Editorial guidelines
The Floribama Riders have posted to a private e-mail list for years, and we grew accustomed to an informal communication style. This page attempts to describe how content on this site should differ from the Yahoo group.
Avoid using first and last names
In this connected age, many employers will google job candidates as part of the hiring process. To attract members to the club, we make our blog entries public. When referring to individuals, use their nicknames or a first name with a last initial.
You don't want a potential employer finding a post that says, "John Smith rode past at supersonic speed before mooning the entire group." That brings us to our next point ...
Taste
This site exists to market the Floribama Riders to potential members. We're looking to show potential members how much fun we have, but we should avoid offending people. To put it another way, unless you post in the private forums, your mother can read what you write here.
That said, one of the reasons this club is so cool is because people have a good time without getting too bent out of shape. It's a fine line.
Consider your audience
The person reading your blog post might be a random Internet user who searched for motorcycle clubs. They might not be familiar with club-specific jargon like TRTEAR, and they might not know all of the people in your story (gasp!). :) When possible, try and set some context for people outside the club.
Language
We don't have an official policy on what language is allowed or prohibited. Use common sense. The software we use includes the ability to filter by certain keywords, and we could ban members who repeatedly use offensive language, but we should not have to go down that road. We're all grown-ups.
That's all for now. I see us expanding this section and describing how to collaborate to make this site as good as it can be.
-Ice T
