BCN Engineering Netiquette

Welcome to BcnEng’s netiquette.

This document can change over time. The administrators will publish its updates on the #general channel. To join this community you agree to its contents. If you don’t, you must logout and delete your account.

You can propose improvements to this document by communicating them in the #ask-staff channel or opening a pull request.

Definition

From wikipedia:

Netiquette […] is a set of social conventions that facilitate interaction over networks […]

Conventions

Here you will find a set of basic conventions that we find useful. They are part of the set of behaviours that the community users expect from each other. Please make sure you understand all of them. Remember that you can write any question or ask for advice in the #ask-staff channel.

Behaviour

Be respectful with your colleagues and follow the Code of Conduct rules.

This is a professional community. If you are unsure whether something is appropriate, or you feel it needs a “just joking” disclaimer, don’t post it. The burden of judgment is on the poster, not the moderators.

Accounts

As a people-first slack organization, company accounts are not allowed.

Content

Best practices

  • Be specific when selecting in which channel to post, following our channel guidelines
  • Use threads when possible to keep the conversations organized. Don’t send your replies to the channel unless there is a change of topic in the thread.
  • Pasting a random link sometimes does not add much value. Consider explaining why you did it.
  • Consider removing the link previews.
  • Use reactions to give a quick feedback. Writing haha, jaja, XDDD or lol does not contribute much.
  • Avoid sending the same message to multiple channels, also known as crossposting. We like keeping things tidy.

Bad practices

We will consider spam to be:

  • Job offers that are not posted on the #hiring-job-board.
  • Posting or advertising affiliate links.
  • Enterprise advertising or for-profit projects. FOSS projects are allowed.
  • Any service offering, including consultancy and other services, except on the #contractors-freelancers channel.

The administrators reserve the right to:

  • Remove any content that, in their judgment, goes against the Code of Conduct or these guidelines. This is a judgment call about impact on the community, not an accusation of bad intent by the author.
  • Remove link previews for better readability.

Moderation

The administrators are volunteers moderating on their own time.

  • When content is removed, an administrator will tell the author privately which rule motivated it.
  • If you disagree with a moderation decision, you can raise it once in #ask-staff. Once the administrators respond, the decision is final. Don’t relitigate it in the affected channel.
  • Humor at the expense of a group of people may be removed even if members of that group don’t find it offensive. The bar is whether it keeps the community welcoming for everyone, not whether a particular person minds.
  • These guidelines describe intent, not an exhaustive list. “It’s not explicitly forbidden” is not a defense, and arguing technicalities with the administrators is itself considered disruptive.
  • Behavior that repeatedly generates moderation work may be treated as a violation on its own, even if no single post crosses a line.
  • Repeated removals of a member’s content will escalate through the Code of Conduct’s Enforcement Guidelines, up to a ban.

Hiring inquiries and other service offerings

If you are providing services, including consultancy, recruiting or any other, you are not allowed to contact any member of this community, unless:

  • They have contacted you first, or
  • They have posted in some channel that they are explicitly looking for that kind of service

If you provide recruiting services, the best way to get leads is to post a job offer at the #hiring-job-board channel and wait for people to contact you. If you provide recruiting services, you are not allowed to contact any member of this community that has posted a job offer, unless:

  • They have contacted you first, or
  • They have posted in some channel that they are explicitly looking for recruiting services

In any other case, we will consider it spam and you will be banned.