We need to talk about hate & bullying

It’s that time again! True Blood is back to filming and little bits of news and spoilers will start surfacing for us to post here, keeping you all informed with the latest and greatest information on season 7. It’s an exciting, fun time because we all start speculating on what we think is happening on set and where we think storylines and character development will lead.

Unfortunately, it’s also the time when the cyber-bullies and the meanest of the mean crawl out from under their rocks and parents’ basements and drop their special brand of malcontent on our site. Once or twice a year we have to remind everyone that this is a neutral fansite where all are welcome to come and play nicely together.

That being said, we also have to remind everyone that this is a fansite owned and operated by Mel and I, and we have the final say on what gets posted in the comments section and what we deem deletable. We’ve said it from the very beginning, this is a benevolent dictatorship and until you’re the one paying the bills and investing the 30 – 50 hours per week (off-season and on, respectively) that it takes to run the site, this is how it will remain.

During the months that True Blood is on the air here in the States, we get the bulk of our information directly from the generous folks at HBO, with whom we have painstakingly built a wonderful working relationship. We’d like to keep it that way, so that we can offer you, our faithful readers, the quality, current news that makes True-Blood.net the number one True Blood fansite. Because of this, and because of our love for the show and the cast and crew, we are very protective of what we’ve built here. We do have the right to delete mean-spirited comments and ban users who refuse to comply with our comment policies.

So once again we are reminding you:

• Personal slams against the cast or crew or creative team of True Blood are not tolerated here. We’re sure you can find or start your own website where you can shred these individuals, but it will not be done here;

• We will not tolerate people who come here and bully our readers. We will protect them as much as we protect the cast/crew of the show;

• Though the F-bomb is frequently dropped on True Blood, coarse language is not allowed here. We prefer to think of our readers as intelligent human beings who can express themselves perfectly without the four-letter words;

• We will absolutely NOT TOLERATE hate in any form. For pity’s sake, isn’t there enough of that going on in our world today already? We will exercise our right to edit or delete your comments as needed;

• Though we understand that viewers are not always happy with the way a storyline or character development is handled, please remember that you are not professional writers, nor do you have a crystal ball that will tell you how a season or storyline will pan out. Feel free to express what you would have wished for, but refrain from saying things like, “They did it wrong!” ;

• To coincide with the previous item, please remember that your ‘yuck’ is someone else’s ‘yum’.

(FYI, this extends to our Facebook page, too.)

Sadly, we live in a society that feels it’s alright to bully someone, or say nasty, hateful things from the comfort and safety of the living room. It’s easy to say all those things you would never say to someone’s face, while hiding behind a computer screen, using fake names and flowers and apples for picture avatars.

In this final season of True Blood, we’d like to accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative. You are more than welcome to post your thoughts and ideas if you can do so in an adult, sensible manner. Constructive criticism is welcome; generic “this sucks/I hate this” is not. If you cannot abide by these guidelines, you will be shown the virtual door.

In conclusion, please remember that this is only a television show. It’s not life or death. And there are so many more things we can and should get passionate about. Let’s exercise some perspective, shall we?