Help form the guidelines & rules for the forums

[Jeremy]

Help form the guidelines & rules for the forums

A few people have stated that there has been a lot of moderation on the site over the past week, Here is my response to the criticism regarding threads being closed lately and why that is...

As I have said since I started CF, I have absolutely no desire whatsoever to moderate threads in any way. However, as a site grows and people demand more accurate and timely information, I think it's important to listen to what my sources and the people that be at Iowa State ask of me regarding certain issues or subjects. I have obeyed the wishes of those people on issues that I felt would contribute negatively to the atmosphere of the subject.

Before about a week ago, there were probably only about three or four topics that had been moderated or closed. The reason this week has been very active for moderation is simply because of the issues and topics people are trying to snowball into something completely different than what reality is.

Many of the topics have stated "x" person is injured and out for a game. Then somebody says no, they're out for the year for smoking pot. The next person says something worse, etc. This casts a very bad image on not only Iowa State but especially that player that gets accused of something bad that they never did, and has to live with that stereotype and title for the rest of their time in Ames/Iowa.

I have said all along that I want this site to be very open and very liberal in it's topics and scope. I have to be careful though as people are getting anxious for the seasons to start and want to start topics that are just flat out wrong or inaccurate. A lot of the topics have started off with simple rumors or questions, and that is perfectly fine. The problem is when posters start to respond with making jokes about Iowa players committing rape or other things that cast a bad image on the Cyclone fan base.

My biggest fear, not only this site but the other ISU websites as well, is a simple one. I don't want the topics on ISU related sites to start to resemble those on HawkeyeReport.com. If you have ever taken a look at their "Lounge" it is completely useless and full of hatred and vulgar topics regarding Iowa State and it's fans. To me that casts a very bad image on the University and the fan base that ripples down to potential recruits that surf by the site, or other potential fans.

There have to be some sort of guidelines regarding what can and cannot be talked about on these forums since we do in some way or another represent the University and it's entire fan base. I am always welcome to feedback and suggestions on how things should be run.

Please respond in this thread with what you feel are the correct guidelines for the forum and we will use those to form the guidelines for going forward.

Thanks,
Jeremy