Chatiquette & other guidelines

This is a set of guidelines for proper chat etiquette in and general usage of The Nineteenth Byte. This is not, and will never be, a complete set of rules. Always use your own judgement and self-control. Remember, you're not the only one chatting, so be considerate of others.

Note that chat flags are not to be used for chatiquette violations, only for urgent or serious violations of Stack Exchange policy, since they alert all 10K+ users and moderators on the network. Instead, notify one of the room owners (caird coinheringaahing, Redwolf Programs, Adám, Bubbler, xnor, emanresu A, lyxal, pxeger) or one of the CGCC moderators (hyper-neutrino, Wheat Wizard, Jo King, caird coinheringaahing). If it needs to be private, raise a custom flag ("in need of moderator intervention") on the main site (not in chat) on one of your own posts.

For a guide on how to use Stack Exchange chat's markdown system and other features, check out the SE Chat FAQ. Please use the Sandbox to experiment with chat features. If you have questions about how to use chat, you can ask in The Nineteenth Byte and someone can help you out.

Good behavior means:

Do: Be Nice

• Be Nice means being patient and welcoming, especially to new users. It means not being rude, and being polite instead. It means avoiding name-calling, bigotry, harassment and inappropriate language.
• The Nineteenth Byte may be a user’s first experience with CGCC, so be a good ambassador.

Do: Be On-Topic

• While off-topic conversations are allowed in The Nineteenth Byte, they should not get in the way of on-topic discussions. The Nineteenth Byte's purpose is to provide a place for users to discuss CGCC.
• Please pause an off-topic conversation or continue it in a different room created for the conversation if there is an on-topic conversation going on. The room owners will be happy to assist the latter choice by moving the off-topic messages to the created room.

Behavior to avoid:

Don't: Be Disruptive

• Being disruptive means doing anything that prevents, impedes, or discourages other users from using The Nineteenth Byte for its intended purpose. This includes continuing off-topic conversations while an on-topic conversation is happening, or posting nonsense that makes it harder to follow conversations.
• Engaging in vitriolic discussions or baiting others into engaging in them is similarly disruptive. We're all here to have a good time.
• Don't abuse oneboxes. Certain types of links will be inlined into chat. While posting interesting pictures/animations is OK in moderation, consider just posting it as a regular link instead. Links to images are preferred because 1) they take up less vertical space, allowing more of the conversation to be seen, and 2) some users have slow internet, limited bandwidth, or use mobile data for chatting. A link to an image is much less disruptive. The same applies to excessively large code-blocks.
• Don't promote your own content too much. Promoting your own content is absolutely OK, but there is definitely a point at which it becomes excessive. Avoid promoting off-site material unless it's related to the topic of discussion. Sharing posts that you want feedback on is perfectly fine, but sharing things just in the hope of getting more upvotes is not. The rule of thumb to follow is "If somebody else had posted this, would I still really want to share it?" If the answer is yes, then go ahead. More guidelines on self-promotion.

Don't: Make Noise

• Sometimes, there isn't anybody talking in chat. That's perfectly fine. Don't send messages just because the room is quiet.
• Consider whether your message is actually adding anything to the chat room. If not, please keep it to yourself. If the message wouldn't be missed if it were gone, it probably doesn't add anything.
• Don't use The Nineteenth Byte as a dumping ground for your thoughts or actions. Consider whether a topic would be relevant to others before talking about it. We're here to have discussions, not to listen to someone's stream of consciousness.
• Don't announce your entrance and exit every time. The sidebar shows when users join and leave the room, and sending a message everytime creates noise. If you have to leave in the middle of a conversation, it's fine to give a quick heads-up that you're leaving. Greetings ("Good morning", "Hi everyone", etc.) are alright, but keep it reasonable. If you're leaving and coming back every few minutes, you don't need to send a new message every time.

Don't: Discuss Suspensions

• If a user is suspended, do not talk about it. Suspensions are issued either automatically or by moderators in cases of serious rule violations, and those are kept mostly private for a reason - Stack Exchange believes in reforming problematic users, so suspensions are a chance to reflect and reform, and a user should feel welcome to return afterwards, not alienated by the community.
• Do not speculate on why they are suspended, do not ask moderators why they are suspended, etc. After their suspension ends, do not ask them about it, do not talk about it, and do not make them feel unwelcome for being suspended. Once their suspension is over, the system or the moderators believe they are ready for a second chance, and the community should provide that to them. If they talk about their suspension and decide they want to have a conversation, then that is fine, but do not bring it up yourself.
• In the case that a suspended user is being disruptive (e.g. by joining and leaving the room constantly), do not acknowledge them. Just ignore them and do not attempt to communicate with a suspended user (e.g. via them editing their profile as a side-channel form of messaging).

Moderation

The room owners of The Nineteenth Byte have a duty to keep the chat room a nice place. In a perfect world, they would not need to use their moderation tools, because everyone would be respectful of each other, and use chat appropriately. However, situations do arise where moderation is necessary, and in those situations the room owners will take action.

Users who violate this chatiquette will be warned, and the violating messages will be removed. Additionally, room owners may kick the user from the room at their discretion. For violations of network-wide policy, which includes aggravating users in the room with repeated violations of this chatiquette, a network-wide suspension may be applied by a moderator.

If your messages are removed, or you are kicked or suspended, please reflect on the cause and make an effort to not violate the chatiquette in the future. If, after reflection, you believe a room owner action was inappropriate, please feel free to bring it up with the other room owners or on Meta for review.