Commenting Guidelines

To our brilliant commenters:

We love enthusiasm. Feel free to disagree with our writers or each other. We know that emotion is part of being a team sports fan. But we’re going to insist that you keep it civil. These guidelines protect everyone at our site.

We reserve the right to edit or delete comments or ban commenters who violate these policies. If you feel these guidelines unduly restrict your freedom of expression, find other sites on the internet where your comments would be welcome. Or start your own blog. Reds Content Plus is not a public street corner. Your right to self-expression does not require us to provide the resources to publish your opinion.

No Profanity or Vulgarity In general, assume young Reds fans are reading our site. This includes censor bypass terms or acronyms. If you have a doubt about whether to use a word or phrase, find some other way to say it.

No Personal Attacks Treat others with respect. This includes Reds players, coaches, journalists, front office personal as well as our writers and other commenters. If you find yourself saying something personal and negative about someone else, you’re doing it wrong. Distinguish between decisions and performance by Reds personnel and the people themselves. Saying that David Bell made a stupid decision when he decided to bunt is different from saying David Bell is stupid. This includes making fun of someone’s name (do we really need to say that?) or twisting someone else’s name in a negative way.

Advance the Conversation Be constructive and interesting. Repetition is not interesting. Neither is blind optimism or bleak pessimism. Making statements to intentionally sow discord (called “trolling”) is the opposite of being constructive. Be insightful. Bring new and relevant perspectives and facts to support your claims. Share your personal Reds-related experiences.

Stick to the Reds and Baseball No politics. No politics. No politics. No politics. No politics. Please, no politics. Sports and baseball do at times overlap with important social issues. When that happens and we feel the need to write about it, we will try to tread lightly.

Identification We prefer you use your real names in comments. We insist on it for our writers. Choosing offensive names or assuming the name of public individuals (like Reds personnel) will not be allowed. With accurate identification comes accountability.

The proprietor of this site is the sole and final judge and enforcer of these guidelines.