Realneo - after our 2 week "time out" - is emphasizing CIVIL discourse

Today, 10.18.11, a bit of earnest and important Realneo went off into the ditch.   Would it be possible that certain recent comment dialogue be self-moderated and self-removed by the authors?  just askin....

Recently Realneo lost all civility and substantially abandoned any focus on facilitating intelligent community dialogue.For example, instead of advocating citizen journalism and respectful discourse, a great deal of time and effort was spent on ad hominem attacks between users of the site.

Realneo became the place for primitive screaming, bludgeoning one another, burning down both advocates' and adversaries’ houses, plowing salt into fertile ground, and taking no prisoners. Madness!

But there are many people in our community who don’t wish to be involved daily in angry confrontation. Many individuals don’t believe that the path to truth must entail constant and intense personal threats, insults, and defamatory accusations.

Over the last few years, a substantial number of rational, civically committed, tempered realneo users slowly but steadily removed themselves from Realneo – leaving only a small group of the very energetic and angry and/or the very determined and patient to maintain the discussion – clearly a cul de sac strategy.

The Realneo sandbox developed a reputation – a reputation far out on the fringe…

Starting now, Realneo will evolve its publishing tone and see how it goes. Let's watch and see if the evolutionary “rules” engage new users:

1. For the time being, users’ posts will not automatically go to the home page, nor will a user be able to advance their own posts to the homepage. The point is to have content available on the web for search engines to find – the point isn’t to control center stage nor to pump up individual egos.
2. The posting of Spam, including the posting of links without original commentary or critique about the link, will result in the deletion of the comment or post and the blocking of the user’s account.
3. Posters of gratuitous profanity, vulgarity, pornography, copy right violation, ad hominem attacks, threatening, personal accusations, unsubstantiated defamation, repetitive content which merely fills up the realneo server, will be blocked and the content deleted.
4. What is encouraged is:
   •  Posting under your name
   •  original reportage, citizen journalism, conscientious reporting on any and all topics – especially muck raking, whistle blowing.
   •  original fiction, biography,
   •  original digital photography, videography
   •  Conscientious and civil support or criticism of any new or old idea, public body or public person, law or legislation, public policy or political scheme
   •  Submission to the header images queue (click “blog entry, pull down Community of interest links to bottom item “RealNEO header”) which must be prepared at 200pix by 1000pix so they fit as a banner. A link to more specific help/directions will be inserted here soon.
5. Realneo does not condone, operate with, or publish incivility.

Thanks to everyone for their interest in improving their community and for their patience with the maturation of this virtual public forum.

Jeff Buster