest rebuttal, asking people what game they were watching, or another common problem is Poster X will say "that player isn't that bad" and then Poster Y will say something akin to "LOL you think that player is good". We're not going to tolerate those kinds of comments out of respect for the community at large and for the sake of trying to just have an honest conversation.

Now, does the above cover absolutely every single kind of distraction that is unwanted? Probably not, but you should by now have a good idea of the general types of things we will be discouraging. The above examples are meant to give you a good feel for / idea of what we're looking for. If something new or different than the above happens to come along and results in the same problem (that being, any other attitude or behavior that ultimately distracts from actually just discussing the topic at hand, or that is otherwise disrespectful to other posters), we can and we will take action to curb this as well, so please don't take this to mean that if you managed to technically avoid saying something exactly like one of the above examples that you are then somehow off the hook.

That all having been said, our goal is to do so in a generally kind and respectful way, and that doesn't mean the moment we see something we don't like that somebody is going to be suspended or banned, either. It just means that at the very least we will probably say something about it, quite possibly snipping out the distracting parts of the post in question while leaving alone the parts that are actually just discussing the topics, and in the event of a repeating or excessive problem, then we will start issuing infractions to try to further discourage further repeat problems, and if it just never seems to improve, then finally suspensions or bans will come into play. We would prefer it never went that far, and most of the time for most of our posters, it won't ever have to.

A slip up every once and a while is pretty normal, but, again, when it becomes repetitive or excessive, something will be done. Something occasional is probably going to be let go (within reason), but when it starts to become habitual or otherwise a pattern, odds are very good that we will step in.

There's always a small minority that like to push people's buttons and/or test their own boundaries with regards to the administrators, and in the case of someone acting like that, please be aware that this is not a court of law, but a private website run by people who are simply trying to do the right thing as they see it. If we feel that you are a special case that needs to be dealt with in an exceptional way because your behavior isn't explicitly mirroring one of our above examples of what we generally discourage, we can and we will take atypical action to prevent this from continuing if you are not cooperative with us.

Also please be aware that you will not be given a pass simply by claiming that you were 'only joking,' because quite honestly, when someone really is just joking, for one thing most people tend to pick up on the joke, including the person or group that is the target of the joke, and for another thing, in the event where an honest joke gets taken seriously and it upsets or angers someone, the person who is truly 'only joking' will quite commonly go out of his / her way to apologize and will try to mend fences. People who are dishonest about their statements being 'jokes' do not do so, and in turn that becomes a clear sign of what is really going on. It's nothing new.

In any case, quite frankly, the overall quality and health of the entire forum's community is more important than any one troublesome user will ever be, regardless of exactly how a problem is exhibiting itself, and if it comes down to us having to make a choice between you versus the greater health and happiness of the entire community, the community of this forum will win every time.

Lastly, there are also some posters, who are generally great contributors and do not otherwise cause any problems, who sometimes feel it's their place to provoke or to otherwise 'mess with' that small minority of people described in the last paragraph, and while we possibly might understand why you might feel you WANT to do something like that, the truth is we can't actually tolerate that kind of behavior from you any more than we can tolerate the behavior from them. So if we feel that you are trying to provoke those other posters into doing or saying something that will get themselves into trouble, then we will start to view you as a problem as well, because of the same reason as before: The overall health of the forum comes first, and trying to stir the pot with someone like that doesn't help, it just makes it worse. Some will simply disagree with this philosophy, but if so, then so be it because ultimately we have to do what we think is best so long as it's up to us.

If you see a problem that we haven't addressed, the best and most appropriate course for a forum member to take here is to look over to the left of the post in question. See underneath that poster's name, avatar, and other info, down where there's a little triangle with an exclamation point (!) in it? Click that. That allows you to report the post to the admins so we can definitely notice it and give it a look to see what we feel we should do about it. Beyond that, obviously it's human nature sometimes to want to speak up to the poster in question who has bothered you, but we would ask that you try to refrain from doing so because quite often what happens is two or more posters all start going back and forth about the original offending post, and suddenly the entire thread is off topic or otherwise derailed. So while the urge to police it yourself is understandable, it's best to just report it to us and let us handle it. Thank you!

All of the above is going to be subject to a case by case basis, but generally and broadly speaking, this should give everyone a pretty good idea of how things will typically / most often be handled.

Rule #2

If the actions of an administrator inspire you to make a comment, criticism, or express a concern about it, there is a wrong place and a couple of right places to do so.

The wrong place is to do so in the original thread in which the administrator took action. For example, if a post gets an infraction, or a post gets deleted, or a comment within a larger post gets clipped out, in a thread discussing Paul George, the wrong thing to do is to distract from the discussion of Paul George by adding your off topic thoughts on what the administrator did.

The right places to do so are:

A) Start a thread about the specific incident you want to talk about on the Feedback board. This way you are able to express yourself in an area that doesn't throw another thread off topic, and this way others can add their two cents as well if they wish, and additionally if there's something that needs to be said by the administrators, that is where they will respond to it.

B) Send a private message to the administrators, and they can respond to you that way.

If this is done the wrong way, those comments will be deleted, and if it's a repeating problem then it may also receive an infraction as well.

Rule #3

If a poster is bothering you, and an administrator has not or will not deal with that poster to the extent that you would prefer, you have a powerful tool at your disposal, one that has recently been upgraded and is now better than ever: The ability to ignore a user.

When you ignore a user, you will unfortunately still see some hints of their existence (nothing we can do about that), however, it does the following key things:

A) Any post they make will be completely invisible as you scroll through a thread.

B) The new addition to this feature: If someone QUOTES a user you are ignoring, you do not have to read who it was, or what that poster said, unless you go out of your way to click on a link to find out who it is and what they said.

To utilize this feature, from any page on Pacers Digest, scroll to the top of the page, look to the top right where it says 'Settings' and click that. From the settings page, look to the left side of the page where it says 'My Settings', and look down from there until you see 'Edit Ignore List' and click that. From here, it will say 'Add a Member to Your List...' Beneath that, click in the text box to the right of 'User Name', type in or copy & paste the username of the poster you are ignoring, and once their name is in the box, look over to the far right and click the 'Okay' button. All done!

Rule #4

Regarding infractions, currently they carry a value of one point each, and that point will expire in 31 days. If at any point a poster is carrying three points at the same time, that poster will be suspended until the oldest of the three points expires.

Rule #5

When you share or paste content or articles from another website, you must include the URL/link back to where you found it, who wrote it, and what website it's from. Said content will be removed if this doesn't happen.

An example:

If I copy and paste an article from the Indianapolis Star website, I would post something like this:

http://www.linktothearticlegoeshere.com/article
Title of the Article
Author's Name
Indianapolis Star

Rule #6

We cannot tolerate illegal videos on Pacers Digest. This means do not share any links to them, do not mention any websites that host them or link to them, do not describe how to find them in any way, and do not ask about them. Posts doing anything of the sort will be removed, the offenders will be contacted privately, and if the problem becomes habitual, you will be suspended, and if it still persists, you will probably be banned.

The legal means of watching or listening to NBA games are NBA League Pass Broadband (for US, or for International; both cost money) and NBA Audio League Pass (which is free). Look for them on NBA.com.

Rule #7

Provocative statements in a signature, or as an avatar, or as the 'tagline' beneath a poster's username (where it says 'Member' or 'Administrator' by default, if it is not altered) are an unwanted distraction that will more than likely be removed on sight. There can be shades of gray to this, but in general this could be something political or religious that is likely going to provoke or upset people, or otherwise something that is mean-spirited at the expense of a poster, a group of people, or a population.

It may or may not go without saying, but this goes for threads and posts as well, particularly when it's not made on the off-topic board (Market Square).

We do make exceptions if we feel the content is both innocuous and unlikely to cause social problems on the forum (such as wishing someone a Merry Christmas or a Happy Easter), and we also also make exceptions if such topics come up with regards to a sports figure (such as the Lance Stephenson situation bringing up discussions of domestic abuse and the law, or when Jason Collins came out as gay and how that lead to some discussion about gay rights).

However, once the discussion seems to be more/mostly about the political issues instead of the sports figure or his specific situation, the thread is usually closed.

Rule #8

We prefer self-restraint and/or modesty when making jokes or off topic comments in a sports discussion thread. They can be fun, but sometimes they derail or distract from a topic, and we don't want to see that happen. If we feel it is a problem, we will either delete or move those posts from the thread.

Rule #9

Generally speaking, we try to be a "PG-13" rated board, and we don't want to see sexual content or similarly suggestive content. Vulgarity is a more muddled issue, though again we prefer things to lean more towards "PG-13" than "R". If we feel things have gone too far, we will step in.

Rule #10

We like small signatures, not big signatures. The bigger the signature, the more likely it is an annoying or distracting signature.

Rule #11

Do not advertise anything without talking about it with the administrators first. This includes advertising with your signature, with your avatar, through private messaging, and/or by making a thread or post.
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Dealing with Generation Text

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  • #61
    Re: Dealing with Generation Text

    Originally posted by Pacers#1Fan View Post
    I wont call anyone out but I remember when a rather big deal was made about people replying "no problem" to "thank you" instead of "you're welcome". This just kind of reminds me of that instance.

    That being said, I was looking over some job applications that came into my store and was amazed at how many people under the age of 20 think that shorthand and text language are acceptable in everyday life. I am not the one that does the hiring in my store because I am a full-time student first and foremost, but I am regularly asked to give input on applicants. If anything is taken from this post let it be this: if you write your resume and/or fill out an application in shorthand or text language the employer WILL laugh at you, think you are an idiot, and throw your application away. I would assume the same goes for college and graduate school applications would be reviewed in similar ways.

    If you don't like the way someone posts IGNORE them. If you're not sure how just PM Hicks. I ignored someone just a week or so ago for the first time in my five plus years as a member of this board and had to ask Hicks to figure out how. It's simple and saves quiet a bit of headache if you can't stand the way someone posts.
    is this place really like that wow why do u call it pacers Digest u should call it PERFECT DIGEST cause if u aint perfect u arent accepted

    Comment


    • #62
      Re: Dealing with Generation Text

      I am going to dip my toe in the water. I am a new member on the forum. I am sitting in my chair wondering what on Earth is going on here.

      Is this about a group of adults picking on a kid over the internet? As I read this and other threads about how Pacer4Ever is wasting our valuable time, I just have to ask myself, "Can't they see the irony of this point of view?". If you have time to bully a kid over the internet, your time just isn't that valuable.

      Or if not that, maybe this is about a group of adults being well intentioned and wanting to bestow some advice. This would be commendable, but if this is the case, these posts and threads hardly come across to me as being in the spirit of education. I think putting someone on the defensive is not the way to get your point across or to educate.

      Either way this seems mean spirited and inappropriate. There are plenty of other avenues to deal with Pacer4Ever if he bothers you. Use the ignore feature.


      To Pacer4Ever -- I'd like to say that your attitude about what I perceive to be attempts to shame or embarrass you in to writing in a more formal style is commendable. However, LA has made a pretty good point. That is to say that there is a good deal of value in the ability to communicate, especially in writing. Once you post something on the internet whether it is on forums, twitter, facebook, or other sites, whatever you post becomes a public record. People are able to make judgments about you based on your postings without ever having met you. I encourage you to bear that in mind when posting here and other places.


      Okay that is it from me. Please take my thoughts as friendly, they certainly aren't intended to be anything else. My post here is intended only to point out that most of us are adults, and we wouldn't be picking on this kid in person (I hope), we shouldn't be doing it here.

      Comment


      • #63
        Re: Dealing with Generation Text

        Originally posted by Los Angeles View Post
        Let's be clear about one thing - a lot of kids think that "any" is spelled "ne" or that the two spellings are interchangeable in any setting. I'm talking about the kids who are not paying attention in school (oblivious), or worse, believe that what is being taught in school doesn't matter (willfully ignorant).

        I occasionally have to put out ads to get part-time help in my studio. The gig doesn't pay much, so I get all sorts of folks from all walks of life applying. It would shock you - SHOCK YOU - how many young applicants can't form a coherent sentence. It's just plain embarrassing. Do they ever get hired? HELL NO. Not by me. No way.

        Fact is, even if a job doesn't involve any language skills whatsoever, language skills are needed to get the job in the first place. And once the job is acquired, language skills will certainly be necessary to rise up.

        One fascinating aspect to this situation is that a micro trend is forming: a larger number of children in the poorest neighborhoods - without means to own a cell phone or computer - are actually leap-frogging over the underperforming kids that have greater access to these devices.

        I think I remember this being the subject of a Radio Lab show, do you listen to that on NPR?

        Comment


        • #64
          Re: Dealing with Generation Text

          Comment


          • #65
            Re: Dealing with Generation Text

            I love me some Pulp Fiction

            Comment


            • #66
              Re: Dealing with Generation Text

              Originally posted by Los Angeles View Post

              In these situations, the assumption can go one of two ways: 1) this person is unable to write a simple sentence without terrible spelling or grammar mistakes regardless of the venue (aka - this person is likely uneducated) or 2) this person doesn't understand that this is neither the time or the place to write like he's texting his date to the junior prom (aka - this person is likely a fool).
              Well, yeah. Like I said earlier, making informed decisions about the rhetorical situation you're in is what's important, not automatically conforming to "Correct English." Awareness. If I send you a resume in textspeak, maybe I'm doing it as a joke, or maybe I'm trying to prove some kind of point. But if I actually want you to give me a job I'm going to write in the dialect that'll impress you.

              p4e is in Rome. But the Romans are not giving p4e a job. The Romans do not even know p4e's real name. The benefits of conforming to the linguistic expectations of PD's SWE-hawks is extremely low in this case. He should write as he pleases.

              And for what it's worth I think he's handled all this quite well. At his age I would've told you to F-off already.

              Originally posted by Ralph Waldo Emerson
              For non-conformity the world whips you with its displeasure.
              You, Never? Did the Kenosha Kid?

              Comment


              • #67
                Re: Dealing with Generation Text

                Every generation has their preferred vernacular from the 20’s Daddy O speak to the Valley Girls of the 80’s to today’s texting.

                They all think that it is their thing and it’s kind of a way of sticking it to the man, so to speak.

                Pacer4ever is a young man and as time goes on his tastes will change and someone younger than him will be talking some strange language that he isn’t familiar with and it will be odd and strange to him.

                But that is not today.

                He appears to be a nice person who is passionate about the Pacers and has taken some steps to change his style to meet the rest of the board. He wants to be taken seriously and as time goes on I believe he will adjust more to meet the masses but for now I just enjoy that he is a passionate Pacers fan and will encourage him to keep expressing himself and maybe we can all learn something from each other.

                Believe me when it comes to spelling and proper grammar I am about as dense as they come and I’m sure I drive many people up the wall with my common misspellings of common words (Anthem).


                Basketball isn't played with computers, spreadsheets, and simulations. ChicagoJ 4/21/13

                Comment


                • #68
                  Re: Dealing with Generation Text

                  Originally posted by flox View Post
                  ya man if like there was a real problem u had wit the way he writes then y do dis in such a public forum if it aint meant 2 b sum kind of haterate or nothin. jus sayin.

                  if dis was such a big problem as u say it is then mayb sumone come in and jus stop it but no need to go out and disrespect so much.
                  What did the hater eat?

                  Comment


                  • #69
                    Re: Dealing with Generation Text

                    Originally posted by SoupIsGood View Post
                    Well, yeah. Like I said earlier, making informed decisions about the rhetorical situation you're in is what's important, not automatically conforming to "Correct English." Awareness. If I send you a resume in textspeak, maybe I'm doing it as a joke, or maybe I'm trying to prove some kind of point. But if I actually want you to give me a job I'm going to write in the dialect that'll impress you.

                    p4e is in Rome. But the Romans are not giving p4e a job. The Romans do not even know p4e's real name. The benefits of conforming to the linguistic expectations of PD's SWE-hawks is extremely low in this case. He should write as he pleases.

                    And for what it's worth I think he's handled all this quite well. At his age I would've told you to F-off already.
                    i did once lol but that is my point im not at my job at my job i act pro. because i have to but PD is suppose to be fun
                    Last edited by pacer4ever; 10-07-2010, 09:56 PM.

                    Comment


                    • #70
                      Re: Dealing with Generation Text

                      I didn't think I would actually post in this thread, but I will anyways.

                      I have no issue with P4E and his "textspeak". There is nothing wrong with typing that way over the internet.

                      What this boils down to is not picking on the guy. I'm not sure anyone here has anything personal against him. The so called "textspeak" is simply annoying and hard to decipher at times, but nothing more.

                      Should he type out his words? Probably. Does he have to? No. Do you have to read his posts? No.

                      My advice to P4E though, and you won't break my heart if you don't use this advice, is to actually take the time to type words out if you're on a computer. If you're on a blackberry, phone, ipod, or whatever then "textspeak" is fine. But for people to understand your opinions on the Pacers, if you truly want to engage in good discussions, just take the time to type the words.

                      Just my 2 cents. If you don't care for it, don't take it to heart.

                      Now, back to the Pacers
                      Stop quoting people I have on ignore!

                      Comment


                      • #71
                        Re: Dealing with Generation Text

                        Geez people...

                        I just finished reading this whole thread. I think it's pretty obvious that p4e is saying he posts this way on PD because he enjoys it, he knows the difference between what he's writing here and standard written English, and he uses SWE when it's called for (i.e. job, school). Can we agree on this at least?

                        Comment


                        • #72
                          Re: Dealing with Generation Text

                          Originally posted by pacer4ever View Post
                          i did once lol but that is my point im not at my job at my job i act pro. because i have to but PD is suppose to be fun
                          This. If you could just start typing like THIS, that'd be a great start.

                          Comment


                          • #73
                            Re: Dealing with Generation Text

                            Them people that talk funny on the internet is fans too.

                            Signed,
                            Larry Bird
                            Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

                            ------

                            "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

                            -John Wooden

                            Comment


                            • #74
                              Re: Dealing with Generation Text

                              Originally posted by Pacers#1Fan View Post
                              That being said, I was looking over some job applications that came into my store and was amazed at how many people under the age of 20 think that shorthand and text language are acceptable in everyday life. I am not the one that does the hiring in my store because I am a full-time student first and foremost, but I am regularly asked to give input on applicants. If anything is taken from this post let it be this: if you write your resume and/or fill out an application in shorthand or text language the employer WILL laugh at you, think you are an idiot, and throw your application away. I would assume the same goes for college and graduate school applications would be reviewed in similar ways.

                              I do a lot of the hiring for my job and I do laugh at them and file them in the do not bother to interview pile. If they cannot be bothered to properly fill out a job application, they cannot be bothered to properly do what they are hired to do.


                              If you don't like the way someone posts IGNORE them. If you're not sure how just PM Hicks. I ignored someone just a week or so ago for the first time in my five plus years as a member of this board and had to ask Hicks to figure out how. It's simple and saves quiet a bit of headache if you can't stand the way someone posts.

                              For those that don't know how, I will summarize:
                              Go to User CP
                              Under Settings and Options, select Edit Ignore List
                              Find the Add Member to Your Ingore List box and type in the first few letters of the posters name. The field will auto populate with a list of names that correspond with the letters you've typed.
                              Double click the user name you wish to ignore and select OK.
                              Done.

                              ...
                              http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-tr...nce-stephenson
                              "But, first, let us now praise famous moments, because something happened Tuesday night in Indianapolis that you can watch a lifetime’s worth of professional basketball and never see again. There was a brief, and very decisive, and altogether unprecedented, outburst of genuine officiating, and it was directed at the best player in the world, and that, my dear young person, simply is not done."

                              Comment


                              • #75
                                Re: Dealing with Generation Text

                                Originally posted by McKeyFan View Post
                                Cuz the story is told by Huck Finn.


                                "Cuz"?




                                .
                                And I won't be here to see the day
                                It all dries up and blows away
                                I'd hang around just to see
                                But they never had much use for me
                                In Levelland. (James McMurtry)

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