| First off, it is your right to post anonymously at Colorado Pols. Anyone who attempts to "out" someone by posting information or hints toward their identity will be banned from the site. We want everyone to feel comfortable posting in the manner in which they are most, uh, comfortable.
At Colorado Pols, you are allowed to sign up under any pseudonym you choose; we don't care if you want to use your real name or not, and if anyone else cares...that's their problem. We will do our best to protect all posters against anyone who tries to reveal or hint at someone's real name.
As for what you can and cannot say in comments and postings, we've said this many times in the comments sections, but we will repeat it here. For the most part, we don't care what you write, and we certainly don't care about who or what you support. There is a right way and a wrong way to discuss these things, however, which includes:
No attempted floating of negative rumors that cannot be substantiated. If you can't cite, with links, a detailed accusation about something, then don't write it here. Not only will a post or comment like that not be promoted, it will be deleted, and you may be banned from the site (a first warning may or may not be issued, depending on the comment/diary and the context).
The most extreme example of this would be something like, "I heard that Candidate Smith has been having an affair with his secretary for two years." If you don't post some sort of confirming information about this, your comment will be deleted and you will be banned from the site immediately.
A less egregious example would be something like this: "Rumor has it that Candidate Smith was running a pyramid scheme that bankrupted a lot of people." If you don't have facts to back this up, including links, the comment will be deleted and you may be banned from the site. Note that we don't consider a link to another blog that has the same rumor an example of factual support; just because someone else chose to publish an unsupported rumor doesn't mean that it is now verified.
We are not the place for you to attempt to float negative, damaging rumors about candidates or individuals, no matter the Party. We will be diligent about this. We're not getting sued over some rumor you tried to start.
Can't write nice? Then go somewhere else. Please, limit unnecessary vulgarity or unnecessary and childish name-calling. Some is okay, but please don't let it get excessive.
We suppose you could argue that all cuss words are unnecessary, and you would probably be correct. But there's a difference between saying, "What the f*** is Senator Smith doing?" in order to emphasize a point and in saying, "You're just a f***ing worthless piece of s*** you f***ing a**hole." If you're just going to use vulgar language to call people names, that's boring and pointless (in addition to being unnecessary). Go somewhere else.
This also includes posting graphic images meant to advocate your cause (for example, images of abortions or executions-gone-wrong, meant to promote pro-life or anti-death penalty positions, respectively). Nobody wants to scroll through the comments and come across a jarringly graphic and inappropriate image. You can always provide a link to a page without actually posting the image itself.
Don't write a comment that isn't somehow relevant to the post you are reading. If you have something off-topic you want to talk about, then go to the daily "Open Threads." Nobody wants to scroll through comments about the Senate race and have to skip past your diatribe about a flat tax. Unless the diary is called "Senate Candidates Discuss Tax Options," then take that somewhere else. If your comment is totally off-topic, it will likely be deleted. Repeated abuses of this may lead to being shown the door by your Colorado Pols editors.
Please try to be conscious of limiting excessive back-and-forth discussions between you and one other poster. No matter the issue, inevitably this becomes a pissing match between two people. And guess what? Nobody else cares anymore. If you find yourself engaged in a back-and-forth "I know you are, but what am I" bitchfest, then maybe you should exchange emails and yell in all caps at each other privately.
And finally, please email us at webmaster@coloradopols.com if you see something amiss. Believe it or not, we don't actually sit here all day and read every one of the hundreds of comments that people leave, so we're bound to miss things that may violate these and other policies.
For more tips on writing diaries, check out How to Get Your Diary Promoted.
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