New Terms of Use

With all the trolling that's been going on lately, I feel like the Terms of Use on MyCast need to be updated. The current Terms mention nothing about trolling or bullying. In fact, there's a lot more that should be added. Having discussed this with a couple of users, here's what we'd like to see in the new Terms of Use:

1.) Restrict the site to users 13 years of age and older.

2.) Users whose accounts have been banned should not be able to create a new account without permission from the MyCast staff.

3.) Attacks against other users and attempts to discourage others from using the site should not be allowed on MyCast.

4.) No user shall post content that contains hate speech against a person or group based on race, religion, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, or gender.

5.) No user shall post content that is considered unlawful, threatening, abusive, slanderous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, offensive, pornographic, profane, sexually explicit, or immoral.

6.) Under the Terms of Use, users agree not to use MyCast to troll or bully other users.

7.) Under the Terms of Use, users agree not to attempt or work to damage the relevancy or representative nature of votable stories on MyCast using tactics; that includes creating multiple accounts to vote on suggestions or adding suggestions for humorous purposes.

8.) Users agree not to spam stories.

9.) If a troll who was previously banned rejoins the site and engages in trolling for a second or third time (depending on how serious their actions are), their IP address should be blocked.

Feel free to comment anything else that I missed.

Points 1, 2, 5, and 9 are good. The other points require more specificity. 3) We need a more rigid definition of what we mean by "attack". If by attack you mean they say something mean to or about you then I disagree that that is grounds for banning. That is why you have the option to block people, so you don't have to see that. However, if you mean something like using multiple accounts to bully a user then that is completely legitimate (though I think that should be included under the trolling clause rather than constituting its own point). Also, please provide an example of what you're thinking of when you say "attempts to discourage others from using the site". 4) The hate speech clause should best be avoided. It's a term that's very open to interpretation and I have observed an abundance of times when the broad umbrella of "hate speech" is used beyond its intended purpose. I propose striking this clause and instead define in no uncertain terms what shouldn't be allowed rather than using the problematic and vague label of "hate speech". 6) You can't just say "don't troll and bully others", you need to lay out specific standards regarding what constitutes trolling and bullying. 7) This point can easily be included as a sub-point of clause 6. 8) Again, we need to set a standard for what constitutes spamming. I also think that this, like clause 7, can be incorporated into clause 6.

What I meant by discouraging others from using MyCast, I meant trying to make other users have a personal negative experience on the site to the point where they end up leaving the site. And sure, you can block the trolls, but that doesn’t do enough justice since the troll is still out there.

For number 4, I guess I could list what defines hate speech.

For number 6, I was actually going to define trolling and bullying, but I didn’t want to fill in too much information at the time. But I definitely agree that definitions of trolling and bullying should be included in the new Terms of Use as well as examples. For me, trolling can be defined as starting arguments or upsetting people by conducting behaviors such as:

Posting provocative or irrelevant content (this can apply to cast suggestions),

Spamming the same content multiple times (like cast suggestions or even stories),

and pretending to be another user or pretending to be someone else (like that kid who claimed to be your brother).

Bullying would be defined as attempting to discredit, intimidate, and negatively affect the experience for MyCast users by engaging in behaviors like name-calling, threatening with physical violence or harm, posting derogatory content, or using ad hominem attacks.

As for number 7, I feel like it deserves its own clause. Some people might not be using multiple accounts for the purpose of trolling but rather to get their ideal actors in the lead. Obviously, it’s wrong, but the people that do this might not see it as trolling.

Having mentioned what I consider trolling, I guess number 8 could be incorporated into number 6.

I totally agree with number 9. It is a must have in this site, so that banned users are permanently banned and won't come back ever again. And so that other users could make stories and suggestions in peace. No drama and no fighting

I fully agree with number 2, number 4 and number 9 tbh.

tbh, I should consider on retconning number 1 for a reason: some users are 12-11 years old, and does this affect them personally.

they'll have to wait then, kids are a bit of a nuisance on the site

Last I heard, thomasbuildsrealone said that he is 12 years old.

<blockquote> pretending to be another user or pretending to be someone else (like that kid who claimed to be your brother).</blockquote>

For real, there should be something done about identity theft from now on. When i emailed Billy Swift once about a user who pretends to be another user and bullies a friend of mine in the form of abusive comments and mass downvotes, he says that having a similar username and pfp isn't against the rules. I mean, it would also mislead other user too. like example: the user who get bullied by the impostor will think that it was user X that attack him, unaware that it was an impostor posing as user X that bullies and trolls him.

<blockquote> pretending to be another user or pretending to be someone else (like that kid who claimed to be your brother).</blockquote>

For real, there should be something done about identity theft from now on. When i emailed Billy Swift once about a user who pretends to be another user and bullies a friend of mine in the form of abusive comments and mass downvotes, he says that having a similar username and pfp isn't against the rules. I mean, it would also mislead other user too. like example: the user who get bullied by the impostor will think that it was user X that attack him, unaware that it was an impostor posing as user X that bullies and trolls him.

I would love to solve with blocked users. When you block them, you're still seeing their stories in newest stuff above the page, so they shoud be unlisted. Especially you, thomasbuilds

For number 9, i think there needs to be some additions like: a troll or a user that got banned and had their IP address blocked shouldn't be able to access the website anymore.

(by access i meant, they wouldn't be able to view the website after they got banned and had their IP address blocked after they got banned by the admin or mods. And if they do try to access the site, it instead lead them to a page that says "404 not found" or maybe a "403 error")

This is to prevent the banned user (who got their IP blocked by the site's admin or mods) from viewing/accessing the site and then creating another account to engage in trolling again (by the way, i'm sorry if there's anything wrong with my statement).

<blockquote>I'm worried about number 8. I don't wanna spam.

It just depends on the stories I have in mind in wanting to post and setup.</blockquote>

Totally agree with this

Wouldn't that be too expensive ? I mean, it's not a bad idea, but yeah, i think that the admins or mods can't do much for now. Hopefully there's something done so that there will be no more conflicts escalating between users

I agree, something has to be done about that too.

<blockquote>Wouldn't that be too expensive ? I mean, it's not a bad idea, but yeah, i think that the admins or mods can't do much for now. Hopefully there's something done so that there will be no more conflicts escalating between users </blockquote>

True

Those are terms this website needs so desperately.

<blockquote>Those are terms this website needs so desperately.</blockquote>

Facts

<blockquote>a troll or a user that got banned and had their IP address blocked shouldn't be able to access the website anymore.

(by access i meant, they wouldn't be able to view the website after they got banned and had their IP address blocked after they got banned by the admin or mods. And if they do try to access the site, it instead lead them to a page that says "404 not found" or maybe a "403 error")

This is to prevent the banned user (who got their IP blocked by the site's admin or mods) from viewing/accessing the site and then creating another account to engage in trolling again (by the way, i'm sorry if there's anything wrong with my statement). </blockquote>

So basically, after the trolls got banned and got their IP blocked, they seem to be creating a dummy account to use it later after creating a new address and then engage in trolling again. Because even tho they got banned and got their IP blocked by the site, it doesn't change the fact that they can still access/view the site and create a dummy account so that they could use the dummy account to troll people again after they created a new email. Would be easier if they can't access the website after they got banned. If they do try to access the site after being banned and got their IP blocked, the only thing they find is "404 error or 403 forbidden". I wonder why did the admins or the mods didn't consider of this idea ?

Yeah i guess. And i think that idea would be a bit expensive for this site, the only way we can do for now is just ignore and block the trolls and keep the admins updated regarding the situation.