Comment Policy & Community Standards

All civilizations have rules…

The platform is ours, while the conversation belongs to everybody.
When we all take responsibility for maintaining an appropriate and constructive environment, the debate itself is improved and everyone benefits.

If you act with maturity and consideration for other users, you should have no problems.

If you take some responsibility for the quality of the conversations in which you’re participating, you will help make this an intelligent place for discussion.

Note: Most internet sites are privately owned. Thus, there is no obligation to allow you to speak freely in their space. That said, ordinarily this is not a problem among civilized conversation. Simply follow our comment guidelines (below). Thanks.

[ Read: Freedom Of Speech on the Internet ]

Note: When you comment here, you are placing your words in the public domain. At our discretion we may choose to delete a comment when it is outside the bounds of our policy. Additionally, and worst-case scenario, a repeating offender may have their comment privilege’s removed.

The use of a Nickname or Alias name for commenting.

You may post anonymously here by simply using a nickname / alias name. We ask that you choose an alias name and stick with it, for the benefit of ongoing conversation with others. And keep the name ‘clean’. No business names either. The moderator reserves the right to delete those who abuse the alias name terminology. Common sense stuff…

Please stay on topic as best you can.

Why? For the benefit of the conversation and subject at hand. Others who happen across a particular article (perhaps by an internet-search) are interested in the article’s subject matter as well as on-topic comments in order to gain insight. When off-topic comments derail the conversation, it is often a ‘turn off’ for others. Egregiously off-topic comments on articles may be deleted at our discretion.

Use our Forum area for other conversations that may not fit in with a given posted article on the site.

Be positive, constructive, and respectful of others opinion.

We understand that people often feel strongly about issues. But please respect other people’s views and beliefs. Consider your impact on others when making your comment.

No trolling, harassing, bashing, or toxic flame-wars.

Troll: Someone who posts inflammatory, or off-topic messages with the primary intent of provoking readers or otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion, often with a sole intent of bashing the subject matter, or purposely fighting with other commentators. We have a low tolerance threshold for this, and will ban a user with this repeated comment behavior.

[ Read: The MSB Saloon – Private Establishment versus The Public Square ]

No swearing, defamatory, racist, or otherwise abusive speech.

No explanation necessary… Just keep it clean.

Be aware that you may be misunderstood.

Try to be clear about what you are saying, and expect that people may misunderstand your comment (this happens more than you may realize). Text isn’t always a great medium for conversation: tone of voice, sarcasm, humor and so on, doesn’t always come across when using words on a screen.

Keep this in mind when interacting with others…
You’re not likely going to change people’s mindset in a comment thread.
Be civil. Enjoy!

Keep comments reasonably short and succinct.

Although your comment is greatly appreciated, please don’t write ‘a book’ in a comment. Attempt to express your opinion in a succinct meaningful way that addresses the topic. Others tend not to read comments that are too long. Try to use paragraphs rather than run-on sentences! It helps while reading!

No self-promotion of your own business, products, or website

The webmaster here (me, I’m a one-man-band) reads or scans all comments. So don’t bother trying to use the comment section to self-promote a site or business. No soliciting to buy or sell products or services. Additionally, all of our article’s comments with embedded links are automatically sent to moderation for manual approval.

No Copyright infringement.

Do not copy/paste other articles or the writings of others, except, relevant quotes or excerpts are okay.

Comment Moderation Approach

At the discretion of the moderator, any comment or posting in violation of the rules may be deleted. Participants who seriously, persistently or willfully ignore the community standards, will have their posting privileges withdrawn.

This is not an action that we take lightly or arbitrarily. However, we are aiming to create and maintain an online experience consistent with our values, and we reserve the right to make decisions which we feel support that.

Also, when a comment or post is removed for any of the reasons above, it is sometimes necessary (or automatic) to delete subsequent messages (replies) which refer to explicitly, or quote from the original (removed) comment. In other words, the comment ‘thread’ will disappear.

Note about community content

The views expressed in community areas of this site (the comments and Open-Forum) do not necessarily reflect or represent the views of Modern Survival Blog or contributors or advertisers.

Trade and Service Marks
The principals of Modern Survival Blog specifically claim all rights to the phrase “Modern Survival Blog” and “ModernSurvivalBlog.com”. No use of these terms may be made without express prior consent, except as provided for by academics and authors under fair use provisions of current U.S. Copyright law. First use of these terms occurred in January, 2010.