Refreshing Maize n Brew and SB Nation’s community guidelines

Given the tense social climate in the here and now, I wanted to take a moment to re-up our community guidelines and what we stand for, as well as what we will be keeping a more vigilant eye on moving forward.

Here we go...

SB Nation is a network of communities where sports fans from all backgrounds gather to share their passion for the teams they love. We strive to create a fun and welcoming place for everyone to come fan with us. These guidelines help ensure that happens across SB Nation’s communities. Here’s the short version:

Be respectful in your interactions with contributors and fellow fans.

Don’t be a jerk, and don’t call other people jerks.

We’ll remove anything we see that jeopardizes our communities.

You can help with that. If you see something that doesn’t align with our guidelines, let us know. Flag any comments, FanPosts, or usernames that violate our guidelines so our community managers can review them.

The rules below extend to our SB Nation communities everywhere: in our comments, on social media, and in real life.

We do not allow any of the following:

Personal attacks: This includes name-calling, insults, threats, hurtful comments about someone’s appearance, voice, or style, and all other forms of attacks. We want our communities to be welcoming and fun. Personal attacks are the opposite of that.

Discriminatory or derogatory language: This includes racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, or other forms of discrimination.

Harassment: This includes, but is not limited to, intimidation; stalking; unwanted photography; inappropriate physical contact; use of sexual or discriminatory imagery, comments, or jokes; and unwelcome sexual attention.

Illegal activity: Don’t promote, encourage, or make light of any kind of illegal activity, including DUIs, domestic violence, or sexual assault.

NSFW images and comments: Keep it PG-13, or you will be removed. This includes language and images that are sexual, violent, or generally offensive in nature.

Excessive profanity: Fans get worked up on game days, and we’re fans, too. We understand that. As a general rule, keep profanity to a minimum. Some communities prohibit profanity, so be sure to review guidelines for the individual communities you participate in.

Multiple accounts and throwaway emails: These are a signal that you’re not interested in being a productive member of our communities, and we do not allow it.

Trolling: We know it when we see it, and we’ll remove it. Don’t go to a rival team’s community for the sole purpose of riling up their fans, either. Moreover, you should never publish any private or personally identifiable information. Doxxing is strictly prohibited.

The “first post” rule: If you break any of these guidelines with your very first post or interaction, it signals to our community managers you’re just here to be disruptive. Violators may be banned, blocked, or removed.

Spam: We have a zero-tolerance policy on spam, which includes sharing links to illegal game streams or downloads. Spam will be deleted and spammers may be banned, blocked, or removed.

Anyone who doesn’t follow these rules when engaging in our communities will at best be removed from the conversation, and at worst will end up banned from that community. These decisions will be made at the discretion of our community managers and other SB Nation personnel.

If you see any of these things happening in our communities, please flag it and it will be reviewed. If you see it happening on social media or elsewhere, flag it to the community manager or team brand managers, who should be listed on our masthead. You can also reach out via our contact form.

To take all of this a step further, we want everyone to feel like this is a safe and civil place for discussion. Discussion requires an open mind and a willingness to go back-and-forth with people. If you’re here to hurl a verbal grenade and walk away, we will police that. We know who some of our members are that have a tendency to get hostile. Moving forward, that will result in warnings and eventual bans for multiple-time offenders.

Be kind to one another. The literal translation of the site’s name is Michigan and beer. Let’s not forget why we are here and a part of this community.