House Keeping

When I created Purple Women^TM back in September 2005, I gave careful thought to the kind of dialogue I wanted to create. I realized our childfree topical focus could potentially be controversial, even confrontational on the Internet, even more than in person because, in the blogosphere there is anonymity. All the same, I did not want to shy away from civil disagreement.

Upon launch, I had some very explicit Ground Rules at the top of the sidebar. Then I figured out, that people simply didn't know how to leave a comment. I had to change this and although I was nervous taking down the guidelines, the change has increased our participation. So with risk there is reward. The Ground Rules have been neatly summed up:

"Keep it clean, not mean"

Our title includes "& Friends" now, though I suspect that we have mostly childfree women reading and participating. Everyone is welcome. In fact, I think it gets more interesting when our childed friends, or a complete stranger weighs in on our topic. Always refreshing to get a new perspective.

Today, I will republish the Ground Rules, just to keep us all on the same page. Probably not necessary, as Purple Women^TM are really quite civil!

Flickr photo by by lisa que (cc)
Technorati Tag: Childfree