Black Angel
Resident
I think it all depends on the age group. I have another forum that is only for staff, family members, and patrons of their entertainment business. I have no rules on that board. Instead, I just refer them to the TOS so that they have an idea of what is or isn't allowed to be posted.
On my forum, and the one I run with my brother, we have rules because while most of the members there do use their common sense and better judgement when posting, there are others who do not, and so, we have rules in place for that reason. We had very few rules at first, but as we got an increase in members, activity, and in some instances, an increase in trouble makers, we had to add a new rule as each situation had occured.
Not only that, we have them so that we can make sure that our board is abiding by the law. For instance, even though we know it is possible for someone < 13 to be as mature as someone much older, we still have to abide by the law and disallow anyone under the age of 13 to be there. We understand that it would anger some people, but if making them angry will ensure that our forum stays up and running then so be it. We are very well aware of the fact that there is no real way to verify their age, and that some will lie their age to get on the forum, however, if they choose to do so, then the consequences would befall them, and not us. We did our job by enabling the C.O.P.P.A. registration feature, and by informing them that we will uphold this law. If they are discovered to be underaged, then they will be banned, and their account will be deleted.
I have been to forums that had no rules though, and for the most part, it was pandemonium. You had members swearing at the staff, and vice versa, people posting gorey and x-rated pics, the staff either encouraging them to post more, or them posting their own, spambots posting links to porn and warez, and unregistered spammers and trolls ran amok on the forum.
On my forum, and the one I run with my brother, we have rules because while most of the members there do use their common sense and better judgement when posting, there are others who do not, and so, we have rules in place for that reason. We had very few rules at first, but as we got an increase in members, activity, and in some instances, an increase in trouble makers, we had to add a new rule as each situation had occured.
Not only that, we have them so that we can make sure that our board is abiding by the law. For instance, even though we know it is possible for someone < 13 to be as mature as someone much older, we still have to abide by the law and disallow anyone under the age of 13 to be there. We understand that it would anger some people, but if making them angry will ensure that our forum stays up and running then so be it. We are very well aware of the fact that there is no real way to verify their age, and that some will lie their age to get on the forum, however, if they choose to do so, then the consequences would befall them, and not us. We did our job by enabling the C.O.P.P.A. registration feature, and by informing them that we will uphold this law. If they are discovered to be underaged, then they will be banned, and their account will be deleted.
I have been to forums that had no rules though, and for the most part, it was pandemonium. You had members swearing at the staff, and vice versa, people posting gorey and x-rated pics, the staff either encouraging them to post more, or them posting their own, spambots posting links to porn and warez, and unregistered spammers and trolls ran amok on the forum.
