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MennoLink has been doing a good job of self moderating over the past few years. As the volume of messages and diversity of participants grows, this policy statement will be helpful. These guidelines apply for all of the MennoLink groups. Moderators of individual groups may have additional
policies.
Introductions:
If you haven't posted to MennoLink, send an introduction of yourself to menno.talk.people and other groups of your choice. When joining, it also helps to fill in the parts Name:, City:, Congregation: and Home page:. Send the introduction as the only topic in the message. That makes it easier when someone wants to read back through the introductions. For old timers, it is good to re-introduce yourself occasionally--perhaps annually.
Subject:
Each message should have a subject relevant to the content. A message in reply to a previous post should reflect the original subject. Digest recipients especially need to be careful to set the subject of any replied to message.
Single topics:
It is better to have several short messages with distinct topics than to have a larger message with multiple topics.
Group selection, personal messages:
Send messages to the appropriate group. Messages of personal nature should be sent directly to the individual, unless there is a general interest in the topic. Bickering and personal attacks almost never are of general interest.
Quoting:
When replying to a message, only quote as much as necessary to give the context. It is rarely necessary to quote a whole message. Ensure all quotations are properly attributed.
Content and language:
MennoLink's primary purpose is to share news, information and personal thoughts. Redistribution of other people's ideas is strongly discouraged. Avoid sending copyrighted material, reposts from other lists, contents of web pages and similar items. We want to here your views; outside material can easily be referenced with a URL. "Me too," "amen" and voter (I agree/I disagree) messages are discouraged, unless you add some of your own thoughts about why you support or oppose a previously posted opinion.
Topics and language that you expect to hear after a church service are also appropriate here. Name calling, sarcasm and meanness are not helpful and strongly discouraged.
Quotas:
MennoLink uses a quota system to ensure no one person can dominate a discussion. Some individual interest groups have a one message per day limit. The general limit is four messages per day. Upon reaching your quota, an email notification is sent to you. Messages sent after that are held to the next day and distributed after the new day's quota is calculated.
Delays:
Messages sent to MennoLink can be delayed a day or more before they are distributed. This is normal. To reduce the chances of a message being delayed, do not send copyrighted material and minimize amount of old (quoted) material included from a previous post.
No Soliciting:
Solicitations, whether of commericial, religious or other nature, are unwelcome. Those not willing to enter into serious dialog with the group, should not post to MennoLink. Limited exceptions to this policy include menno.annc.jobs and other appropriate groups. These groups accept postings of employment offers and commercial services of special interest to Mennonites.
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