Greetings and salutations. We're going to keep this as simple as possible. This is the permanent home of What's On Tonight & Pop Culture, the band of ragamuffins that departed the A.V. Club in August 2017 in light of the Kinjception. Our regular features include What's On Tonight, Jeopardy!, And Other News Headlines, Politics Corner, Franko's Thoughts On, Table Talk, Feed Me, Rate The Runway, ADverse, Totally Tunes and GifsGalore. We intend to incorporate additional features as we grow forward.
Rules of the road!
1) English Only, Please. Comments and discussions posted in any other language are subject to deletion with no warning. We love all languages, but moderators don't have the time to run everything through Google Translate to make sure no rules (doxxing, targeted attacks) are being violated. Thank you for understanding.
2) No Self-Promotion. Without prior approval from admins, promotional comments/links and/or discussions will be treated as spam and deleted.
3) Targeted Harassment & Attacks Are Strictly Prohibited. If you came here because someone in another Disqus community linked you to a comment/thread, with the express intent of griefing the commenter and/or this community - also known as 'incitement trolling' and 'brigading' - you and the OG linker will be immediately, permanently and irreversibly banned. Likewise, if you link to another community with the express intent of ginning up outrage from our community members on someone else's turf, the link will be deleted and warnings will be issued. This is targeted and systemic harassment, which is explicitly against Disqus' Basic Rules. Some communities may be lenient with regard to enforcement of this prohibition; we are not. Simply put: We don't want it done to us, because people who do it are assholes - so do not do it to someone else, plz.
4) Keep Drama From Other Sites/Communities Away From This One. Related to #3: Following Disqus users from other sites, channels, social media platforms, etc. to pester or harass them is absolutely unwelcome here. We are zero-tolerance on this issue. One strike and you’re out. This includes fly-by trolls lurking from other sites behind sock accounts.
5) Hate Speech. We trust our community members to know what is acceptable and in good taste. Certain words are absolute no-nos and will get your comment pended/deleted. Any attempt to circumvent that prohibition via 'creative spelling' will result in a warning, unless there's a realllllllllly good reason, i.e., you are referring to the title of Dick Gregory's memoir. Beyond that, we are not going to excessively police the vocabulary choices of regulars. Caveat: If you are engaged in a negative exchange with another community member and the dialogue starts including certain words that we would not otherwise be concerned about – thrown at another member of this community - you likely will be warned for crossing into personal attack territory, which is not okay.
6) Arguing With Others Ad Nauseum. Fights, like cats, are the cornerstones of the Internet. However, if you find yourself in a never-ending circle-drain with the same commenter and/or escalating your dialogue in a manner that exploits our limited restrictions on filtered vocabulary, please consider using the gift provided by Disqus Gods and blocking that person. While your never-ending fight might seem justifiable and totes reasonable to you, remember that everyone else is an audience. That audience may end up blocking you if that's primarily what they're seeing. Unpleasant, toxic arguments are not what we want to be known for hosting. Disengagement is always recommended and the power to disengage begins with you. You can block the user until the hostility or fight-inspiring issue has abated, or you can perma-block them. Remember: You will never look back and wish you'd spent more time fighting on the Internet.
7) No Spam. Ever. Period. Spam posting earns you an instant ban. This includes fly-by trolls lurking from other sites behind sock accounts.
8) Blocking Or Arguing With A Moderator. Do not argue with moderators about a moderation decision in the comments. We are very low-maintenance and it is rare that we'll ask someone to let go of an argument or drop a topic, but if we do so, please don't argue further in-thread about the request itself. You can always contact us privately (see methods, below) if you don't agree with or understand a decision or request. Additionally, the trolling behavior known as sealioning is not tolerated, regardless of whether or not it is intentional. If you have been asked to move on from a topic, move on from that topic.
9) Privacy & Propriety. While we are a close-knit community, this is not a closed one. Anyone can see what you post, so be mindful when sharing your own personal details and/or images. You may not post proprietary personal details (including images) for any other person – community member, Disqus user, any politician or celebrity, person who gave you a dirty look at Saks – period. Doxxing has zero tolerance here. Disqus prohibits it and we don't want any part of that practice either.
10) Feature/Thread Suggestions. We welcome and encourage ideas for new, recurring and/or one-off threads. We also are looking for community members willing to take the lead with those ideas. Please make your suggestions to a moderator in-thread or use one of the contact methods below.
11) Contact The Site Administrators at PopCultureMods@gmail.com or through our feedback form to resolve any questions or issues, including decisions about account moderation or other posting issues. All communications are confidential.
12) Lastly, If You See A Comment That Violates Disqus Basic Rules, These Community Guidelines, Or Basic Common Decency: Please flag the comment, and a moderator will attend to it as soon as possible. Do not flag people just because you don't like them, their opinions, their existence, etc.
13) Pictures: We are fairly liberal with regard to gifs and other imagery/videos but the following are not allowed: Explicit/hardcore violence, any violence towards animals, gross out/scat-like depictions and full frontal nudity, male or female (even if it is just boobs). We're not interested in being classified as 'adult oriented.'
14) Moderator Blocking: Effective March 16, 2022, commenters may not block members of the mod team due to the implentation of the bi-directional blocking system. If you'd like to 'hush' a mod (or any other user) - meaning you won't see the comments in-threads but moderators/other commenters can still see yours and you will receive replies to comments from the moderator/other commenters - use the Blog Killfile extension. It's not connected to Disqus and thus, doesn't interfere with how Disqus works.
15) To Sum Up: Don't be a turd. Have an IQ above 82. Bigots, racists, trolls and shit stirrers will not receive the red carpet. Griefing, incitement trolling and brigading are insta-bans (one last time: This includes fly-by trolls lurking from other sites behind sock accounts). Use your block option judiciously. Contact us if you encounter a situation that you're not sure how to handle. Read our Privacy Policy for more information.
Regularly Scheduled Programming (All Times Eastern)
What's On Tonight: 11:00 p.m., Daily
Politics Corner: 11:00 p.m., Daily
And Other News Headlines: 8:00 a.m., Tuesday-Saturday
Jeopardy!: Monday - Friday (time varies)
Sportsball: 8:00 a.m., Mondays
Rate The Runway: 10:00 p.m., Wednesdays
The Weekend In Pop Culture: 9:30 p.m., Saturdays
CBS Sunday Morning: Sundays (time varies)
Totally Tunes: Sundays (time varies)
Feed Me: Varies
Thoughts On: Varies
Multiple other features go up daily and throughout the week; see 'Topics' on the right side of the home page for more.
Helpful Platform Links & Other Useful Disqus Feature Information
Disqus: How To Report Abuse
The Disqus “At Mention” Feature: This is a handy way to let other users know of a topic that might interest or involve them. However, there are misconceptions about how it works, so let's clear those up.
You can “at mention” any Disqus global or single-sign on account, regardless of whether or not you “follow” the person, whether the user is in-thread, or whether that person's profile is closed or open. To correctly "at mention" another Disqus commenter, you must have their user - not display - account information for formatting the call.
The only restrictions on at mentions are at the discretion of users – i.e., you can adjust your settings to remove notifications for at mentions. In addition, if you block a user, you will not be notified of an attempt by them to at mention you - same as if someone you blocked replied to one of your comments.
User Blocking: Disqus allows you to block registered users through your profile, which stops any replies or notifications to you from those users.
If you just want to temporarily “tune out” a topic, discussion or commenter in-thread, consider the Blog Killfile (for Chrome/Opera, here; Firefox/IceDragon/Tor here). You can “hush” comments or users quickly and easily, though remember this will not block any replies from them to you the way the Disqus block does. However, if it's just a temporary desire to mute a conversation/user, it may be easier to navigate.
Hide Media: Hate the embedded media of videos, gifs and Tweets on this (or any) publisher site?
This will become your default setting across sites but you can change it back anytime, from the same drop-down.
Proprietary User Information
Pursuant to the General Data Protection Regulation, which went into effect on May 25, 2018, user information in the Disqus admin panel has been anonymized. This means Disqus moderators are not privy to your email address (except the domain) or IP (save the final set of numbers). This only mildly differs from the channel moderation panel, where no email or IP information whatsoever was disclosed. If you are having an issue commenting or creating threads and wish to speak to us privately, you will need to contact us using one of the aforementioned methods. This ensures that you are actively opting-in to sharing an email and/or IP address via alternate avenues. Otherwise, you can tag us in-thread. Read our Privacy Policy for more information.
In Closing
We are glad to have you with us! Be sure to bookmark us at The Pop Culturists and follow us from the Forum page to add us your Disqus Home and Latest Discussions feeds (well... if the latter ever works again).
15) To Sum Up: Don't be a turd. Have an IQ above 82. Bigots, racists, trolls and shit stirrers will not receive the red carpet. Griefing, incitement trolling and brigading are insta-bans (one last time: This includes fly-by trolls lurking from other sites behind sock accounts). Use your block option judiciously. Contact us if you encounter a situation that you're not sure how to handle. Read our Privacy Policy for more information.
Regularly Scheduled Programming (All Times Eastern)
What's On Tonight: 11:00 p.m., Daily
Politics Corner: 11:00 p.m., Daily
And Other News Headlines: 8:00 a.m., Tuesday-Saturday
Jeopardy!: Monday - Friday (time varies)
Sportsball: 8:00 a.m., Mondays
Rate The Runway: 10:00 p.m., Wednesdays
The Weekend In Pop Culture: 9:30 p.m., Saturdays
CBS Sunday Morning: Sundays (time varies)
Totally Tunes: Sundays (time varies)
Feed Me: Varies
Thoughts On: Varies
Multiple other features go up daily and throughout the week; see 'Topics' on the right side of the home page for more.
Helpful Platform Links & Other Useful Disqus Feature Information
Disqus: How To Report Abuse
The Disqus “At Mention” Feature: This is a handy way to let other users know of a topic that might interest or involve them. However, there are misconceptions about how it works, so let's clear those up.
You can “at mention” any Disqus global or single-sign on account, regardless of whether or not you “follow” the person, whether the user is in-thread, or whether that person's profile is closed or open. To correctly "at mention" another Disqus commenter, you must have their user - not display - account information for formatting the call.
The only restrictions on at mentions are at the discretion of users – i.e., you can adjust your settings to remove notifications for at mentions. In addition, if you block a user, you will not be notified of an attempt by them to at mention you - same as if someone you blocked replied to one of your comments.
User Blocking: Disqus allows you to block registered users through your profile, which stops any replies or notifications to you from those users.
If you just want to temporarily “tune out” a topic, discussion or commenter in-thread, consider the Blog Killfile (for Chrome/Opera, here; Firefox/IceDragon/Tor here). You can “hush” comments or users quickly and easily, though remember this will not block any replies from them to you the way the Disqus block does. However, if it's just a temporary desire to mute a conversation/user, it may be easier to navigate.
Hide Media: Hate the embedded media of videos, gifs and Tweets on this (or any) publisher site?
This will become your default setting across sites but you can change it back anytime, from the same drop-down.
Proprietary User Information
Pursuant to the General Data Protection Regulation, which went into effect on May 25, 2018, user information in the Disqus admin panel has been anonymized. This means Disqus moderators are not privy to your email address (except the domain) or IP (save the final set of numbers). This only mildly differs from the channel moderation panel, where no email or IP information whatsoever was disclosed. If you are having an issue commenting or creating threads and wish to speak to us privately, you will need to contact us using one of the aforementioned methods. This ensures that you are actively opting-in to sharing an email and/or IP address via alternate avenues. Otherwise, you can tag us in-thread. Read our Privacy Policy for more information.
In Closing
We are glad to have you with us! Be sure to bookmark us at The Pop Culturists and follow us from the Forum page to add us your Disqus Home and Latest Discussions feeds (well... if the latter ever works again).
