Rules for the Research Club ... Can you help?

[Steel Magnolia]

Dearest Super Sleuths,

How have you all been? 

It's been quiet of late in the "Research Club." The research threads are now located in a section of Exhale that is more difficult to find than the "Britney Spears Community," which has been limiting collaboration.

However...

Perhaps we can view this as an opportunity? 

Should we be developing some community guidelines or rules for the Research Club that can help us to ensure that we don't fall into the territory of "conspiracy theory"?

Here's what I've come up with so far:

Club Rules:

1.  Cite your sources.
2. Can your allegations be proven through multiple sources? If not, please indicate that you are stating a theory that has yet to be proven.

What else could we add to this list? Can we tweak the wording of these rules so that everyone who posts understands that they must provide some sort of evidence for their allegations? 

Collectively, we've developed quite an extensive body of work here on Exhale. 

How can we continue to add to our body of knowledge while keeping our work to the highest standards?

Let me know your thoughts. 

Happy Holidays!

Steel Magnolia

[Bambas]

I'm not a super sleuth but these are the threads that I actually look forward to read in here. I'm sure they have been very helpful and that Rosengart is keeping an eye on them.

You really do a great job!

[Steel Magnolia]

16 minutes ago, Bambas said:

I'm not a super sleuth but these are the threads that I actually look forward to read in here. I'm sure they have been very helpful and that Rosengart is keeping an eye on them.

You really do a great job!

Thank you! It's great to have you here with us!

We've done some great work...But currently, the Research Threads are spread across several different sections of BH. Some threads have now been locked, which means we can no longer add to them.

I'm thinking that if we could come up with some ground rules going forward, and show that we can behave ourselves (by citing our sources, etc.) maybe we would no longer be considered "trolls" or "conspiracy theorists" by particular mods? Maybe we could have all of the research threads moved to this section? Maybe they could be unlocked?

If the Research Threads are causing legal issues for Jordan (which I totally understand, given the current climate) maybe we can come to some sort of a compromise (e.g. changing the settings on the Research Club so that it's not open to the public to view)?

Does anyone have any ideas for how we can make this work?

[Rik vs Exhale]

Omg I feel I’m part of this 

[Steel Magnolia]

I just thought of another possible guideline:

• Stick to the topic of the thread.

Instead of going off on tangents, maybe we should make a better effort to keep all of our topics separate. It makes finding previous posts a lot easier!

[Ghoulia]

Conspiracy theory - Wikipedia

EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

Working with this definition, perhaps we can differentiate between B-Anon and sleuthing?

[Steel Magnolia]

9 minutes ago, Ghoulia said:

Conspiracy theory - Wikipedia

EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

Working with this definition, perhaps we can differentiate between B-Anon and sleuthing?

Yes!

I believe B-Anon is being influenced by an ongoing misinformation campaign.

I'm currently reading this book to learn more about it:
 

Social Engineering: How Crowdmasters, Phreaks, Hackers, and Trolls Created a New Form of Manipulative Communication | Books Gateway | MIT Press

DIRECT.MIT.EDU

---

Manipulative communication—from early twentieth-century propaganda to today's online con artistry—examined through the lens of social engineering. The United St

There's also a difference between "conspiracy theory" and a "conspiracy" which we should be mindful of:

A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agreement secret from the public or from other people affected by it. In a political sense, conspiracy refers to a group of people united in the goal of usurping, altering or overthrowing an established political power. Depending on the circumstances, a conspiracy may also be a crime, or a civil wrong. The term generally implies wrongdoing or illegality on the part of the conspirators, as people would not need to conspire to engage in activities that were lawful and ethical, or to which no one would object.

Conspiracy - Wikipedia

EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

Maybe we can re-structure the Research Club to help determine if a B-Anon topic focuses on a "conspiracy" or a "conspiracy theory"?

Some of the hot topics out there (e.g. Does Britney control her Instagram?) can actually benefit from some properly cited research!

[Tar_isa]

I admire you for keeping faith in the research threads. I think they keep on being buried, though, I've lost my faith.

I do hope it works and they can be resurrected, though!

Maybe a good strategy to follow would be to label post, or trying to have a structure to them, for example including sections in the posts:

i.e. start the post by writing

"THEORY" or "OPINION" or "QUESTION": then write what we want to say.

then 

"BASED ON": explain why we're saying it.

then

"SOURCES": cite our sources or just write "none" if we don't have them (I know sometimes I theorize based on thing I can't link or prove)

 

I'm just brainstorming here, but I think some sort of structure to posts could help avoid threads go off the rails. On the other hand, I'm afraid this won't help mods believe these aren't crackpot conspiracy theories, because even the BAnons can claim to have "sources" to back their nonsense.

 

[mocha latto]

Definitely separating theories from facts and if so maybe considering having those documents or said evidence? 

 

Also avoid the “drama” going on between fans and activists in these threads when possible. I think that stuff is put out their to diminish what we are talking about