Social Media Policy

Policies for posting on the BRAF’s social media sites

Above all else, the Black Rock Arts Foundation values community. We believe that strong interpersonal bonds between individuals build strong communities. History shows us that a community of collaborating individuals can achieve a far greater positive impact than one individual alone. At BRAF, our primary aim is to foster this collaboration through art, but we support all intentions of generating interaction, discourse, connection and community.

BRAF values the spirit of a civil community discourse. We think that a lively, on-topic public conversation is one of the best reasons to write and host a Facebook page and a blog. That said, we also have a responsibility to maintain this space for the benefit of all our visitors. The comments made on our social media sites will have the power add to or detract from BRAF’s overall message, and it is our responsibility to see to it that they serve to enhance the experience of our visitors, rather than chase them away.

This page is our attempt to give you some idea of what we mean by “civil discourse” on the BRAF and our Facebook Page.

Our policies for posting, and guidelines for moderation

If you’re aware of expected behaviors in this forum and make an effort to be polite, you’ll never find one of your comments removed. Below is a list of expectations of our social media contributors. BRAF also uses this list as a guideline of when to moderate discussions and remove posts.

Stay on Topic

BRAF welcomes on-topic, constructive discussions that enhance and inform the goals and efforts of the BRAF’s supporters and extended community.

What’s on topic?

  • Discussion and promotion of BRAF projects and events.
  • Discussion of public art projects. We define ‘public art project’ as a art project that is widely accessible, inclusive and that exists for the benefit of the community.
  • Fundraising efforts for public art projects.
  • Although BRAF does not support projects at the Burning Man, the event is a optimal venue for public art. Discussion of Burning Man art projects as examples of public art projects are permitted.
  • Discussion of public art issues, practices, and other general philosophical topics.
  • Discussion or promotion of BRAF’s artists.

What’s not on topic?

  • Discussion or promotion of events not associated with BRAF.
  • Discussion or promotion of private art experiences.
  • Discussion or promotion of individual artists not associated with the BRAF.
  • Fundraising efforts for events or projects that are not public art projects.
  • Discussion or promotion of Burning Man camps that are not focused on public art.
  • Promotion of products or services.
  • Spamming: our linking policy can be found below. Posts containing more than one URL, or any URL not relevant to the conversation, will be considered spam.

Identify yourself

We expect commenters to identify themselves in their posts, and conduct themselves as they would as guests at a party, where spirited conversation is welcome, but unruly and rude behavior is not.

  • Anonymous comments are not permitted.
  • Our moderators can and will remove posts that they believe run counter to the spirit of civil discourse.
  • We also may choose at times to turn off the comments feature on a specific post (before it’s posted), due to a variety of factors including subject matter, web traffic patterns and timing, or the author’s availability to engage in the dialogue at the time of the posting.
  • Feel free to trackback and post your thoughts wherever you like. (We may turn comments on that entry later. We also think it’s bad practice to turn comments off mid-conversation, and will avoid doing so if we can.)

Respect others

  • Intentionally disrespectful or disruptive behavior is not permitted.
  • Snide, rude, threatening personal comments about or directed at any person, be they other users, the moderators or authors.
  • Unnecessarily attitudinal or inflammatory language, or posts that are an attack a point of view, rather than an invitation for discussion on a point of view.
  • Posts that contain vulgar or abusive language targeted at any group, be it ethnic, racial, religious, class-related, etc.
  • Conversation killers. A comment that doesn’t add to the conversation because it changes the subject, wanders off onto a tangent, or attempts to bait readers into an off topic discussion may be removed.
  • Content that knowingly violates the copyright, trademark, or trade secret of any individual or entity.

Note: repeat offenders and known trolls may find their IP addresses banned.

“Hey, I was just ‘expressing myself’! What about Free Speech??”

BRAF supports the right to free speech. We firmly believe you have the right to say what you wish on your own website (so long, of course, as it doesn’t violate anyone else’s legal rights) – and we have that right too. Thus, if one of the things we don’t want on our site is your comment, we reserve the right to simply remove it. We retain the right and the responsibility to maintain this space in the manner consistent with the atmosphere we hope to create for our visitors.

Linking Policies

We allow one (1) relevant URL per post. Posts containing irrelevant, off-topic, vulgar, immaterially commercial, or downright spamtastic links will be removed.

Deleting Old Comments

If you feel you have a valid reason for asking to have a previous comment removed, you can contact the moderators and make your case; however, the default answer is no.