msbelle, did the sixth item get withdrawn, without a vote? Or did we just go into the ballot, knowing it was going down?

...

I'm remembering that we wanted to avoid setting ourselves up for rules lawyers. Isn't that why we restricted our discipline-related entry to vague comments about demon-like behavior?

I don't think the world will end if we do change the etiquette guide over this. That said, I think an entry in the FAQ, saying something about our expectations over user names might be better. Honestly though, mostly? I think we should let the whole thing go.

I think if someone makes a sock puppet, and doesn't put his usual Buffista name in the tagline or his user profile, *and also* refuses to come clean with his usual Buffista user name if asked in thread, I'd rather we handle it as it arose. As long as none of the sock puppets are being abusive, it really is a matter of taste. If one of the sock puppets is being abusive, we already have a mechanism to handle it.

will someone hold Jon B in contempt, he won't swear. my next proposal is that the pinky-swear be the official "swear" technique on the board.

oh well, thanks.

I took a look back at discussiona nd I can;t find anything that was policy oriented. I'll ask tina.

#6 was not withdrawn - it was defeated.

I think this was a good and useful discussion to have, and I'm glad that it isn't coming to a vote (and also glad that the discussion is remaining open to those of us who weren't around yesterday). FWIW, I'm not real fond of the sockpuppets, and I generally side with those who find them disruptive and in-jokey. I think that establishing a community standard (or whatever we're calling it) that encourages people to identify themselves in their profile would go a long way towards alleviating my dislike of the sockpuppets, and would also--at least for me--make them easier to ignore if they were annoying me.

It was in discussion of #6 that we worked up the idea (okay, I worked it up) that you could withdraw a proposal with no consequences and no moratorium, I think. Or, sometime soon after that.

It involved tongue-waggling.

It involved tongue-waggling.

Would you care to demonstrate?

I have been on this board for I don't even know how many years, since TT for sure. I'm not the most active poster because Real Life just flat out gets in the way. But, I do lurk on a very regular basis (don't tell my boss, but it's every day!).

That being said, I sit here floored that people are upset by the in-jokeyness of sockpuppets. I can't even count the number of in-jokes on this board. Are people upset because they're not in on the sockpuppet joke? There are so many jokes on this board that go over my head that if I got upset by all of them, I'd have been gone long ago. Just because I don't get the joke doesn't mean that the joke is ultimately on me. And, that's what it seems like people are upset about. I don't mean that's the only thing they're upset about, but that seems to be the crux of the in-joke argument.

I'm also floored by the idea that we don't have to be careful about what we say on this board. Often, I don't post because I don't have the time for a carefully thought out post over the course of a busy day. And, I know that I need time to think about what I'm going to write so that I won't piss people off. Also, many of the discussions around here of late have been precisely because someone posted something that pissed off someone else.

I don't remember who posted this upthread, but it was something about not wanting posters to feel as if they had to walk on eggshells around here. I think that's precisely the culture we already have.

Frankly, I thought about this post for a good hour before writing it and am still trepidatious about actually hitting the Post message button. If I've just used up what limited social capital I have, then so be it, but this was just too much for me to ignore.

I am tired of the term "social capital," and the fact that people have to care how much they have, and how much they will lose by expressing their opinions.

ChiKat, thanks for sharing your opinion. Sorry you were trepidatious.

I am tired of cilantro. And yet, it exists.