our local community "Issues Forums." They have evolved since 1994.
As we have added new public online communities of practice over the
last year or so ... we've used our existing rules as a guide.
The online communities include:
* CityCamp Exchange - http://e-democracy.org/citycamp
* Digital Inclusion Network - http://e-democracy.org/di
* Locals Online - http://e-democracy.org/locals
* Local Labs - http://e-democracy.org/labs
* Projects - http://forums.e-democracy.org/groups/projects
And various online working groups:
* PublicMeetings.Info - http://publicmeetings.info
* DemocracyMap - http://democracymap.org
* Neighborly/BeNeighbors.org - http://beneighbors.org
In short, the rules are:
1. Real names (unless you are at risk in an oppressive country)
2. Stay within the topical scope of the forum
3. Be civil - No name calling broadly defined
Our draft rules proposal proposes to confirm that our universal rules
"guide" these special forums. Charters for these special forums can
refine the rules with more flexibility than our core "Issues Forums."
An example refinement might include active moderation (although there
are no such plans) of a special time-limited online event for example.
Anyway, since we have had _no_ rule violation warnings or suspensions
on any of these online communities since they started, the forum
cultures have self-regulated nicely. However, should a big blow out
happen, the rules are there to help us as well as to protect
participant rights.
We have a blog post with more details and a link to an online survey
if you would like to send comments on the draft updated rules to our
Board:
http://blog.e-democracy.org/posts/1145
The survey deadline is March 15. While we might add a rule from time
to time, this represents the most significant review in a decade.
Thanks,
Steven Clift
E-Democracy.org