The revised "Be Nice Policy" states:
Don't be a jerk. .... Inappropriate language or attention. Avoid vulgar terms and anything sexually suggestive. Also, this is so not a dating site.
When a clarification about how this applies to Chat room on the Stack Exchange (Stack Overflow) sites, the response given was:
- Clarificantion request: Clarification request: Does this 'code of conduct' apply equally on chat, as well as the Q&A sites? If it does, there's going to need to be some form of clarity on what constitutes vulgarity, etc. Additionally there will likely have to be some form of 'grandfathering' of now-contravening content.
Clarification response: - nothing official yet ....
In another answer, Tim Post states: .... There's less ambiguity for moderators to deal with when enforcing it, and less ambiguity for folks simply wondering what's expected of them. Don't be surprised to see folks widely linking to it in comments / chat / etc.
A direct, non-official response from Chris S suggests: I would say the rules apply to chat with exceptions for vulgarity on a per-room basis. Patrons of the room should come to some kind of consensus as to what terminology is acceptable. Malicious behavior - bullying, harassment, and bigotry - is never acceptable however.
Questions:
- Are the expectations for Chat the same as the expectations for Q&A sites?
- If not, and chat rooms can have exceptions to certain policies, how should those exceptions be 'published' so that people know which rooms are allowed these exceptions?
- Are the degrees of 'profanity', or 'vulgarity' different for chat as opposed to main sites?
- If a particular chat room requires additional code-of-conduct 'rules' that go beyond the 'Be Nice Policy' (i.e. be Extra Nice Policy), is that allowed too, and how should that be published? (Already chat rooms can enforce 'topic for the room', can it enforce a 'topic and conduct for the room'?)