A new season is about to dawn for the New York Giants, and for us here at Big Blue View. This place has grown, and continues to grow beyond my wildest dreams. Last month, more than a record of more than 300,000 unique visitors came here, and BBV generated more than 600,000 page views.
There is a lot to love about this great growth. Along with the growth, though, there are some things I'm not thrilled about. Yes, in case you hadn't figured it out we are headed for a discussion of the Community Guidelines. And yes, this post is aimed -- mostly -- at those of you who are relatively new here.
If you haven't really read the guidelines for what type of site you signed up for, DO IT NOW. If you haven't read them in a long time, DO IT AGAIN.
In recent days, we have had penis size references, we have had people calling each other assholes and other names.
Let me be very clear. That is NOT how we do things here, and that stuff will absolutely not be tolerated. You want to talk about that stuff and treat people that way go do it somewhere else. I don't want you here, and I certainly don't need you here.
One of the things that has bugged me lately is I see less and less interaction with the site from some of the long-time members, some of the guys who have been here since the beginning and helped make this the great community it has always been. I fear that that is partially because of the disrespectful tone of some of the comments that have been sneaking their way into our discussions each day.
As the guidelines say "The site is known for being a place where Giants fans can congregate without the typical name-calling and immature commentary you can find in many places on the Internet. It needs to remain that way."
Let me highlight a few other things directly from the Guidelines.
- This site is a community of fans who love the New York Giants where we look for mature, intelligent and friendly discussion about the Giants and football in general. It is not a place where you can say whatever you to whomever you want in whatever language you want. We expect you to be mature, to be respectful of everyone and to have something to say that advances the discussion. We don't want juvenile name-calling here.
- There is no place for vulgarity here. You may think you are being funny, in reality that stuff is just crude and immature. As for profanity, please keep it to a minimum.
- We each have the right to our own opinions, and we have the right to express them in a thoughtful, intelligent manner. If you can't take people disagreeing with you, don't give an opinion in the first place. NO PERSONAL ATTACKS. No name-calling, no telling people they know nothing about football.
In short, be mature, keep it clean, keep it to football respect the fact that others are allowed to disagree with you and that everyone is here because they love the Giants and want them to win. This is a place for friendly, mature discussion.
If you have an overwhelming desire to prove you are smarter than the other commenters here, go start your own blog and have at it. If you're here, show some class and treat people with respect.