METATHREAD: let's pilot a new Buffalo Rumblings moderation policy

Buffalo Rumblings is over six years old now. We've covered seven different NFL Draft weekends and every quarterback between Trent Edwards (circa his rookie season) and EJ Manuel (circa now). At this point, our community is well-established and humming along like a well-oiled machine.

That's exactly why, at least for the summer of 2013, we're going to try out a new moderation policy here. Instead of having a staff of moderators that make decisions based on a set of rules, we're going to let you - this community of smart people - moderate yourselves within the context of our community guidelines. Here's how it works, taken straight from the Buffalo Rumblings Community Guidelines:

MODERATION POLICY

Buffalo Rumblings is now a self-moderated community, at least for the summer of 2013. We do not have a staff of moderators; instead, we are entrusting our well-established community to keep conversations in line. Here's how it will work:

• Flag, flag, flag: Your moderation tool as a community member is the flag feature mentioned above. If you see something that you find offensive and/or which violates any of the guidelines here, flag it. Any comment, FanPost or FanShot that receives three flags from our community members will raise an alert for our editorial staff.
• Review process: There are only two members of the blog that can delete user-provided content: Brian Galliford and Matt Warren. When a three-flagged piece of content reaches our attention, it will be hidden immediately. Brian and Matt (note the "and," not the "or") will then review the situation and determine whether or not a deletion must occur. Alternately, the author of the content may be contacted to remove the offending material if said content is editable; we may also delete the flags and unhide the content, allowing it to stay as is.

The power is now in your hands to keep Buffalo Rumblings as civil, friendly and passionate a community as possible.

Let me re-iterate that this is just a pilot; quite frankly, as the founder of the blog, it feels like I imagine a parent feels when they leave their offspring home alone for the first time. It's a test run. We'll see how this works throughout the summer months and re-evaluate right before training camp starts to determine whether or not this moderation policy will be permanent.

Please let me know if you have any questions about the new piloted policy. Thanks!