The New Laws
Date Thursday, March 28, 2024 - 03:39 AM PST
Topic This Website


Well, it's time again for some spring cleaning. I've been thinking a lot about how to change the way this site is run so that we can get rid of some of the stupid, useless shmeng that's been floating around. I'm flattered that so many people are finding this site entertaining, and wanting to participate. But we've come to the point where it's time to decide whether to have a big popular site, or a smaller cozyer one. Everyone important has voted with their comments, and the verdict is in. It's time to weed the garden.
As I see it, there's not two, but three kinds of people that participate here. There's the brilliant ones. These are the ones that you put down your coffee when you go to read something they wrote (most are now moderators, see below). There's the harmless ones. These ones usually post a lot, but don't have many new ideas of their own. And there's the icky ones. It's interesting that a lot of the people that post disagreeable stuff don't fit into the last two categories. Rae for example can post the most venomous, biting comments - but since she has a talent for magically saying what the majority of people are thinking - to people that deserve every drop, this makes her brilliant. To further confuse the matter, a few people are brilliant or icky depending on the subject matter. The two examples that come to mind here are the people that are brilliant when it comes to philosophical academic debate, but tweeks some springs when you talk about sex - and the people that are fine in almost all cases, but turn into catty spiteful bitches when it comes to a girl prettier than them.

Something that may suprise most of the people on this site - and may cause some relief in others is that this site was never intended to be a "Goth Site". Goths have no monopoly on Shmeng, they just happen to like to talk about it, so this is as good a place to congregate as any. It looks like a goth site because I happen to like that look. But just because I could be considered a gothboy doesn't mean everyone else has to be. If you're only here because it makes you feel cool to hang out on goth sites, maybe you should think about going away and finding a goth site.

So what is going to change? Here's what I've come up with so far.

  1. No more anonymous comments. You'll need to log in if you want to post comments. This will be good for those of you that log out all the time and forget to log back in before posting. This will also get rid of randoms posting stupid comments because they think nobody will know it's them. It will cut down on the number of comments a little, but should increase the quality. It also goes well with my strategy in real life of pretending that people I like are the only people that exist.

  2. The picture galleries have been cleaned up. Not only is the new submission policy going to change but we deleted a LOT of pictures that were already in there. (Thanks to callei and especially ickgirl for helping decide what to delete). If your picture was deleted, don't worry - just submit it again under the new rules (see below). At this point I'm only keeping pictures of people I've seen in person or on webcam, or that someone I know has seen in person. (There's a few that I've kept of people who have been on the site a long time or who I've talked to extensively). The same goes for art and other photography. So if I haven't met you and I delete your picture - don't be offended. Also, most pictures posted by people who have never submitted a story or a comment are being deleted. This is acounting for a lot of deletions. The members gallery is for active members - and filling in a form does not make you a member. If you just want to flash your face around the net, amigothornot.com will get you a lot more looked at. (There's just one person who's pictures didn't fit all these criteria but were deleted anyway because I don't like them at all - but it's probably not you).

  3. Accounts will now be automatically deleted. There are tons of people signed up who have only been to the site once. As of now, any account that is not logged into for three months will be automatically deleted. Accounts with associated comments may be left alone, I haven't decided yet. This is an automated script. I don't pay any attention to it, so don't get all pissy with me if your account gets deleted. If you're not around for 3 months, it's your fault - not mine. (The first deleted account will be 3 months from today).

  4. There are now "Moderators" in addition to "Editors". Moderators can rate comments. When you read stuff you can filter out all comments below a certain rating (the threshold dropdown under the article, or in your options), and comments with a high rating will show the full comment instead of just the title if you're using the threaded view of the comments. I'm not telling who the moderators are so they'll have some anonymity and can rate stuff however they think it should be rated. You'll know if you're a moderator because on the article pages there will be a dropdown box under each comment, and a "Moderate" button at the bottom of the page. Just select how you want to rate each comment that you feel like rating, then scroll down and press the "Moderate" button, if you need help let me know. I've chosen moderators based on how long they've been on the site, whether they fit into the "brilliant" group, and how often they post. I've also added in a couple people who don't meet all these criteria, just to keep some variety but I won't be adding more. If you think you should be a moderator but you're not, you probably haven't been here long enuf, or you don't post enuf, or you're not as smart as you think you are.

  5. No more second chances or apologies. Snivelling will be ignored. If you fuck up, go away. If it's a misunderstanding - just know that it's a misunderstanding and go away. The whole snivelling / explaining / apologizing process causes too much drama, and once it gets to the drama point, it doesn't matter if you were just kidding, or the picture was really you, or your friend did it. You're spreading shmeng regardless. Going away is the best apology you could offer. It's also the only one that will be accepted. If you refuse to go away, I'll block your internet provider. If you switch providers, I'll block your whole state or country. If you are unfortunate enuf to have the same ISP as someone who's been blocked, get a new ISP (or go break their fingers and send me proof). If you happen to live in the same state as someone who's been blocked - move. If it sounds like I'm being dictatorial - damm straight. The popular vote seems to be that everyone is sick of the extra shmeng flying around, and I agree in this case. I'm sure my solution is a little more extreme than most people would vote for, but while I like to run this site like a democracy - If you think it really IS a democracy, you're not nearly paranoid enough. It's simple. Just be good or go away.

  6. New Gallery Rules: Basically the idea is that to post pictures in the galleries you have to prove that you own the copyright. In the members gallery, you also have to prove that the picture is you. If you've already posted a pic under these rules, then I should have a picture of you already - or in the case of art, something that you've done to compare styles. If I don't already have something from you, then you have to PROVE to me that it's yours. Insisting won't cut it. If you can't prove it's you then you're not posting it - go to a picture post site and play there. In the future I might get some other people to help make this process easier, but right now I don't feel like it. (Mostly I just don't feel like writing all the code to make multiple editors for pictures work). Until then, the burden of proof is completely on the poster.

    Proof that will be accepted includes:
    • Getting on a live webcam with me and saying hi
    • A large established website (sorry geocities sites are just too easy to build quick) with lots of other pictures of you, and an email exchange from the address shown on the site
    • Get someone I know and trust to vouch for you. They have to have seen you in person.

    Also, it goes without saying that you shouldn't be posting nasty stuff under people's pix. I don't care if it boosts your own self esteem. Knock it the fuck off. And regardless of what you're saying, please don't post more than a few lines at a time. If your flirtation gets so wordy that you have to write more than 2 lines, get a room - a private message is what is called for. That's why the lines are so short - the comments were made for saying stuff like "You're Cute" - not for writing someone an epic poem. I'm going to leave it alone for now and just hope everyone listens - but if people keep doing this, I'm going to code it so that each person can't post more than 2 lines per picture.

Hopefully this will get stuff back on track so we can stop being distracted by all this stupid shit and get back to talking about sex. Oh and um... all that other stuff we talk about.

Your Merciful Diety,
-Devin-

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