At RateBeer we seek to create a presence that will foster and further the beer community, and to this end we have forums that allow for the sharing of information, discussion and debates. We strive to create an open and civil atmosphere where users can discuss topics without being censored or attacked for their views. When an individual's behavior in the forums disrupts this atmosphere we will address the problem. Remedies can include warnings from Administrators, post deletion with or without warning, or in more extreme cases a user being denied the right to post in the forums. In all cases, the administration of Ratebeer will judge what content is or is not in violation; the ability to post in the forums is not a right but a privilege. For the purposes of clarity we outline some potential dos and don'ts below, however keep in mind that this list cannot be comprehensive and each case will be evaluated on its own.
DOs
1. Ask questions! We're all learning about great beer. Your questions help others learn.
2. Introduce yourself! It's a great way to meet with other active members local to you and others too.
3. Post news about the craft beer happenings in your area. We all benefit.
4. Share feedback on ratings, stories, events and beer-related books, television and people.
5. Make informed comments on beer industry news.
6. If someone says they've been offended by something you've said, please DO apologize to them.
DON'Ts
1. Please keep it mind that it's a family show. Inappropriate language is reason for post deletion.
2. Personal attacks will not be tolerated. This includes personal attacks against brewers and breweries and/or other members of the craft beer community. Please don't call out another member of the community with a complaint. There are more appropriate ways to voice feedback.
3. Don't post potentially harmful rumours. Rumors of closings, legal or health issues, deaths and the like are best verified before posting. Libelous claims and posts will not be tolerated.
4. Hate language will not be tolerated. Racist, homophobic, anti-semitic, sexist or other hate language is cause for post deletion, posting privilege suspension and possible account termination.
5. Post to the forums about statistical, troll, layout, computational or other problems with the RateBeer web site. Please use the Feedback? link at the bottom of every page if you have an issue with another user of the site.
6.
The forums are meant to be places of discussion for all members. We strive to provide users with forums that allow a plethora of views to be heard, even if some of the views expressed are not always popular. With that said, in order to maintain an open and respectful environment we must limit posts that would be unduly harmful to the community. There are always reasonable ways to discuss even the most sensitive of issues. If a user decides to utilize Rate Beer's forums to attack or offend others, even if this is in an indirect way by posting links to offensive content etc., this users privileges may be revoked.
7. The forums are not the place for self promotion. If you have an interesting take on a newsworthy item or ongoing forum discussion and want to link to more information please do so. However, when a user's posts are intended to further his or her blog, organization or other affiliation the post may be deleted.
CAN'Ts
1. Oakes' Rule: If a thread has three posts, no useful content and all three users are being douches, it gets nuked.
2. You can't use RateBeer to bash a beer, brewer or place for which you could have used RateBeer to figure out the product quality for.