(Part 1 can be found here)

10. DON’T maliciously downvote other users’ stories just because you don’t like them, or you think you could have reported it better. Only downvote if it’s a duplicate post, if the author copied the text from another source or if it’s spam/advertising. If you don’t want to upvote, don’t vote at all.

9. DON’T copy and paste articles from other sources. If it’s not your words, don’t post it. We invite you to “quote” a sentence or two from your source or your website as a reference if you are addressing a certain point, but you should not publish news that is not written by you. Your article could be deactivated, and you might be suspended from DigitalJournal.com for breaking this rule.

8. DON’T use childish name-calling in a debate or in an article. The Web is full of silly comment threads with frivolous commentary, and it should stay there. DigitalJournal.com sees many contentious debates where you might not agree with the other side, but calling them an idiot is not going to get your point across. Present facts in your debate, and argue your point. Your mom said it best: If you aren’t going to say something nice, don’t say it at all.

7. DON’T post a comment that doesn’t add anything to a discussion. Saying something like “I agree” or “Wow” doesn’t add to the discussion. If you agree, say why. If you disagree, say why. Comments are designed to start discussions.

6. DON’T use CAPITAL LETTERS IN YOUR POSTS OR IN HEADLINES. They come across as though you are yelling at the reader. It’s annoying, and ugly. SO PLEASE DON’T DO IT! Also, avoid using periods at the end of headlines. A sentence is the only thing that should ever require a period.

5. DON’T activate your article until you know it’s ready to publish without errors. We sometimes see people post a story with “Default Title.” Trust us: Nobody will take your news seriously if you can’t even pay enough attention to detail to get a headline right.

4. DON’T make up your news. That is one reason we ask you provide sources. You are a serious citizen journalist, not a kid. The consequences of doing this will result in much more than an “F” on your report.

3. DON’T create fake accounts simply to vote up your own stories. We have a number of checks in place to protect against this and every user can see what articles you vote on. If you cheat, you will be caught. If you cheat, you will be banned from the site.

2. DON’T get offended or feel silly if someone points out your article is a duplicate. It can sometimes happen. Thank the person for pointing it out and deactivate. If you have something to say that wasn’t mentioned in the original article, you can post it as a comment on that article

1. DON’T use profanity for the sake of profanity and don’t use racial slurs, hate terms or make derogatory comments about someone else’s sexual orientation. Posting comments on everyone’s articles for the sole purpose of being a pain in the ass doesn’t help anyone. We have an auto deactivate feature for comments as well, so if you get enough downvotes on comments that are hateful, they will be deactivated and your rating and earnings will fall quite a bit.

Do you have more ideas for what contributors to DigitalJournal.com should not do? Paste them in a comment below:

To see the Top 10 DO'S for posting on DigitalJournal.com, click here.