A pick is only worth something if readers can trust it. These are the rules that keep it that way, for posts, profiles and comments.
Five rules, one line each
- Pick honestly. Recommend what you actually rate, in your own words.
- Link straight. A link goes where its text says it goes.
- Be yourself. Your name, or a pen name you stick with.
- Argue with ideas. Never with people.
- Keep private things private. Other people’s details are not content.
Rule 1: pick honestly
Post work you wrote or have the right to publish. Quoting a short passage is fine as long as it is marked and credited; lifting most or all of someone else’s article is not. Translated or adapted a piece? Say so, and link the original.
Rule 2: link straight
Links make picks useful, so use them: to your sources, to the thing you are recommending, to your own website. Each one should be honest and fit the post. A post that is really just a vehicle for links is not a pick.
Quick check before you publish: a reader clicks. Do they land where they expected, on something that adds to what they just read? Good, keep it.
Rule 3: be yourself
Writers go by their own name or one consistent pen name. Profile photos, bios and website links should be about you, not someone else. Commenters can use whatever name they like, as long as it is not posing as another person.
Rule 4: argue with ideas
A comment should add something: a question, a fix, your own run-in with the thing being recommended. Keep it on topic and keep it civil. Spam, ads, insults and drive-by tangents do not get published. Since each guest comment is checked by hand, a comment you cannot see is usually still waiting, or was turned down.
Rule 5: keep private things private
Do not post someone else’s home address, phone number, private messages or similar details. This one sits on the hard-no list below as well.
The hard-no list
These come down the moment we spot them. No warning first.
- Illegal content, or content that helps someone break the law
- Malware, phishing, or anything built to trick readers out of their details
- Links that deceive or cause harm
- Harassment, hate speech, threats
- Exposing another person’s private information
- Impersonating another person or organisation
- Any sexual content involving minors
How we enforce them
Moderators can remove posts and comments that break these rules. A blog with serious or repeated breaches can be shut. The response fits the problem: an off-topic comment just never appears, a phishing link is gone immediately.
Seen a broken rule?
Tell us on the contact page: choose Flag a post or comment, or Copyright: my work was copied if it is your writing on someone else’s page. Paste the link. Someone reads every flag.