Where we stand
Honest debate only works if people can see how the place is run. So this page spells out the rules, who enforces them, and what happens when someone gets it wrong.
What gets held
- SpamLink farms, the same post over and over, and ads dressed up as questions.
- Organizing people against someoneBoards that exist to point a crowd at a person or group, like brigading and harassment campaigns. Arguing a question is fine. Aiming a crowd is not.
- Content that is illegal to hostCredible threats, doxxing, sexual content involving minors. Flags on these go to an admin first.
A held board goes to an admin along with the reason. You are told why, you can appeal once, and nobody else sees it until it is cleared.
Writing a take
- One take per boardEdit it instead of reposting. Every version is kept and anyone can read the history, so you can change your mind without anyone pretending you did not.
- Sources helpLinks in your take become its sources. On boards that highlight sources, a take without one gets an Unsourced badge. Sources also give other members something to check when they rate you.
- Rate the case, not the sideLow effort, Fair or Strong is a verdict on the argument, not on whether you agree. Ratings on your own side count a little less, so piling on for your team does not work.
- Linkshttp and https only. Link shorteners, bare IP addresses and direct downloads of programs or archives are blocked, and a blocked link stops the take from posting.
Replies
The opener can always reply under a take. Everyone else unlocks replying by earning standing: one reply per take, and the take’s author can answer once. Replies carry no weight and never touch the vote.
Cannot reply yet? Put your counterpoint in your own take. That is what the vote is built around anyway.
Opening a board
Title it the way someone would search for it. Keep the framing neutral: what the question means, what counts as evidence, what is out of bounds. Your opinion goes in your take, not the framing.
If the framing leaves something out, anyone can add a note, and a note only goes public when readers on both sides find it helpful.
Boards about something specific, like a bill or a contract, can carry one document: a PDF or image under 2 MB, or a link. If a board turns out to be the wrong kind, say a poll that should be open, members can suggest a change and you get the first shot at fixing it.
Flags and appeals
Anyone can flag a take, reply, note or board. A flag from an established member counts for more than one from a day-old account, and enough flags hide the item while an admin looks at it.
The admin either upholds the flag, which removes the item, or dismisses it, which puts it back. The author is told either way. If something of yours is removed, you can appeal once and an admin decides.
New accounts and bots
For its first three days, an account’s takes carry a New mark and it is limited in how much it can post. That is not a punishment. It is a heads-up for readers.
Accounts that behave like bots get marked Suspected bot. Their takes fold up and their votes stop counting until an admin clears them or they pass a quick re-check.
Standing
Standing is our one reputation score. It decides how much your ratings of other people count, and it unlocks things like replying. It never changes the weight of your own vote: everyone’s vote counts the same.
It goes up when other members rate your takes well, and down when they rate them low or an admin removes them. We show your level, not the number, so nobody has a number to chase.
Starting over with a fresh account does not buy you much. New accounts are capped, marked New and watched for exactly that. There are six levels, and each one unlocks a little more.
The bottom tier, and you only get there by being rated low, hidden or removed, never by being new. Your takes fold up by default, your ratings barely count, you cannot reply or flag, and you can post twice a day.
Where everyone starts. You can read, vote, write takes and rate other people's takes. Your ratings count a little now and more as you move up.
You have been writing well for a while. You can open boards (up to three a day, once your account is a week old) and propose options on polls.
You can reply under takes and add framing notes to boards.
Your flags carry more weight, and you can suggest that a board would work better as a different type.
Your ratings count at full weight. Few people get here. It takes a long run of well-rated takes.
How standing moves
Your standing comes from how your recent rated takes went, with the latest ones counting most. A few bad ratings fade as you post better ones, and a removed take counts as the worst rating there is.
Coming back from Toxic is slow on purpose, but it is possible. Each clean week, with no low ratings, upheld flags or removals, earns a small bonus that adds up until you are back to Contributor. Your profile shows exactly why you landed in Toxic, so you know what to change.