The Ten Commandments of Mibba.

OK, I'll admit, this journal will be slightly serious, and slightly jokey =] Hopefully you'll see the points I'm trying to make xD This isn't against any one user in particular, it's just something I've been thinking about after all of the Mibba drama that's been going on this past while - I'm sure we've all noticed it. So, without further ado, the Ten Commandments of Mibba ...

1). Thou Shalt Write With Correct Spelling and Grammar.
First thing is first, people. This is a writing website. There are rules about spelling and grammar for a reason - this isn't MySpace or Facebook. This is a website about improving your writing and making it available to a wider audience, and helping other young authors like yourself improve on their skills. Therefore, no matter where you're writing - your stories, your journals, on the forums, on profile comments - you should maintain a high standard of grammar and spelling. It's not hard - it's a few extra letters and there's a spell check built into the actual site.

Now, I understand that here on Mibba we have a wide variety of nationalities and languages, and that's fair enough. English is a pretty hard language to grasp, and even I make errors sometimes, and I've been speaking it my whole life. As long as you try your best, no one is going to be mean about it. This only applies to people who really make a joke out of it, writing in text speak, not using capitals, not using paragraphs, abusing punctuation and the caps lock button ... that sort of thing.

Love spelling and grammar, people. They just want to be loved.

2). Thou Shalt Not Stealeth Another Person's Work.
Honestly, people. It's going to be hard to stay calm on this subject. I know that about 99% of all people reading this would never have even dreamed of stealing another person's work, whether from Mibba or another writing site, but the unfortunate thing is, it happens. Some people will say it's the ultimate form of flattery, but it still doesn't take away the fact that someone has stolen work that you've slaved over and put everything into. So please, don't do it, and please, if you see it, report it. Don't be scared about the thief being able to convince the admins that it's theirs and getting you into trouble - there are simple ways of seeing who is the original author.

3). Thou Shalt Not Feedeth Thy Dastardly Trolls.
This one goes without saying. There are, unfortunately, trolls on Mibba. They range from obvious trolls with disgusting profile pictures and the tendency to call everyone less than politically correct names, to the more subtle trolls who will start an argument on the forums or the journal section and then sit back to watch the show and subsequent banhammer of everyone who got too heated. Just don't feed them. I'm fortunate in the way that I can spot a troll from fifty paces, but some people might not have had as much experience as others. So it's simple - if in doubt, don't reply. We don't want innocent members being banned because of someone who just likes to cause trouble.

4). Thou Shalt Not Bail On Thy Contests.
This is one that really annoys me, to be honest. I'm sure I'm not the only one. People, if you host a contest, please make sure you'll be able to go through with it. Now, I understand that you can't see into the future and something may come up, and that's fair enough. I'm talking about if you know you're a procrastinator, or you know that exams are coming up, and especially this month, where NaNoWriMo attacked us all with its mighty word count. If you think there's a possibility you won't be able to judge, don't host one. If something creeps up on you, warn your contestants as soon as possible, or arrange for another person to judge.

The same goes for contestants. If you enter a contest, please get your entry in. The same things apply to you as to the hosts - if you know something is coming up, don't enter. If something creeps up on you,try to get an extension as soon as possible. If you have to drop out, let the host know instantly. It just makes everything run so much smoother.

5). Thou Shalt Respect Other Members.
This should really go without saying - it's a big part of Mibba's rules. Every single person on Mibba, you can't forget, is a real person behind a computer screen. They have feelings, they have opinions, and they deserve respect. Just because you might not agree with them is no reason to get personal. When engaged in a debate, stick soley to what you're debating over, and please keep it civil. There's no need to drag in anything else, whether that be the person's appearance, writing, or intelligence. You can call someone stupid without actually saying the word, and since when did having a different opinion make someone stupid? Everyone has their own reasons, and instead of bashing one another, learn from one another. Life is one huge learning experience and it's other people that helps it remain interesting.

6). Thou Shalt Read and Understand Mibba's Rules.
Browsing the forums, I'm sometimes shocked at how many people admit they haven't ever read the rules. Reading the rules not only helps you remain vigilant against flamers and trolls, but it also saves the editors, moderators and administrators a lot of hassle. If someone breaks a simple rule all because they weren't aware of it, it causes much drama. The mods have to check it out and punish accordingly, and the person who is banned might not see why and get upset. Reading the rules saves a lot of bother - most of them are common sense, but you might find some that make you stop and think, "Wow. I didn't know that."

7.) Thou Shalt Not Use Silly Excuses To Not Obey Rules.
This is a pretty small commandment, really, but I have seen it a lot on Mibba and it does get rather tedious. Again, these are not directed at any user, and they're not copy pasted from anywhere on Mibba or elsewhere. They're just examples from my own mind.

If the mods and admins got a dollar for every time they heard one of these, I'm sure they would be rather rich.

"I didn't know that was a rule." See Commandment Six.
"It's my journal/story, I can write it how I like." No, you can't. If you're publishing it publicly, you have to obey the rules.
"Sorry, my keyboard jams lol, I keep missing keys." Read over it, correct it, use the spell check.
"I wasn't bashing, I was just angry." If you're angry, a public blog or journal is not the place to vent it out. Write in in a diary, put it on Word and keep it offline. Things that go online never go away.

Some rules especially seem to come up a lot regarding the journals, that people don't understand. These are:

The 100-word journal rule. - This is so the journal section doesn't look like a MySpace bulletin board. If you're writing a journal, something of interest must have occurred, and so one hundred words should be easy to write. If it's not one hundred words and you have to keyboard smash to get there, don't post it. Wait for something else of interest to come up, and combine them.

The no profanities in journals rule. - Unlike stories, journals can't be age rated. There are children as young as twelve on Mibba, and I'm sure that both they and their parents don't want them to be exposed to profanity. It doesn't take a lot to put a small * instead of a letter. If you really want to swear and rant, set your journal to private. We're all writers, we can think of alternative words than swear words.

8). Thou Shalt Not Spam.
This almost links in with the above rule. Spamming can come in many different shapes or sizes. There's the more well-known type of spam, such as copy-pasting the same comment everywhere or keyboard smashing to make a word count, but there are also less well known versions of spam.

These can include a large group of users telling a person to watch their grammar and spelling on a journal - it only takes one user to explain, so make sure that they don't end up with nine or ten comments all saying the same thing.

Journals all about the same thing can also count as spam. Let's say for example, a celebrity gets married. One person might write a journal about it, but if everyone else wants to write about it, at leas combine it with something else. If it's just a report, it should really go in the articles section. No one wants to see a journal page full of the same, or similar, titles.

Just a note: a user posting multiple journals in a day is not spam, provided that the journals are correctly written and of an interesting subject matter. There is no limit on the amount of journals a member can post in a day.

9). Thou Shalt Not Have Rage Wars Upon The Dujo's Profile.
It's not that I stalk Dujo or anything *shifty*, but I have noticed from time to time that a user has been reported, and said user had started arguing their point with the person who reported them on Dujo's profile. Not only is this spam, it's also very immature. If you want to have your side of the story heard, leave your own comment, but don't address the other user personally. If you want to sort it out with the user, take it to a private place. Nothing good ever comes of fighting in a public space - other people could get involved, plus you both run the risk of receiving the banhammer. Let's keep it clean - Dujo has enough to do without having to go through pages and pages of rage to find matters that are in desperate need of being resolved.

10). Finally, Thou Shalt All Look Out For One Another.
I've been on Mibba for nearly three years now, and I absolutely love the way we're like a big family. I don't believe that there are "cliques" on Mibba - at the most there are groups of users who are close, but a clique wouldn't welcome anyone else in, and Mibba users do.

I understand that when you're a newbie, Mibba can seem intimidating. Just brush up on the rules, and get out there and introduce yourself! I can assure you that within the first week you'll know plenty of people - Mibba is a friendly community. If we all stick together and remain vigilant of trolls, we can keep it that way.

So, older users, adopt a n00b and show them how things work. And n00bs, don't be afraid to ask questions! It might seem silly to you, but I can promise you that we've all been there.

Finally, respect one another, and treat others how you would wish to be treated yourself. Mibba is going through a tough time at the moment, and it's up to us, its user base, to make sure that it stays the friendly, family-like site it's always been.

Useful Links.

All The Rules, In One Easy Place.
Mibba's Help Forum - the go-to place for all users if they have any questions.
Complete Staff List.
How To Send a Report.
Introduce Yourself! - n00bs, introduce yourself, and oldies, help them out =]

If you've any suggestions of useful links, let me know and I'll add them in =]

The tl;dr version: BE NICE!!! =P

Off back to lurking,
xx Fionnuala xx