32-Bit Cafe

Last Updated: January 2024

This Code of Conduct is meant to operate within all 32-Bit Cafe spaces, including our Discord server. These also expand upon free-standing rules to elaborate and provide extra context where text is limited by character counts. We also have additional Community Guidelines that can help navigate through common online community issues within all 32-Bit Cafe spaces.

1. No racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, colorism, or xenophobia. Everyone is to be respected, regardless of your personal feelings toward them, and follow the golden rule: treat others the way you'd like to be treated. Discriminatory language and "jokes" in this vein will not be tolerated.
2. No discussions of sexual preferences, sex acts, or porn, real or fictional.
3. No doxxing, harassment, or encouraging self-harm. Brigading anyone to cause harm or annoyance is not allowed. Even if meant as a joke, memes like "kys" are not allowed.
4. No content depicting gore or animal cruelty. This includes live videos and visual art. Described violence via text is only allowed to be linked with a content warning.
5. We do not tolerate trolling, elitism, gatekeeping, or disrespect toward anyone. We will not tolerate toxicity, which includes but is not limited to encouraging or inciting others to break the rules, rudeness, or stoking conflict. This can also include antisocial, manipulative, or attention-seeking behavior. Being a toxic member will result in a permanent ban.
6. Commercial advertising is okay if you are the sole person profiting from it. This can include art and games on any platform available to artists and independent game developers, with some exceptions: Etsy, Redbubble, Steam, and other store platforms that take a cut of sales to be hosted on the platform are not allowed. This is meant to help support members of our community and promote commerce platforms that can be used on self-made websites or self-hosted entirely, regardless if they require a recurring fee to operate.
7. Come to every discussion in good faith. All parties of a discussion or debate agree on the terms on which they engage, are honest and respectful of the other person's dignity, follow generally-accepted norms of social interaction, and genuinely want to hear what the other person thinks and has to say. Not every discussion is a debate, and participants do not have to convince one another of anything.
8. Give everyone the benefit of the doubt first. There are a range of backgrounds here, even some unexpected to you. Everyone has their own past, perspective, and worldview, just as you have yours. Our space is meant to be welcoming to everyone, and you likely do not have the entire context of who someone is. Let's try to learn from each other and bring back the nuance that modern discourse is forgetting.
9. No sharing of illegal software, including pirated or cracked software on 32-Bit Cafe platforms. This is to prevent takedowns of our platforms.
10. Self-promotion of your projects, websites, and things you've worked on is encouraged as long as it's not a commercial endeavor (outside of rule #6).
11. Doom-posting, panic-posting, or fear-mongering about the internet is not allowed. Discussions around "Big Tech" will be expected to center around "modern usage that emphasizes the small, independent web." We invite you to redirect your energy into creating a blog post or manifesto on your website about your thoughts regarding these topics and sharing them with us. Relevant technology news can be posted on our forum where in-depth, thought-out responses can take place, but these types of topics are not appropriate on our Discord server.
12. Prevent harm in conversation and use formatting in good faith. Spoilered content should always come with a warning of what to expect underneath to prevent offense and give notice to those participating in the conversation. Strikethrough content is difficult to read for some on mobile, where users cannot highlight text on some platforms. Try to convey sarcasm or humor in a different, more inclusive way. Refrain if you can from using memes or imagery that has been associated with extremist groups (e.g. Pepe the Frog, Wojacks/"Soyjaks").
13. Our community is not a social media feed. If you're sharing a screenshot or short-form video, there should be a very good reason or conversational context predating the share. Links, memes, or screenshots of social media like Twitter, Mastodon, YouTube or TikTok without any context or attempt to start a greater discussion will be deleted.
14. Think of our general spaces as communing with coworkers or acquaintances at school. Because our spaces are public and may be archived in the future, deeply personal information about yourself should be avoided to respect your own privacy. We encourage everyone to join Interest Clubs to get to know others with similar interests, create their own personal friend groups, and collaborate with others on projects, coming back to the Cafe to get things done both collectively and independently.
15. We are stronger together as we grow individually. The longevity of the independent web depends upon continued encouragement and motivation to sustain projects. We ask our members to monitor and manage their personal bandwidth as they explore the personal web and web-building. Burning out or shutting down does not help this side of the web move forward or grow, so be sure to take special care of yourself in whichever way makes you feel most refreshed. Consistency over intensity is always appreciated.

If you need help

As much as we may want to help anyone and everyone that crosses into 32-Bit Cafe spaces, we acknowledge that we may not be equipped to help in certain capacities for members might have more pressing needs than a web-building community can provide. Below are some alternative Discord servers and resources that can help in certain situations. We invite you to seek out support systems, even online if real life ones are not available to you. You matter!

Discord servers

• Aerwynlica is an 18+ mental health-focused server that is reportedly non-toxic, friendly to new members, and strives to bring people together who are heartbroken, melancholic, depressed, or who just need a support network.
• TransSupport is a transgender, questioning, and ally support and discussion server that focuses on the well-being of its members.
• Chronically Iconic is an 18+ social and advice group for anyone living with disabilities or chronic illnesses.

Resources

• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is a 24/7 text, chat, and calling hotline within the United States.
• 7 Cups is a free 24/7 chat to talk to someone about what you're going through.
• Open Counseling has a list of international suicide hotlines.
• The Trevor Project has a 24-hour hotline for LGBTQIA2S+ folks in crisis.
• Trans Lifeline has a 24-hour hotline for trans peer support.
• Calm Harm is an app that provides tasks to help you resist and manage the urge to self-harm.
• The Jed Foundation is a resource for college and high school students with mental health resources and help.