There’s been some questions and concerns raised both here in the UEN comments and on the Etsy forums recently, about some of UEN’s policies and practices. We’d like to take a minute here to address them.

Top-Level Articles:

A “top-level article” refers to the articles written under the main headlines that appear chronologically in the sidebar. The comments on a top-level article are not part of the article, but a separate entity. In all but the rarest of cases, a top-level article is comprised of a short introduction or explanation, a link to a primary source, and a cut-and-paste quote from the primary source. The information in top-level articles regarding Etsy is factual and opinon-free. We link to sources on Etsy and quote from Etsy. As described in our policies page, we cannot vouch for the integrity of the information linked to; we are only reporting its existence. The information linked to may change, or be retracted, or may be incorrect.

We encourage all UEN readers to investigate the primary sources linked to in the articles and form their own independent opinion on the issue.

Comments:

As expressed on our policies page, UEN is not responsible for the comments made on any article. Comments are the sole responsibility of the commenter, and we do not vouch for the integrity of the information and personal opinions therein, just as Etsy does not vouch for the integrity of the information and personal opinions posted on its forums. You may find bias in the comments, opinions you disagree with, information you think may be untrue, or statements you find offensive. These do not reflect the opinions of UEN, nor does their existence imply endorsement.

We kindly ask that our readers be careful to distinguish between the top-level articles and the comments.

Comments by UEN Editors:

As described in our policies page, we feel it would be a disservice to strip the editorial team of the opportunity to express their individual, personal opinions within the pages of UEN. Consequently, the editors are as equally responsible for their own comments and the information therein as much as any other UEN user. We do not value our opinions any more or any less than others’, and no user should ever feel disinclined to respond to a comment because it came from an editor. At the same time, we are obliged to uphold our no-abuse policies. That means from time to time, you may see an editor speaking separately in a personal manner or in an editorial capacity. It works the same way on Etsy: admins post on the fora in both an official capacity (admin hat on) and using their own personal Etsy accounts (admin hat off). On UEN, we do not have separate accounts for editors, but we feel that there are few enough of us that most readers will be able to identify who is an editor. Our list of editors is viewable on the sidebar if there is any confusion.

Moderating Comments:

A “moderated” comment is a comment that has been held back from publication, but which still exists in our system. We do not delete comments. We may choose to permanently moderate a comment, but it is always still accessible to us, and moderation is reversible.

Every UEN user should be aware that we have automatic spam filters in place. The spam filters are aggressive, and from time to time, real comments may be held up in moderation. Comments most likely to be automatically moderated are those containing links, and those from new users. These comments will be held in moderation until a UEN editor finds and releases them. If you think your comment may have been caught in the spam filter, please contact one of the editors so that they can release it.

Comments that may be manually moderated by an editor include those that are abusive, defamatory, safety concerns, advertisments, or accidental duplicates. Examples of “abuse” including name-calling, deliberate insults and derogatory remarks towards other users, and telling other users to shut up. We may also moderate comments that drag down a discussion and aren’t relevant to the topic at hand, or disputes that escalate into personal attacks between two or more users. If we see conversations heading this way, we will warn the parties involved. Abusive comments will be moderated without warning. We may invite a person to re-post part of a moderated comment if they are willing to subtract the part that violates our posting policies.

Moderation is always a last choice for us. Our intent is to provide a platform for a wide variety of opinions and perspectives. We have had to manually moderate very few comments during UEN’s existence, and we’d like to keep it that way as much as possible. If you see a comment you feel should be examined for moderation, please contact an editor.

Overall, we feel the discussions here on UEN have been thoughtful and civil, even during disagreements, and we thank our users for that.

Anonymity, Impersonation and Usernames:

We are cognizant that some people who wish to discuss negative aspects of Etsy are fearful of reprisal, and for that and other privacy concerns we allow anonymous accounts (called “sockpuppet” accounts on Etsy where they are prohibited). The same rules of conduct apply whether you are using your Etsy name or an anonymous name. Anonymity is not a free pass to abuse anyone, it is simply to protect your business account.

UEN does not tolerate impersonation of another person under any circumstances. Because we allow anonymous accounts, the only possible reason for impersonating someone else is for malicious intent. Comments from impersonators will be moderated and the IP address banned.

For the reasons described above, we also do not permit usernames that contain the names of other individuals within them, with the exception of common-usage words. UEN retains the right to remove inappropriate usernames at its discretion.

We hope that clears up some of the questions we’ve seen floating about. If you have any questions or need further clarification, ask away.

The UEN Editorial Team