Acceptable BehaviorBack to contents
This document communicates theCrag Service's expectation of acceptable member behaviour on the Site. It does not extend to behaviour at the crag, or general climbing ethics.
This is important for you, as an individual in the community, to understand because at times we might have to intervene with management decisions that may result in posts being removed, warning messages being sent, permissions being reduced or members being banned. Of course we hope none of this ever happens, but this is our role as a community moderator.
Please be aware that this document will not and cannot be comprehensive, as every incident has its own unique characteristics. This document will be modified and enhanced as we adapt to changes in moderating a community and managing an information resource.
PhilosophyBack to contents
theCrag Service recognises that there is a 'colorful' side to the world of rock climbing and theCrag Service wants to allow Site content to flourish in the culture in which it was written. However theCrag Service also recognises that people of a range of ages, including children, and from a range of backgrounds access theCrag Services. Therefore certain rules about acceptable site behaviour have to be enforced.
Members of the theCrag community should feel comfortable to actively participate in the community using their own name. theCrag Service fosters free flowing discussions and development of content and ideas for the benefit of the climbing community. Where these aims conflict theCrag Service will have to make a decision.
theCrag Service distributes content across multiple platforms using a reasonable content rating.
Being derogatory against individuals or minority groups as well as content with swearing is not acceptable.
Resolving DisputesBack to contents
If you have any problems then please get in contact with us privately.
Public notification of behaviour issues is not helpful and may make resolution more difficult and theCrag Service may not even respond because it may continue to inflame the issue. It is much better if the aggrieved person contacts us, than an observer.
The normal escalation process is as follows:
- Courtesy message asking a member to resolve the situation themselves.
- Administrative removal of post, image or description.
- Official warning.
- Permissions reduced.
- Account disabled.
Depending on the situation theCrag Service may skip some of these steps.
Just so you know theCrag Service does not believe in a name and shame system.
Forum PostsBack to contents
theCrag Service is an information site and its forums are largely based around discussion of that information. Because of this theCrag Service considers moderation of discussions to be important. There are plenty of more permissive forum sites out there if you want a more 'anything goes' environment.
If you have assumed you are having a private conversation when in actual fact it is a public area discussion or public ascent discussion and you have said something unedifying in the discussion then you can remove your own comment.
Harassing somebody by continuing to post derogatory comments on somebody’s ascents is not acceptable. People have the right to post ascents in any style they want without being harassed.
Please keep content discussions civil (for example route names and grades). If the focus changes from being constructive to being personally derogatory then theCrag Service may remove the post.
Unapproved commercial posts may be removed. theCrag Service accepts that some commercial posts may have community value, if in doubt please ask. theCrag Service is much more likely to allow commercial posts if you have explained what you are doing.
AscentsBack to contents
While theCrag Service encourages you to record a full history of your ascents you might choose to only record part of them. However, recording ascents that misrepresent your achievements (e.g. logging untrue ascents, logging ascents with wrong information such as wrong dates or partners) might result in the deletion of the respective ascents or disabling of your account.
Ascent CommentsBack to contents
While ascent comments are your own personal business, if you have a public account then these comments are publicly viewable in search, and feeds. In which case please treat your comments the same way as you would a forum post.
If there is inappropriate content in a public ascent comment then theCrag Service may have to remove the ascent.
Route and Area ContributionsBack to contents
Area and / or route data contributions which are found by theCrag Service to be disruptive, wrong or misleading may be edited or deleted.
Route and Area NamesBack to contents
While it might be your right to name a route or an area anything you want, this does not extend to registering that name on theCrag Service. In particular names that include selected swearing terms or phrases that are derogatory to individuals or minority groups may be edited (e.g. using '*' to replace offensive language). For historical purposes the offensive name is kept in the database just not shown on standard templates. This will not affect search results based on the full, original climb name.
It is unacceptable to change route and area names to slander somebody else. If there is conflict over a route/area name then please involve theCrag Service to make a ruling rather than changing names to and fro. Please be aware that the 'alternate name' facility should virtually remove any arguments in this regards.
theCrag Service may actually end up referring to a person's status or total Karma points to help make a final decision. For example theCrag Service would probably err on the side of a crag coordinator for naming decisions. Similarly somebody who has taken the time to make lots of contributions to theCrag Service may also be given priority.
Photos and VideosBack to contents
Sexually explicit photos or videos will be removed. Other offensive or inappropriate photos or videos - as judged by theCrag Service - will be removed or be placed under access restrictions.
Locally Sensitive CragsBack to contents
There are some crags around the world that have particular local sensitivities. If there are any local sensitivities that theCrag Service should be aware of then please contact us so we can put in place the appropriate restrictions. theCrag Service reserves the right to solely determine what these restrictions may be, but may include:
- Doing nothing.
- Updating the area or access descriptions to note the sensitivity.
- Indicate that an area is closed.
- Restricting who can see various aspects of the area (eg restrict visibility of locations, topos, descriptions, photos, streams).
- Remove all access to an area so no information will be seen, except for a placeholder area saying the area has been removed.
On the whole theCrag Service will err toward being accommodating of these sensitivities.
If theCrag Service has made a decision to remove content for reasons of local sensitivities we ask that you do not keep putting it back in because you disagree with us. It is much better to continue to work with the local climbing community so that a long term acceptable solution can be found.