Community Guidelines Refresher

Once again it’s time for a reminder to you all of SBNation and Corn Nation rules for comment sections.

By Corn Nation Staff Jun 13, 2020, 9:00am CDT

Miz & Mrs - Season 1 — The ban hammer will be making appearances again soon if you do not heed what we have to say.

This year brings us an extra long off-season with plenty to mull over. That has clearly led to some hot moods on a host of topics of late. Given recent activity we felt it was time to remind you all of Corn Nation’s community guidelines and rules along with helpful suggestions for how to avoid moderation and continue to promote the welcome community we strive to have here. You are also always welcome to provide feedback to us on suggestions you have. Many of us list an email in our profile you can contact us via, link our Twitter, or there is the comment section of our articles.

First and foremost, please be respectful of the writing staff. None of us are full-time writers, journalists, or moderators. In fact, we are more akin to sports bloggers, and all of this is done on the side for fun. There are no copy editors or dedicated moderators. We try our best to get quality content up and watch for removing comments, but we are not super-humans and cannot always catch everything. Let us know respectfully if we are falling short at times, but remember that this is all here for fun.

Corn Nation Community Rules

Before we get to the formal SBNation rules, we would like to remind you all of Corn Nation specific rules and provide examples for how not to get on a mod’s bad side and have your comment removed.

When politics are on topic, do not be disrespectful or intentionally try to start fights. This is something that is time and again the biggest headache for mods and commenters alike. We are entering election season again, and this is extremely important that we be extra dutiful in following these rules as emotions get even more heated. If it remains a problem then we will consider going back to our zero politics policy we enforced for a time.
When a fan of another team shows up and is polite and making a fair point, do not attack that fan unnecessarily. Just because someone is an Iowa fan and they comment on an article about Iowa respectfully disagreeing with the author is not cause for you to call them a troll and start saying derogatory things in response. Fun banter is fine and flag any actual troll, but Corn Nation is a place everyone is welcome to participate in as long as they are respectful.
Do not just show up once in a while to shit post in a manner that appears wanting a fight. You are welcome to your opinion of skepticism regarding program direction or of badly needed improvement, but if all your comments amount to day in and day out is a constant berating of the program and/or other commenters and authors then you will be considered a troll. Have something to say regarding why you have that opinion or else we can only determine you want to pick fights which is not what we are here for and will result in the ban hammer.

Nebraska v Indiana — Helpful image break-up of all of the text.

Examples of Good And Bad Comments

What are some examples of what we are not allowing and how can you avoid doing so? Here are some helpful examples:

Sports

DO NOT: “Boy, another commitment? I wish Nebraska didn’t completely suck ass at recruiting. Oh well.”
DO: “What is with all these misses at linebacker lately? Are the coaching staff simply incapable of identifying the talent needed for a 3-4 defense in the B1G West and we should switch back to a 4-3?”

DO NOT: “If Frost is such a damn hero, he better win 9 or 10 games this year. If Bo can win 9 following 4 years of Callahan, then such an amazing coach should have no trouble winning 9 after just 3 years of Riley.”
DO: “I don’t think the Riley regime harmed the talent and depth enough that Coach Frost can justifiably say two losing seasons isn’t at least partly on him. The cupboard had enough talent in a weak division and easy enough non-conference slate to have made bowl games both seasons given the hype and success he had coming out of UCF.”

The important thing to remember is this is primarily a sports blog for fans of the Nebraska Cornhuskers. We are not here to be the language police full-time in the comments sections when it comes to sports talk. We all have our opinions about sports, but the important thing is we all remember to obey the overall community guidelines and to be generally respectful toward each other and others in our comments. We are Cornhusker fans first and foremost, so the important thing is to act like it and be passionate about our team, school, and state.

Politics

This is the opposite of sports in that it is not the purpose of this fan site, and is something we allow at times to promote the community. We will enforce a short leash on these topics compared to sports as they have the tendency to be volatile and divisive far too easily.

Want to complain about President Trump and his supporters?
DO NOT: “Our lovely orange man keeps bashing random people on Twitter instead of dealing with a crisis and his followers continue to just fawn over his every tweet’s character.”
DO: “I am incredibly frustrated with what I perceive to be the President and federal government’s seeming lack of testing capacity when COVID-19 hit. It seems like there was plenty of time to prepare, don’t you think?”

Want to complain about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and congressional Democrats?
DO NOT: “Where are all the dumbasses who got upset about taco food trucks and cultural appropriation now after Speaker Pelosi’s garb today in that press stunt?!”
DO: “The choice of clothing Democratic leadership chose to wear today during their remembrance ceremony was a bit troubling to me as it seems culturally insensitive. Does anyone know more about the background of why they might have thought it appropriate?”

Do you see the difference in tone and respect regarding those comments regarding both sports and politics? One is just trying to pick a fight and the other is respectfully expressing an opinion in a non-confrontational way soliciting a conversation on the topic. We have had to remove far too many of the former of late and will start issuing bans to perpetual offenders as it is getting way too out of hand. We are allowing politics to be discussed again, for now. That only is the case if you can be respectful towards each other and are trying to have a conversation about these topics. If we determine your comment was meant strictly to be incendiary or you choose to insult another commenter then we will remove it and consider warnings and banning no matter how long you have been a part of the community.

Sarcasm

Please remember this is the internet, and sometimes the internet has to ruin fun things. If you are trying to post satirical comments, then you should probably bare in mind other readers and moderators may not necessarily know that without making that clear at the end of your post or by enclosing the part you mean as sarcasm/satire with the “@” symbol.

DO NOT: “Boy the B1G West is such a difficult conference this season.”
DO: “@Boy the B1G West is such a difficult conference this season.@”
OR “Boy the B1G West is such a difficult conference this season... [sarcasm much?]”

Making sure to utilize that formatting or adding some form of clear indication you are being sarcastic can sometimes be important if the way you are posting might be mistaken by other commenters or moderators as you being serious.

Help Us With Flags

If you see a comment that you believe violates the rules we have discussed above, then please flag it. However, be aware that if you just flag someone you disagree with and continue to do so then we will reach out to you about abusing the flag feature. We do try our best to be fair and impartial, but this is also an imprecise science and we may occasionally miss something that shouldn’t have been allowed. This is where your feedback and using the flag feature is important to help us in moderating the community.

University of Nebraska Cornhuskers — If you find yourself about to post an angry comment, remember this lovely view for a few seconds and then come back to your draft comment with the answer of “Will my post get me banned?” before deciding whether to hit enter or not.

Overall SBNation Guideline Reminders:

You can find the community guidelines for yourself by clicking “More” along the top bar of any page on the website and looking to the menu that appears under “Community Guidelines,” and you may also find the staff writers, editors, and site managers under “Masthead.” You may also just simply click the link here as well. You can see where to find these in the image below with links circled in blue:

Click on “More” at the top, and you can find both the Community Guidelines and Masthead for your reference at any time.

However, below are the community guidelines set forth by SBNation, and we here at Corn Nation are implementing a small change beginning now regarding discriminatory language. Please ensure you check below to make yourself aware of our new zero tolerance rule.

Welcome to SB Nation! We’re glad you’re here.

SB Nation is a network of communities where sports fans from all backgrounds gather to share their passion for the teams they love. We strive to create a fun and welcoming place for everyone to come fan with us. These guidelines help ensure that happens across SB Nation’s communities. Here’s the short version:

Be respectful in your interactions with contributors and fellow fans.
Don’t be a jerk, and don’t call other people jerks.
We’ll remove anything we see that jeopardizes our communities.
You can help with that. If you see something that doesn’t align with our guidelines, let us know. Flag any comments, FanPosts, or usernames that violate our guidelines so our community managers can review them.

The rules below extend to our SB Nation communities everywhere: in our comments, on social media, and in real life.

We do not allow any of the following:

Personal attacks: This includes name-calling, insults, threats, hurtful comments about someone’s appearance, voice, or style, and all other forms of attacks. We want our communities to be welcoming and fun. Personal attacks are the opposite of that.
Discriminatory or derogatory language: This includes racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, or other forms of discrimination. Corn Nation will have a zero tolerance policy on hateful/discriminatory comments moving forward. Even in the heat of a game thread or the late hours of a post-game reaction thread, there is absolutely no excuse for this type of language to be used. Use of any discriminatory slurs will be banned on the first offense. If you would like to make a case for being given a second chance, you may contact us via email to do so. Be aware that we do not promise you will be given one, however.
Harassment: This includes, but is not limited to, intimidation; stalking; unwanted photography; inappropriate physical contact; use of sexual or discriminatory imagery, comments, or jokes; and unwelcome sexual attention.
Illegal activity: Don’t promote, encourage, or make light of any kind of illegal activity, including DUIs, domestic violence, or sexual assault.
NSFW images and comments: Keep it PG-13, or you will be removed. This includes language and images that are sexual, violent, or generally offensive in nature.
Excessive profanity: Fans get worked up on game days, and we’re fans, too. We understand that. As a general rule, keep profanity to a minimum. Some communities prohibit profanity, so be sure to review guidelines for the individual communities you participate in.
Multiple accounts and throwaway emails: These are a signal that you’re not interested in being a productive member of our communities, and we do not allow it.
Trolling: We know it when we see it, and we’ll remove it. Don’t go to a rival team’s community for the sole purpose of riling up their fans, either. Moreover, you should never publish any private or personally identifiable information. Doxxing is strictly prohibited.
The “first post” rule: If you break any of these guidelines with your very first post or interaction, it signals to our community managers you’re just here to be disruptive. Violators may be banned, blocked, or removed.
Spam: We have a zero-tolerance policy on spam, which includes sharing links to illegal game streams or downloads. Spam will be deleted and spammers may be banned, blocked, or removed.

Anyone who doesn’t follow these rules when engaging in our communities will at best be removed from the conversation, and at worst will end up banned from that community. These decisions will be made at the discretion of our community managers and other SB Nation personnel.

If you see any of these things happening in our communities, please flag it and it will be reviewed. If you see it happening on social media or elsewhere, flag it to the community manager or team brand managers, who should be listed on our masthead. You can also reach out via our contact form.

Want to join the community?

Every team brand has comments and FanPosts you can join. Different brands have different waiting periods to join, but once you have an account you can both comment and create FanPosts.
Every brand also has a presence on Twitter, and many team brands have Facebook, Instagram, YouTube pages, and podcasts. Come join us on any of these (or other) platforms, while adhering to these guidelines when you comment or engage.
If you’d like to post on a team brand, you can contact the manager and request what we call “Trusted Access”. Offered at each team brand manager’s discretion, Trusted Access allows you to post without any commitments or responsibilities except to stay within the bounds of the Community Guidelines. If you delve into sensitive subjects, you should reach out to edithelp@sbnation.com for advice before you publish and look at our style guides for covering sexual assault, domestic violence, and mental illness.
If you’re interested in a contract position, you can follow SB Nation’s Team Brand Talent Manager on Twitter.

Have questions about our community guidelines?

We’ll be glad to answer them. You can reach us via our contact form. These guidelines do not replace any contract that might exist with an SB Nation contributor, and if there is a conflict the contract shall apply.

Tom Osborn Portrait — Do not make Dr. Tom sad by violating our community guidelines.

Finally, if you were banned, please stop trying to create a new account and post again from that account. We are aware who you are and will have to just once again ban you. Accept that you violated the rules and are no longer allowed to participate in the comments. We appreciate your continued readership of our coverage, but we will continue to remove your latest profile iteration yet again if you try to get around our ban.