A recent flare-up in the community section has once again raised an issue the moderating team has long been debating: Does this community's first and most important rule apply only when discussing fellow members of the CCF, or does it apply when discussing public figures as well? Here is the relevant portion of that rule, as it is currently phrased:


At issue is less a concern over the feelings of a public figure (most of them chose to be public figures; taking criticism is part of the job) and more a question of the impact overtly cruel sentiments have on the community's health.

Example: "Stan Lee was a talentless hack. I'd like to take a piss on his grave."

I don't think Mr. Lee's feelings are going to be hurt, and it's unlikely any family of his is going to show up here and see this comment (though we did have a creator's son pop in to defend his father once!), but this is likely to have a very negative affect on others. Some will be offended because they are personally invested in Stan Lee and his reputation. Others, still, may be taken aback simply because a statement like this is ugly, regardless of who it is directed at, and reflects poorly on a community that's supposed to be friendlier than those other places on the web.

Thus, going forward, the team has decided that such statements will not be allowed. The thought police will not be knocking down your door to ban you over this, but you can expect a polite private warning and a directive to revise or remove such a comment.


So, what if I just say, "Stan Lee was a talentless hack"?

In such a circumstance, I think you can expect other members of the community to politely take you down a peg, assuring you that dismissing a person's multi-decade career in one sweeping generalization is hardly an informed nor persuasive argument, but no, the mod team will not be bothering you over such a comment. 


So where is the line?

And there's the rub! It's such a hard line to determine, and that's why the mod team will generally give you the benefit of the doubt and contact you politely and gently if we feel you've crossed it. As a general guideline, discuss others like their impressionable young son, daughter, niece, or nephew is reading, and definitely do not celebrate a person's tragedy or death, no matter who they were, what they did, or whether they'd gleefully say the same about you. This is a family-friendly community, after all. Some nasty things just don't need to be said, and others can be said in more mature and productive ways. We're better than that.

And hey, if you really need to express your meanest, ugliest thoughts online, that's what social media is for

You don't have to like everyone at the CCF, and you certainly don't need to like every creator, celebrity, and especially politician or political commentator, but your actions here reflect on the community, and the consequences of a misstep are not only yours to bear. On social media, you can say whatever you want, and if someone doesn't like it, maybe they'll unfriend you. Overstep a line here, and folks leave, never to return, deciding that this isn't the friendly and mature community they thought it was. It isn't your job to avoid offending everyone, but we do hold you to a certain level of accepted common decency here. It is our hope that we can count on you to self-police in most circumstances so that we don't need to come a knocking.

Thanks, all, for continuing to make this the friendliest comic book community on the web.