A Forum For Change: TheBeijinger.com's New Forum Policy

Avid users of TheBeijinger.com may have noticed that we're recently undergone a few changes to the way that we do things. The vast majority of these are centered on our new policies on the Forum of this website.

We love that we've got such an active forum and we thank you users for taking part in it but we've made a conscious effort to clean it up. In short, that means that we're getting rid of the spam, we're getting rid of the nonsensical threads and we're getting rid of the users who abuse the forum. We're trying to make this the best forum that it can be, a place where you can find everything you might need (and a little bit more). In the interests of openly communicating that to all of you, so nobody's caught napping, please find our user guidelines and an FAQ for your reference below. Thanks.

Forum User Guidelines & FAQs
Welcome to TheBeijinger.com. The purpose of this site is to allow English speaking residents of Beijing to obtain and share information on the best that the capital has to offer. These guidelines cover the scope of moderation and user regulations for the site and are intended to make the site a truly fair and useful platform for all.

Contents:

• Content Disclaimer
• User Code of Conduct
• FAQs

Content Disclaimer

The views expressed in the community areas (i.e. the forums, reviews, blog comments, classifieds, events) of this site do not necessarily reflect or represent the views of TheBeijinger.com, its parent company True Run Media, its staff or contributors and we will not be held legally accountable for any such views.

User Code of Conduct

The following guidelines are what we expect all users to follow in every section of this site and form the basis of our moderation standards. Please read and consider these carefully and remember, always think before you post.

1. Keep it civil, please. By agreeing to the terms and conditions of the site, you are indicating that you are a responsible and mature individual, so please act accordingly. There is nothing lamer than hiding behind a veil of anonymity to launch personal attacks, post obscene material, engage in flame wars and troll the site. Users who continually demonstrate this kind of behavior can be banned at any time on a temporary or even permanent basis.
2. Constructive criticism in the form of forum and blog comments and listings reviews are always welcome (even if it’s towards our own company and products), but we will draw the line at personal libel and smear tactics, posts in violation of PRC law, posts that put us in legal jeopardy or ones other users may find offensive and threatening -- we will remove any and all such posts as they appear.
3. We will exterminate flame wars. We are all for open and free discussion but reserve the right to cut off any forum or comment thread that degenerates into a flame war.
4. No spam. Spam any part of our site and it will be removed and your username blocked. Period. On a related note, do not post classifieds (i.e. jobs available ads) in the forum or events. We will remove any such posts.
5. Please post in English. We do not maintain this as an “English-only site” but this is, after all, an English-language site. You are welcome to post in Chinese or any other language (although not exclusively), but be aware that most of our readers will not understand you. Please always post a translation in English or your post may be deleted.
6. More specific rules dealing with the individual sections of this site can be found on their corresponding pages.
7. And last, but certainly not least: We are in China. This site is monitored by authorities. Be aware that any time, PRC net authorities can and will confiscate your user information and prosecute you if they deem your online behavior against the law. Use your head and discretion when you post.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why do you moderate this site?
A: In a perfect world there would be no need to have anyone looking out for the quality of conversation on the site. But the fact remains we have a responsibility to maintain the quality and legality of content on this site and so we employ a small team to monitor and manage community participation. The aim of moderation is not censorship, but ensuring that the community participation areas of the site remain appropriate, intelligent and lawful.

Q: Who are the moderators?
A: TheBeijinger.com’s web editors are responsible for moderation services on TheBeijinger.com website. There is a small pool of dedicated external volunteer moderators who also have some moderation powers. See below to find out how you can become a volunteer moderator.

Q: How do I become a volunteer moderator?
A: You can e-mail your request to editor@thebeijinger.com. Candidates for volunteer moderator positions must be able demonstrate consistent constructive participation on the site. We reserve the right to select and de-select volunteer moderators at any time.

Q: What hours do the moderators work?
A: Moderators work during standard business hours, Monday-Friday from 9.30am-6.00pm, and will periodically check in on weekends and holidays. Please bear this in mind if you have a pending post that was submitted outside of work hours. We strive to get everything moderated within 48 hours, but this can and will vary.

Q: What do the moderators do?
A: Moderators are able to lock threads, delete certain posts and block users who violate the forum code of conduct on TheBeijinger.com website. Their moderation powers do not extend to any other True Run Media site.

Q: Who moderates the moderators?
A: Our in-house moderators are part of TheBeijinger.com editorial department – they report to the Managing Editor of TheBeijinger.com, who in turn reports to the Editorial Director and General Manager.

Q: I have a complaint about moderation, how do I escalate it?
A: Unfortunately, the huge (and growing) quantity of user content on TheBeijinger.com website means that we can't enter into correspondence regarding specific moderation activity, although all correspondence will be read. If you have suggestions or questions about any aspect of moderation and community participation on TheBeijinger.com website, you can write to editor@thebeijinger.com.

Q: Can a moderator have their moderation privileges revoked? Who decides?
A: Yes. We will revoke moderation privileges for any moderator who egregiously violates any or all of the terms in the moderator and/or user of code of conduct. More serious violators may even have their username and IP blocked. The decision rests in the hands of the Managing Editor and Site Admin.

Q: How do I know my account has been been banned?
A: If your account has been banned from participating in the community areas of the site, you will not be able to post any comments in blogs or forum threads, reviews, classifieds or events at all: the functionality is removed from the page altogether.

Q: If you click on 'Report Abuse' is the comment automatically deleted?
A: No. When you click on 'Report Abuse" the comment goes into a report queue to be viewed by a duty moderator, who will then judge whether it contravenes the community standards.
We never remove a comment just because it's been reported, even if it's been reported dozens of times. However, it's worth noting that the more abuse reports something gets, the higher it appears in the report priority queue, and so we'll probably get to see it sooner.

Q: Why has [username] been banned?
A: We don't like removing people's ability to post or comment on our content, but in some cases when a pattern of spamming, deceptive (i.e. signing up for multiple user names), abusive, trolling or offensive behavior is evident certain users can be banned from using the site. We hope this doesn't seem heavy-handed, but we sometimes have to make decisions to block some users in order to improve the overall experience for everyone else.

Q: If I've been banned, can I have my account reinstated?
A: A user can be reinstated if the moderation team is confident that he or she understands the cause of their suspension, agrees to abide by the site's community standards and will be able to contribute reasonably and sociably to the conversation in future. In such cases, it's normal for the user to have a short trial period with limited functionality, before being returned to full user privileges.

Q: Who can I talk to about TheBeijinger.com and its policies?
A: Because we are ultimately responsible for everything on this site, all actions and decisions taken by our moderators are final. Unfortunately, the huge (and growing) quantity of user content on TheBeijinger.com website means that we can't enter into correspondence regarding specific moderation activity, although all correspondence will be read.

Q: What is the moderator code of conduct?
A: We thank everyone for all of their time and effort in making TheBeijinger.com forums a truly useful community experience. Our volunteer moderators have demonstrated a consistent pattern of constructive and positive forum usage and an agreement to abide by the following conditions:

1. Apply the user code of conduct fairly, objectively and consistently when moderating forum posts and threads.
2. Do not act out of personal bias or self-interest (i.e. deleting posts simply because they promote a business/organization that competes against the business for which you work) in your moderation activities.
3. Follow all local laws and regulations in your own posts.
4. Communicate any questions about moderation issues directly by putting questionable threads in the moderator forum or by contacting the Site Admin or Managing Editor (admin@truerun.com, editor@thebeijinger.com).
5. Do not engage in any flame wars (in other words, don’t get baited and sucked in to the very things you are trying to prevent on the site).
6. Make constructive suggestions and give input to the site administrators on a regular and systematic basis.
7. Treat all users with professional courtesy and respect, even if they do not reciprocate.

NB. These rules apply to all in-house moderators as well.

Q: What's the criteria for removing a post or a thread in the forum?
A: We will actively remove posts or threads that:

1. Are overtly sensitive to the interests of the People’s Republic of China and could be construed by authorities as endangering national security, leaking state secrets, subverting the government, undermining national unity and otherwise harming national honor or interests. Remember that this site is allowed to operate at the discretion of local authorities and is actively monitored.
2. Incite hatred or discrimination based on race, ethnicity, gender, color, creed, disability, social status, geographic origin or sexual orientation.
3. Spread obscenity, pornography, gambling, violence, murder, terrorism or instigate others to commit crimes.
4. Arbitrarily and unjustifiably insult or slander others.
5. Organize or carry out activities associated with illegal organizations according to PRC laws.
6. Contain information that may harm the rights and interests of a third party, including but not limited to virus codes, hacking procedures, and software cracking codes.
7. Plagiarize the works of others. If you use the words of others, please place them clearly in quotation marks and be sure to clearly site the source.
8. Information that is grammatically incorrect, misspelled, difficult to understand, or filled with excessive punctuation or symbols so as to make it difficult to read.
9. Information that contains content or forms that affect the normal browsing of users, such as excessively large photos or code resulting in pop-up windows
10. Information that is repetitive or meaningless.
11. Information compromising the privacy of others, or published using an intentionally misleading identity
12. Content undermining the order of the website or harming the interests of the community of users, including impersonating other users and revealing other users’ personal information on the site.
13. Spam and advertisements, except in specially designated areas marked as acceptable for advertisements, such as the classifieds.

Thanks for reading.

If you have suggestions or questions about any aspect of community participation on TheBeijinger.com website, you can write to editor@thebeijinger.com. Please mark all queries clearly in the subject line (e.g. Question about moderation decision on Books blog).

For queries about classifieds please contact classifieds@thebeijinger.com. We reserve the right to take steps or implement measures which we hope will benefit the whole community of TheBeijinger.com.

All of the above rules and procedures are subject to change without notice.

Photo: Film4