The Pyramid Scheme of Cuteness

For comments, issues or to report a problem/abuse, please e-mail baaaaabyanimals@gmail.com

Rules Summary:

1. All entries (except moderator-posted administrative entries) must have picture of a baaaaaby animal or a link to a picture/video of a baby animal.
2. All entries with pictures (as opposed to links) MUST have an lj-cut regardless of the size of the picture.
3. All entries must contain the type of animal being shown/linked.
4. Don't be a jerk.
5. Read the rest of the rules before you post.

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Community Philosophy: Baaaaaaaaaby animals are cute. This is a forum for sharing pictures of these cute little devils. Others will see these pictures and go "awwwwwwwww" and it will make their day better. Then those people go out and make four or five other people's days better, and those people pass it on to four or five, and so on until eventually there is no more war because people are overwhelmed with cuteness, at which time the baby animals will rise against us and take their place as the rightful rulers of the planet. It's like a pyramid scheme of cuteness, but with a twisty ending.

Joining the Community: First, read this info page in its entirety to make sure you know the rules. Then click the "join this community" link on the top of this info page.

The Role of Community Moderators: The moderators of the community are here to make sure rules are enforced. If a post has a minor violation the rules (e.g. forgot to lj-cut, forgot to mention the animal pictured...), they'll give you a polite reminder of the rules and ask you to edit your post. If a moderator asks you to edit your post, please do so as soon as you can, regardless if you think the rule is a good one or not.

The moderators will usually give you some time to edit your post, depending on the nature of the violation. If you posted a large picture with no lj-cut, it may be just a few minutes. For other violations, you may be given a half-hour. If it's not fixed, the post is subject to deletion. We know that you won't always be sitting by your computer after you post an entry, so if it is necessary to delete one of your entries because you weren't able to edit it in time, we ask that you please re-submit it (with the modifications) so that the community can enjoy your completely rules-compliant baaaaaaaby animal pictures, too.

The process of editing your post will almost never take more than a few seconds. To edit your post: first view it, then click the small blue pencil icon above the entry.

Posting and Commenting Rules:

Appropriate Photographic Material: Every post must contain at least one picture of a baby animal (or a link thereto). Each post may also contain no more than one picture of an adult animal for comparison purposes. The animal pictured must be of the same species as the original baaaaaby animal pictured. Pictures that have both adults and baaaaabies in them are not counted as "adult" animal pictures. Because it is difficult to draw a line as to what is a baby and what is an adult, the age of sexual maturity for the species will be used as the guideline. If your cute little critter isn't a baby anymore, try one of the many other animal communities instead! They're still cute!

Some pictures will have both baaaaaaby animals and children or adult animals, etc. The key is that the baaaaaaby (non-human) animal must be a prominently featured part of the picture. If it has a baaaaaaby (non-human) animal displayed prominently, then it is a valid picture regardless of what other creatures are in the photo. It is recommended that the person who posts pictures that have both baby animals and either human children or adult animals note this in thier lj-cut text. For example, "baaaaaaby aardvarks (with a baby human)" would be a good indication for those that don't like seeing baby humans should skip this particular post. Also, you shouldn't let your children play with aardvarks, probably.

lj-cut Tags: LJ-CUTS ARE MANDATORY regardless of the size of the picture! If you are posting only a LINK to a picture, no lj-cut is necessary. All posts must also contain a description of the animal pictured (i.e. "kitten", "puppy", "aardvark", etc.) This can be done in the post subject, the post text (before the lj-cut), or in the lj-cut text itself. BAD: "Here is a picture." GOOD: "Here is a picture of a puppy". Please try to be fairly general and not rely on species or breed nicknames that may not be understood by most.  For more information on the lj-cut tag, visit the LiveJournal FAQ page.

Linking to pictures and/or stories: As stated in the community philosophy, this community is intended to provide an area where members can come to feel better, whether it be to let off stress, get over grief, or dull the pains of hunger or whatever. As such, it is necessary that the community is always a happy place. Therefore, linking (or sharing) any story that is not happy is forbidden. Since the "happy level" of a story is subjective, the best thing to do is to avoid this type of linking altogether.

On debate or discussion of animal welfare issues: This is not a forum for debate of or essays on animal welfare issues. Although it's clear that all members love animals, not everyone wants to read debates or essays on such topics. Forbidden topics include, but are not limited to: the wearing of animal fur/leather, vegetarianism/veganism, hunting, breeder-bred vs. shelter/rescue pets, and other such topics. Kindly take those discussions to an appropriate community. Any such comments/posts will be deleted.

Other forbidden material:

1. Only photographs (or short film clips) are allowed. No drawings, paintings, etchings, lithographs, animations, sculptures, or any other non-photographic art.
2. Memes should not be posted.
3. Though it seems obvious to me, all photos should be of living baaaaaby animals. There shall be no pictures of animals being abused in any way (the maintainers of the community will make a judgment call on this). Also, pictures of extinct animals are not allowed unless it's an authentic photograph (as opposed to a photograph of a sculpture or model).
4. Posts advertising the sale of anything is forbidden and such posts will be deleted. Promotion of other websites or communities is strictly prohibited, unless they directly relate to baaaaaby animals and are subject to deletion.
5. Posts that have nothing to do with baaaaaby animals don't belong in baaaaabyanimals (duh) and are subject to deletion.
6. Posting pictures of baaaaaby animals wearing human clothing... well that's just wrong (but not explicitly banned).
7. Please make an effort keep swearing or cussing (including in userpics) to a minimum.

Being nice: If your comment isn't saying something NICE about the post, then DON'T COMMENT. It's the old "if you can't say anything nice, then don't say anything at all" rule. Snarkiness may result in suspension or revocation of posting privileges.

Userpic (a.k.a. "icon" or "avatar") usage: Members should use your own judgment and select userpics that are appropriate for the community. That said, I'm not going to make a lot of rules about what is and is not acceptable. The only limitations are: No (human) nudity or pornographic/indecent acts, no death of any variety, and no calling me names. These may be amended at anytime I see fit. If someone's user pic angers you, please ignore it and keep your comments to yourself (see the above rule titled "Being Nice"). If it becomes a problem, the solution will suck for everyone.

If someone posts using a userpic that goes against everything you stand for, please ignore it. There are people that have different opinions than you, and it's time that you realized that. Let them have their opinions, please. I'm really going to lean generally towards freedom of expression here, but again please don't be intentionally controversial.

On hot-linking to the photographs of others: If someone asks you not to link their pictures anywhere else, please honor that. If you'd like to post a link that you saw in someone's LJ (that's hosted on their personal site), then please get their permission before posting it. Bandwidth ain't cheap. Violators will be fed to baaaaaaaaby lions, which is a cute but unpleasant way to die.

Because bandwidth costs people money, the nice thing to do is to copy photographs that you want to post to this community to your own web space, and then link them from there. That way it's YOUR web space being used, and not the other unsuspecting person's costly webspace. So, please, consider this when you are posting. That was a recommendation, the following is a requirement: If someone posts a photo to this community and specifically asks the members not to link to their pictures outside of the community, then you must honor their request. Violators are subject to suspension or revocation of posting privileges.

It is also recommended that you note any copyrights and/or photographer credits when linking to a photo. You might also consider a link to the page where the picture was found so that the original image host's website can be visited and appreciated by others.

There are several FREE sites that can be recommended for storing your photographs. Picasa and Flickr are very popular choices. If you're the owner of webspace that has seen excessive traffic, please e-mail the moderator of this community (joeyhemlock@yahoo.com) and we'll delete the post. If you have any questions or comments, please send them to the same address.

On the posting of pictures of baby humans, which are technically animals but which are not really the point of this community: From October 26 through November 1 (i.e. the week preceding Halloween and the day after), it is permissible to post pictures of human children provided that they are dressed to represent a legitimate member of the non-human animal kingdom. Little Stanley dressed up as a turtle this year? Appropriate. Little Sarah aasked to be an aardvark? Cool with me. Young Jeff dressed up as a princess? Post 'em somewhere else, please. It is required that you note in your [mandatory] lj-cut that the picture is of a child so that those who don't want to look at your cute little devil don't have to. Between November 2 and October 25, such posts will be deleted.

How to post

1. Copy the code below into a new entry (make sure it's for the community, not your personal journal!). Your journal entry needs to be in HTML mode, not Rich Text, or it won't work right.
   
   <lj-cut text="Baaaaaaaaaaaaby ANIMAL!"><img src="HTTP://YOUR.URL.HERE">


2. In a new browser window, go find a picture of a baaaaaaby animal that is linked somewhere out there on the internet. Make sure you're looking at just a photo, like with a .jpg or .gif or .bmp extension. If you see a picture on a webpage, you can right-click on it, choose "properties", and copy all of the field "Address" (highlight it, right-click, choose "Copy").


3. Paste the address that you just copied over the HTTP://YOUR.URL.HERE in the entry you're creating (make sure you leave the quotes, though). Also change the ANIMAL in the entry to the species that is represented in your awwwwwww-inspiring picture. For instance, if the picture is of a baby hippopotamus, you may wish to change it to "Baaaaaaaaaaaaaby hippopotamus!" or, if you're less formal, "Baaaaaaaaaaaaaby hippo!". In extreme cases, you may even wish to use ""Baaaaaaaaaaaaaby Hippopotamus amphibius!", but such specificity should be left to the very very geeky.


4. Preview your entry and make sure that it looks like it's supposed to. If it doesn't, fix it.


5. Once the preview is good, submit the entry.


6. Sit back and wait for the uprising.


7. Repeat if necessary.

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If you have a problem: If you have a general problem and want to contact a moderator, please send an e-mail to baaaaabyanimals@gmail.com which will forward a message to several maintainers. To get in touch with the community creator/head maintainer, please e-mail joeyhemlock@yahoo.com and ask nicely. For any community problems, please leave the drama outside the posts and contact the maintainers instead of perpetuating the nasty. This ain't TNT, so we don't need your drama.

Community Maintainers:
The community was created by and chiefly maintained by Community King joeyhemlock and his pet hippo Harold.

With the help of:
betawriter (Community Queen)
gingy (Deputy King)
mactavish (Minister of Cuteness)
annepackrat (Minister of Defenselessness)
eriktrips (Minister of Fuzziness)
ktknievel (General of the baaaaabyanimal Cuteness Reserves)
weirddave (Court Jester)
and others.

The community maintainers reserve the right to revoke or suspend posting privileges with or without warning for any reason (a blatant rules violation or repeated disregard of the rules being the most likely reasons).

Thanks to warsnofairytale for the community layout.

Community Mascot: Owen the Hippo is the official mascot of baaaaabyanimals because he's joeyhemlock's favorite (he's got a baaaaaby hippo thing) and Joey is king. To learn more about Owen the Hippo, check out this article from the BBC or search the web for "Owen and Mzee". You can also see more baby hippos at JoeyHemlock's Baaaaaaaaaaaby Hippo site!