The Next Question Guidelines, Etiquette, and Rules

[Daniel Muir]

1. Weekly editions of The Next Question will be emailed Friday mornings, or as close to that time as possible, according to the moderator's schedule. Weekly reminders for inclusion in the upcoming edition will be emailed with at least 24 hours notice, if deemed necessary. Weekly participation is not enforced; you may reply as often or as seldom as you like, but everyone is encouraged to reply.

2. Anonymity is an option participants may exercise, and identities will be kept discrete. Keeping your moderator abreast of your chosen pen name is encouraged. Simply precede your replies with your chosen name, if it is different from your own.

3. Please feel free to invite friends and family to participate.

4. Every precaution will be taken to include everyone's reply in the upcoming edition. Any replies sent past the deadline of 6AM Friday cannot be guaranteed inclusion in the upcoming or subsequent editions.

5. The moderator reserves the right to correct spelling and punctuation, especially if any discrepancies threaten to alter the meaning of the participant's reply, or if lack of such correct spelling and punctuation could cause embarrassment to the participant. Any substantial editing will be cleared with the participant before publication.

6. It is respectfully requested that one's answer stay on the topic of the question. Unless the question addresses such, please refrain from voicing your opinions regarding politics, religion, race, government, foreign relations, fellow participants, etc. Your freedom of speech rights may be exercised here provided the question addresses the subject for which you feel you must voice your opinion.

7. If you take exception to another's answer or opinion and feel the need to address that person, take it to the message board. Your moderator will not give out email addresses to anyone for the purpose of debate or questioning, but initial emails can be forwarded to the person one wants to address for such correspondence. Disparaging or abusive remarks will not be forwarded. Please exercise good manners and respect for the views of others.

8. Injecting humor and levity into one's answer is always permissible. However, if at any time it is believed that a participant doesn't seem to quite get the point, if the answer seems to be seriously addressing the topic, the moderator may send clarification of the question's meaning to the participant. Conversely, if a participant feels the need, one may feel free to ask for clarification. Every effort will be made to make each question clear.

9. The Non-Committal Award can be best described as a nose-tweaking for those Not Playing Along. It is given to those who sidestep the question, reply with a refusal to answer, or those who do not choose among the given choices. Most questions come with the flexibility to answer as you like, but when given choices, choosing outside of them or inventing your own choice may get you the Non-Com. Participants who voluntarily submit to the Non-Com may or may not receive the award. That is left up to the discretion of the moderator.

10. Those that do not participate but choose to read the NQ are welcome to do so. However, on occasion, the address list is gleaned of those persons whose activity is seldom or non-existent. An email will be sent asking if future inclusion is desired. As we do not want The Next Question being sent to those who do not welcome it, any such inquiries going unanswered will be deemed as deleted email or undeliverable due to incorrect addresses, and the address will be removed from the address list.

11. The Next Question Guidelines, Etiquette, and Rules is subject to change without notice.

[Craig Gustafson]

8. Injecting humor and levity into one's answer is always permissible. However, if at any time it is believed that a participant doesn't seem to quite get the point, if the answer seems to be seriously addressing the topic, the moderator may send clarification of the question's meaning to the participant. Conversely, if a participant feels the need, one may feel free to ask for clarification. Every effort will be made to make each question clear.

What if it's the moderator who isn't getting the point of the answer? This actually prompts an answer for this week's Next Question.

Ellen Carroll used to b*itch at me, "You never take anything seriously. It's always Joke Joke Joke with you." I said, "What makes you think that's not my real opinion?" The fact that I'm sarcastic doesn't mean that I'm taking the issue lightly, it means I have some deep rooted contempt emerging. Or it could be my comment on how seriously I regard the topic, which is not necessarily on the same level as the moderator.

My answer is my answer, usually a gut response. On the weeks when I'm a non-participant, either I'm really busy (like now) or an answer didn't leap immediately out of my brain when I read the question. I'll react as seriously as I feel is warranted. I don't react to the other participants, so that's covered. But if I'm frivolous or political, oh well.

[Daniel Muir]

Point #8 clarification:

....if the answer seems to be seriously addressing the topic.....

Seriously, as in, "making an honest effort to address the topic"

Not "address the topic in a serious tone".

By all means, Bulldog, and everyone, be as frivolous as you like. Or as serious as you like. Sorry for the mix-up. My thesaurus has gone missing.

[crhickman]

This is becoming less fun for me. Too many rules and restrictions make it less likely to get honest opinions. Also, sometimes that which seems to be a non-religious and/or political question to one person may strike another as being very political/religious, which should be respected.
Let's not get too heavy with the rules or the whole point of being involved in this round robin discussion thingie may be lost for myself and, perhaps, others.
-chris