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nvrspk4
26-06-2009, 10:01 PM
Hey everyone,

Recently as many of you know Michael Jackson died. As a result it was obviously a topic of conversation on the forums. However it became a topic, in more than one way. In addition to people posting with sympathy, there were people who told jokes. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you can probably click off this thread now, sorry for forcing you to read this much :P

Since then, we have recieved several complaints (and a sixteen page thread) about the situation with Michael Jackson jokes and people thinking that it is appropriate and others feeling it is inappropriate.

Our policy in the past has been to allow these types of things, and it will continue to be our policy, for the following reasons:

First of all, the assertion that you cannot make jokes about dead people is impractical and incorrect. There are many jokes made about dead people and the fact that they are deceased does not make them immune from jest.

Second of all, some are claiming that to make fun of a dead person is immature. Well, that may be true however maturity tends to be a subjective value, and varies from person to person. Society as a whole does share some maturity values however some, such as this situation, are a grey area where opinion varies from person to person. As such, you are allowed to have your views, and others are allowed to have theirs. If you feel something is immature, -rep them, that was the intended function of the system. However, Habbox will not become an institution where we attempt to institute rules to "mature" people.

Also, people have been saying, would you make fun of someone's dead aunt/uncle/brother/sister/pet dragon? That argument is invalid because Habbox has always had seperate rules when the situation pertained to a member. If you had posted a thread mourning your pet dragon and someone said "that's ok, now I have dinner" then that would be inappropriate and would be dealt with swiftly. All you spam forumers that are getting ready to post that as a joke, get your own joke.

Another point is that people have really been making general Michael Jackson jokes, some with a tie in to his death, but these are jokes that have been going around for a long time and have recently resurfaced.

As far as rules concerning this, there are obvious limits on being sexually explicit and insulting other members, there will be a line and its the same line we have been enforcing for a long time, you know what is appropriate and what isn't. If in doubt, PM a Super Moderator. However there is no rule about making jokes about dead people and there will be no rule about making jokes about dead people.

Furthermore, some have tried to use the posting to cause arguments as a reason to ban ALL Michael Jackson jokes. Even before this thread we have enforced the trolling rules in certain situations but it is important to note that the rule is only in place when people post for the express purpose of upsetting others and causing an argument to ensue. Because posting ANY opinion will cause an argument, however you're not posting it to upset somebody else and cause an argument when you're posting an opinion, a joke, etc.

So the Habbox policy on this situation will be as follows. The only situations in which Michael Jackson related jokes will be punished is in situations that are obvious trolling. Threads made to pay respects to or mourn the death of Michael Jackson are obviously not places for Michael Jackson jokes. However, it's not acceptable to stretch the definition of this rule and begin posting jokes in the middle of unrelated threads, ie a discussion of the new Harry Potter movie. This is also obvious trolling and will be dealt with appropriately as will any situation we judge that the post was made in an effort to troll. Apart from that, Michael Jackson jokes will be allowed.

As always, keep the jokes appropriate, your standard for that can be if he was still alive would I be allowed to post the joke. If you are unsure, once again, contact a moderator.

Thanks!

PS: This means that the spoiler rule and one-thread rule no longer apply. They were appropriate short term responses as we figured out what we wanted to do as a long term policy however we don't feel that it's a sustainable or necessary policy.

Sammeth.
11-10-2009, 06:59 PM
Replace all references to Michael Jackson with Stephen Gately, or the name of any deceased celebrity for that matter, and the same will still apply. I would like to emphasise this bit especially:


So the Habbox policy on this situation will be as follows. The only situations in which Michael Jackson related jokes will be punished is in situations that are obvious trolling. Threads made to pay respects to or mourn the death of Michael Jackson are obviously not places for Michael Jackson jokes. However, it's not acceptable to stretch the definition of this rule and begin posting jokes in the middle of unrelated threads, ie a discussion of the new Harry Potter movie. This is also obvious trolling and will be dealt with appropriately as will any situation we judge that the post was made in an effort to troll. Apart from that, Michael Jackson jokes will be allowed.

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