Tikanga for commenting

Credit: These comments tikanga/protocols were inspired by Greater Auckland.

1. Commenters are guests and are asked to behave accordingly. Treat other members of the community with civility and respect. If you see disrespectful behaviour or trolling, please report it to us rather than inflaming the situation. Talk Wellington’s decisions are final.

2. Talk Wellington decides what is acceptable. We reserve the right to delete comments, place commenters in moderation and suspend accounts as we see fit. We may suspend someone who does any of the following…

  • Obsessive arguing in a thread or threads
  • Repeated statements without supporting evidence
  • Blatant promotion of products or services or political groups
  • Use of multiple anonymous identities
  • Sexist, racist, ageist, overly profane, personally attacking or otherwise offensive comments
  • Repeated provocative contrariness or pedantry (i.e. trolling)
  • Unnecessarily long comments

…or any other behaviour we feel is not conducive to enhancing and advancing the conversation about a better Wellington region.

3. Commenters are encouraged to use their real names, especially if you’re a frequent flyer. We currently allow anonymity, but don’t mess with this privilege – we will withdraw it if people aren’t being civil.

4. Ad hominem attacks are not okay. If you disagree with someone, or find someone’s action outraging, refute their statements or criticise their act, don’t insult them as a person.

5. Opinions, while welcome, are not facts, so don’t assert them as if they are. If you’re just using logic, walk people through your logical chain.  When citing facts, give provide supporting references and links, especially when asked.

6. Do not copy and paste into comments complete copyrighted material without permission from the copyright holder. (And even then, remember long comments often don’t get read!) Acknowledge all sources.

7. We aim to only have content that enhances and advances the kōrero about Wellington, but we’re a bunch of ordinary citizens doing this in our spare time so we will make mistakes. If you spot something that needs correction, get in touch.

 

Image credit: Horowhenua Development Plan, Horizons Regional Council