BOBCHANNEL RULES

  • Be kind.
    Abuse is not tolerated. Again, full stop. Abuse is not tolerated. If you hurt people, you are not welcome here. This doesn't mean all harm is unforgiveable and nobody can ever be a good person again, but buddy, that also requires reparative actions, a genuine change of course, and a lot of time and effort. Merely saying you've changed doesn't mean you've changed.
  • Be respectful.
    While not everyone can be expected to get along and it is in nobody's interest to sweep problems under the rug, please don't get into any sort of fight, your beef doesn't need to be public. We'll try to do what we can do to calm things down and if possible help with reconciliation, but ultimately we're not here to be an audience to personal disputes that are better off handled privately.

    In some cases this rule cannot be applied with compassion, primarily in cases of serious or serial abuse. This is a completely informal setting and there is no real vetting to speak of beyond friend-of-friend trust, so sometimes people fitting that bill can slip in without knowing. This is a safe community and everyone in it deserves to feel protected and secure from harm. If you see anyone like that, please say as much or as little as you feel comfortable with to staff. It will be kept anonymous and action will be taken.
  • No hate.
    Racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, etc. are not acceptable in any way. Full stop. If this somehow happens as a mistake, it should be made clear what's wrong. An acknowledgment, apology, and promise to refrain ever again is appropriate. We all mess up sometimes and need to learn and grow from these things, though keep in mind it is not the job of someone who is subject to hate to explain why and how something is a problem to them.

    However: willful, obvious and/or repeated instances are grounds for you getting kicked the hell out. Sometimes there is just no excuse for it. This also goes for kinkshaming. Also, apologies that I couldn't think of a positively-worded "Be ___" but it makes this important rule stick out more.
  • Be Spicy
    One of the things that's been a constant for the 14 years there's been some form of this group chat (On FurNet IRC as well as WinMX decentralized chat) is that we help each other out as best we're able. This is a chat and a support network in one. If something's gone terribly wrong for you, there's an emergency, you know somebody in need, please don't feel shame in saying so and we may just organize an effort to help.

  • Be mild(ish).
    Don't post NSFW stuff in the general chats. Don't post IRL stuff in the NSFW chats. Don't post extreme NSFW stuff in the general NSFW channel. Keep low-content memes and jokes in the clown box. Try to keep gaming chat in the gaming rooms. This is just a best effort, and sometimes the flow of conversation just heads in given directions.

    This really isn't enforced other than the NSFW aspect, it's more of a suggestion. Also it goes without saying that in the extreme NSFW and all others in particular that there is to be no illegal content whatsoever and no underage stuff. The entire server is also 18+ only just for ease of everything. It's not for kids and it's nothing personal. So come back when you're old enough, you cool baby.
  • Be open.
    If something's bothering you, don't hesitate to talk about it. Whether it's a personal issue or someone just did something messed up and should stop. This also isn't a "no politics uwu" kind of group chat, though the only thing I might suggest is to avoid doom and gloom stuff too much.

    Also as an opsec kind of thing in our era of political crackdown, don't do any planning here for anything. Encourage people to vote or march or attend meetings and seminars by all means, but anything more is way beyond any kind of scope or interest of our group. This isn't an activist chat regardless of its members.
  • Be genuine.
    We're all kind of sick of irony and such. Also I can't think of anywhere else but like don't even post any frogstuff. It may be horrible when it's genuine, but it's still bad when it's posted "as a joke."

    This also doesn't mean sugarcoating and whitewashing things or putting on a smile when everything's terrible. It's just nice to have one single damn place where people can have fun and not put on some sort of air or pretend that caring about things sucks or whatever.
  • No fascists at this party!
    Full stop. You don't have to be some kind of revolutionary leftist to fit in here and have fun, but lord help you if you think any sort of crypto shit is gonna fly or find any sympathy in here, at all. You'll rightly be yelled at and kicked out because this shit infests so many big group chats. Whether that's out of similar views on the part of other chats, or just wanting to avoid "rocking the boat," that has been a non-starter for years here.

    This also means don't try to have some sort of moral argument on punching Nazis. This rule name comes with apologies and acknowledgements to Night in the Woods. A great game, officially endorsed by Bobchannel. Buy it and play it!

Boilerplate, etc.

This one last one is a grab bag just in case we do get some jerk that rules lawyers and delights in the "I'm not touching you" defense. Most people aren't going to have to worry about this one! Trust us! And we'll generally try to work things out as nicely as possible! But anyway: you can get banned for whatever reason and are not owed an explanation. In most cases you will get one, but that's absolutely out of courtesy, so if you've dealt a whole lot of bullshit, "fuck off" is maybe even more of a reason than you deserve.

Maybe you'll be asked to leave because you're not a good fit. In that case maybe it's nothing personal, maybe you're a good friend of Bob's that didn't mesh well with others. That doesn't mean you're a bad person and shouldn't be taken that way in the least. It just might be something as simple as, like, hoping you'd have more of an interesting and humorous personality than to just post Jontron reaction gifs for everything.