Ethics Guidelines IN PROGRESS

This is a page for ethics guidelines.  Please follow them!  The very short version: this is a wiki intended to document plural history, vocabulary, and works.  It should not be used to hurt people, and it should not be used as a vehicle for public shaming.

Locations

• Don't give people's real life locations.  URLs only.
  
  • The sole exception is common knowledge public figures--for example, Colin Ross's hospital is in Texas, so it's safe enough to say he's probably there too.

Names

• Don't use legal names unless the person involved is...
  
  • A public figure and going by their legal name--for example, Colin Ross or Chris Costner Sizemore.
  • Someone whose legal name is a matter of public safety--for instance, Billy Milligan, the serial rapist.
• In citations for plurals, use system name, followed by a screen name or member name in square brackets if relevant--for example, "Plures [hessgasm]" or "Zyfron [Z]".  If they have multiple system names (for example, Plures/Sylvans/Fenners), try to use the most current one and make a note of their former group names, to make a searchable trace.  If necessary, make them a PluralWiki page to keep track of their names, so other pages citing them can be updated as their page is.  This will inevitably be challenging; do your best.

You Can Cite...

• Locked posts, if there's no other choice, but quote only impersonal general stuff.
• Private communications, if there's no other choice, but give details enough for the facts to be checked!  For instance: "private communication between Bob Hoozit and Wendy Whatszit, 4/13/1993."

You Can Cite Them, But Don't Make Pages About...

• Yourself.
• Children under the age of eighteen.
• People you don't like, for the purpose of publicly shaming them.