What's the gist?

Imagine yourself at a friend of a friend's party. You mingle with other guests, strike up some conversations, and generally get along with everyone else even if they might not share the same opinions as you do on everything. You don't go ripping on people for having a different view of something, jumping up and down on the couch and calling them stupid. You'd be shown the door. So it is at TWoP.

We like to say "think twice, post once." Be respectful of your fellow posters, agree to disagree when differences present themselves, and never ever make things personal. Otherwise, you'll get a ticket on the Size-Nine Express.

Why can't I start my posts with the word "um," be a snotty jerk, or present my views as God's TV gospel?

Don't start your posts with "um" or "uh" or words like that. Nine times out of ten, those words precede a snotty correction directed at another poster. It's rude and dismissive and it drives the staff nuts, so please, don't do it. The same goes for "sorry, but..." and "excuse me, but..." and, really, any other snitty post-starter. If you can't talk to other people as if they're intelligent, you can't post. Don't talk down to your fellow posters, don't lecture them, and don't state your opinion as fact.

You don't have to start and end every sentence with "IMHO" to avoid stating your opinion as a fact. Just don't phrase things in absolutes like "Nobody could seriously believe..." or "The only possible explanation is...." No matter how sure you are that your interpretation is correct, it's still an interpretation. Leave room for people to disagree. Please don't think we're going to argue technicalities about wording; you know when you're being snide and snotty about other people's opinions, and so does everyone reading your post.

If you're having a problem keeping your temper under control, get it under control, or post somewhere else. It's supposed to be fun. It's not combat. It's not necessary for it to become personal. If you want to point out an error, that's fine, but please find a way to do it that isn't the written equivalent of an eye-roll.

What's the difference between a personal attack and taking it personally?

You may take it personally when another poster disagrees with you, but unless that poster denigrates you by name or says something like, "Anyone who thinks X must be crazy," expressing a different opinion from you is not an attack.

If you choose to pledge allegiance to a particular sect of fandom, that's your business and your right. But it's not the same as aligning yourself with a political party, religious faith, or sexual orientation protected under anti-defamation laws. If you're talking about a faction within the fandom of a given show -- like, if you're a 'shipper for a particular pair of characters -- what that boils down to is your turning one opinion you have about the show (that X and Y should be a couple) and choosing to define your entire identity as a poster by that one opinion.

To put it even more succinctly, just because you choose to take it personally doesn't mean it's a personal attack.

Why can't we talk about the boards on the boards? And what does that even mean?

When a moderator says something is "boards-on-boards," that means that instead of being about the show, the subject of your post is the site, the posters, or the trend in the conversation.

Here are a few examples of how boards-on-boards conversations can get started:

• "Most of you seem to be watching the show so you can nitpick and complain; I just want to be entertained."
• "Wow, the comments here are very different from those at SomeOtherSite. You all are so funny!"
• "I just read the posts in AnotherThread, where everyone's complaining. They're just bitter because they like that character. I'm glad to see that people in this thread are happy about what happened!"
• "I've noticed that the posters at TWoP are more focused on this aspect of the show than others."
• "I know this is TWoP, but I think it's sick that you people are joking about this actress being infected with the dreaded lurgi. My mother died of the lurgi and I think it's disgusting that anyone finds this sort of comment funny."

We ask you not to discuss the boards on the boards because this is a site about television, and the discussion should remain about television -- or about something of substance. Once the discussion starts being about the site and each other, it's very easy for the site to slide into irrelevance.

We also ask that you not discuss other boards on our boards. You may certainly link to them, but conversations taking place on other sites should not become the foreground of the discussion on TWoP.

Simply replying to, or mentioning, another poster is not boards-on-boards. "PosterX said this scene was pointless, but I think that it was important because…" would be fine -- the subject of your comment is still the show.