The activity Dr. Norman had us participate in this past week in lecture requiring us to analyze the aspects of different websites’ comment section(s) was very eye-opening. My group specifically was assigned CBC and while examining their policy as well as understanding their moderating practices, it has influenced my decision-making regarding the development of community guidelines for Four Purple Walls.
The first guideline that came to mind was being respectful. The most important requirement to me is the site being free of negativity such as trolling, or any kind of cyberbullying and immediately taken down if/when I see it. I would also consider blocking them permanently should they continue to do so.
Profanity and inappropriate language are also not permitted. When commenting, there is an expectation for individuals to be able to have meaningful discussions without using offensive words.
CBC also makes a very relevant point when stating how posts should be related to the topic discussed. Evidently for this blog, if a person decides to bring up a subject matter completely unrelated to books, I think directly addressing that person/asking to stay on topic is the best course of action. Depending on the context and nature of what is said, I may remove the comment.
In connection to what I expressed above, another critical issue CBC raises comprises someone utilizing the platform as means to acquire followers, and/or attempt to divert people’s attention towards a different purpose/cause and clearly possess no intentions of participating in what the blog is about.
These are the right guidelines for me because I feel strongly that they will contribute to maintaining a safe online environment my audience can enjoy. I plan on implementing them by either creating a separate page entitled “Community Guidelines” in which outlines them, or incorporate the text on an existing one, such as the bottom of the “Home” page.