***New Forum Rules and Guidelines. Please Read!!!***

[j. spilotro]

Rebel Net forums are dedicated to the discussion of UNLV athletics and recruiting. We want this to be an enjoyable, friendly and entertaining environment for the exchange of ideas, opinions, information, rumors and more about the Rebels.

We ask you to keep the conversation civil and in good taste. Keep in mind that this forum is read by young and old UNLV fans, by male and female Rebel supporters, by prospective recruits and their families, by coaches and university employees, and by people in office environments and at home around their children.

We will monitor the board under the following guidelines:
• Keep the tone civil. Feel free to ask, debate and disagree as much as you like, but do it in a courteous and respectful manner.

• Profanity or obscenities of any kind are not allowed, not even if disguised with asterisks.

• Slanderous, defamatory, obscene, indecent, lewd, pornographic, violent, abusive, insulting, threatening and harassing comments are not tolerated. No personal attacks or disparaging comments may be made on recruits, current UNLV student-athletes or coaches as members of all three groups may potentially read it. "Disparaging" includes anything that could be construed as libelous. You can question the decisions of coaches, comment on the play of a team and discuss an opponent. Just do it in a respectful, responsible manner.

• Personal attacks upon other posters are not allowed.
• Passive aggressive or outright aggressive posts that are meant to either divide the community, draw attention to oneself, or to keep alive a debate that has run its course will not be tolerated. Repetitive posts used in an effort to skew the board may be deleted upon the discretion of site administrators and moderators.

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[j. spilotro]

Reasons for new rules

Why was this done?
Quite simply, the boards have spun out of control. One of the risks when being liberal is people crossing the line. Over time, it has become worse and worse. We need to tone it down for several reasons.
I had to consider many things when assessing where this site is at. The single most common complaint, by a large margin, is that there is too much freedom on the boards. These complaints originated from people with varied views on our programs. Many people would come here for specific information and opinions, but they would have to wade through hours of posts that were not only irrelevant, but mean-spirited and hateful. That simply cannot happen anymore.
People also need to understand that student-athletes and prospective recruits their families read these boards. What is written on the message boards can have an affect on people, including recruits. Many long time Rebel-Netters know this to be the case first hand. With that in mind, you must think before you post. If you are going to post something that you wouldn't dare say to somebody's face, you probably shouldn't post it. How would you react if your son, daughter, brother, sister or parents were the targets of detrimental public comments on a daily basis? Frankly, it's embarrassing to listen to a parent's concerns as it pertains to their children's reading of the message boards.
UNLV themselves can put an end to the problem by satisfying the vast majority of the fan base with an acceptable level of play. Unfortunately, for many, that hasn't been the case for many years. Winning and losing obviously have the biggest impact on the attitude of the fans. Even so, people must still maintain a certain level of civility in their posts.
Unfortunately, over time, a couple of extreme factions have originated on the boards causing a "civil war". This has caused many posters to leave, subscribers to cancel, and people to take extended breaks. I'm not asking either of these camps to change their views. Again, I'm asking for civility and respect. If you disagree or agree with something, list your reasons. Construct a persuasive, efficient post. Don't just bash somebody because they disagree. And we will no longer allow the "stirring of the pot", ie, posters from one faction intentionally antagonizing the other for only one reason - to get a heated reaction. That has probably been the type of diatribe that has caused the most problems on this board.
Now, do I want this to become a candy-coated message board? Not in the least bit. I encourage all views and opinions, I simply ask that things are stated with civility. Everyone has a voice and should be heard without fear of being harassed.
Fans from opposing schools that feel the need to continually stir it up have been a problem too. Antagonistic posts will not be allowed on the football or basketball forums. They can post on the smack forum.
Unfortunately, these changes are necessary. The tone has affected many people, myself included. It doesn't get me down as it does some people, but it makes me stay away for extended periods and I cannot run the site effectively in that manner.
We have several new monitors and they will be watching the boards and taking action - whether it be from moving posts to the appropriate forum, deleting, editing out cuss words, locking threads, or banning/blacklisting.
For the record, most people are absolutely no problem and post the way they should. But there is a small handful of people with varying views that cause the board to deteriorate to the point where they dominate the discussion.
Almost everyone here is an adult, so this should be able to understand. I don't think this problem will be difficult to remedy.
Thanks for your cooperation and understanding
Rebel-Net.com
This post was edited on 7/16 3:12 PM by Rebelfanif(GetAdminCookie() != 0) {document.write(' (Revisions[/URL])');}