JibJab Manifesto

Welcome to JibJab's JokeBox!

Back in October ’05, my brother and I concocted the idea for JokeBox because we wanted to create a place where people could get together and share the things that made them laugh – every day. Six months later, thanks to the Herculean effort of the incredibly dedicated (and tired) JibJab team, we gave birth to a mewling babe named JokeBox, and he/she/it was just what we wanted – a hub for all the funniest video, picture, audio and text jokes circulating the InterWeb!

We couldn’t be prouder of our little web-child – just look how much hilarious stuff has been uploaded! We’ve also upgraded the site in the past few months and guarantee that this is the funniest, wackiest and, dare we say, JibJab-iest iteration yet! But all the funny jokes in the world wouldn’t mean much if we didn’t make sure the site was easy and fun to use. So in order to make JokeBox as enjoyable as possible for you, the JibJabbin’ public, we’ve set up some rules, regulations and reviews to keep the site free of the porn, violence, hatred and all the other trash that finds its way onto the Interweb. There’re a lot of places to go online, and you chose us, so we pledge to do our best to keep JokeBox fun, safe and funny as hell!

WHAT WE'RE DOING TO BRING YOU THE FUNNIEST STUFF ON THE WEB

• THE HOTLIST The HotList gives you an easy to use and dependable way to quickly find the funniest, freshest comedy bouncing around the great, big InterWeb. It’s comprised of the 10 top jokes out there that JibJabbers have voted funniest by use of the “Jib It!” and “Jab It!” buttons above every joke. The HotList is updated daily so you can be sure to find something new every day that will make you laugh so hard you’ll whiz your khakis. (Ed. Note: JibJab assumes no responsibility for any soiled slacks – so please don’t send us your dry cleaning bills or soiled slacks. Ew.)
• The ‘Jibs’ and ‘Jabs’ Rating System We think that your opinion about what’s funny matters! That’s why we’ve created a system that lets you – a member of the JibJabbin’ public - tell us what’s good (“Jibs” – represented by a thumbs up), and what stinks (“Jabs” – represented by a thumbs down). The more Jibs a joke has, the better its odds of ending up on the HotList are while a larger number of Jabs will send a joke spiraling towards Interweb comedy purgatory, where it belongs.

HOW WE KEEP CRAP OFF THE SITE

• CONTENT SCREENING For every new joke submitted to JokeBox, there is a screening process based on (1) how long the submitter has been a JibJabber and (2) the number of prior jokes they have submitted that have been cleared for publication. If you have been with us a long time and submitted a lot of jokes, your content will be posted without a lot of review. If you are a new member posting your first joke, it will first have to be cleared by the most trusted and valued members of our community, the A-Hole Patrol.
• THE A-HOLE PATROL To keep the JibJab community safe from pornographers, hate mongers, extremists, and other dregs of the earth, we've assembled a team of our most loyal and long-term supporters to form what we’ve affectionately dubbed the “A-Hole Patrol”. Keep in mind that they’re not here to be a-holes – they’re here to keep JibJab a-hole free.
  
  These champions of JibJab justice keep the site safe by (1) reviewing new submissions to JibJab, (2) investigating reports of abuse in the community and (3) re-reviewing jokes that have been reported as offensive by JibJabbers.
  
  If the A-Hole Patrol determines that a joke meets any of the following criteria, and the JibJab staff agrees, then it will be pulled from the site. Here’s a list of the big no-no’s:
  • It contains explicit pornography (i.e. X-rated stuff)
  • It contains extreme graphic violence (i.e. “Faces of Death”)
  • It contains hateful material (i.e. racist stuff)
  • It's not a joke (i.e. it's a sports highlight, or a sentimental/patriotic piece)
  Staying out of trouble with the A-Hole Patrol is easy. All you have to do is ask yourself “Is what I'm doing helping people share more laughs?” If the answer is “yes”, you've got nothing to worry about; treat yourself to a cookie. But if the answer is “no”, you might want to think twice, Buster.
  
  We’re not trying to play favorites with this policy, but it’s easier for us to post stuff from people with a proven track record of playing by the rules. So until we get to know you, we’re gonna have to assume that you just might be an A-Hole (but you’re probably not…right?...Right?!?).
• A NOTE ON ALERTING THE A-HOLE PATROL If you think a joke violates the rules and spirit of JokeBox, we encourage you to report it to the A-Hole Patrol and then choose why you think the joke should be removed. Just make sure that you make your report count by choosing wisely.
  
  Keep in mind that the A-Hole Patrol tracks the efficiency of your reports, meaning that if you report 10 things and the A-Hole Patrol disagrees with you on all of them then your 11th report will be taken a lot less seriously than a member with a better track record. Think about it like software designed to detect the boy who cried wolf. How’s that for a 21st century twist on a classic fable, eh?
  
  Most importantly, we ask that you have an open mind before reporting a joke. People have widely varying senses of humor and some may find things funny that you don’t. If the attempt is made at humor, even it fails miserably in your eyes, we ask that you just shrug your shoulders and move on.

HOW TO AVOID STUFF (AND PEOPLE) YOU DON'T LIKE

• JOKE RATINGS Everyone knows that movies, television and video games have rating systems that protect the young’uns from stuff that might permanently scar them. We figure that if a ratings system is good enough for the MPAA, it’s good enough for JibJab*! At JibJab, however, we threw out that boring letter-based system and replaced it with an always-funny stoplight. “Stoplights replacing letters?” you’re thinking, “That’s crazytown!” Allow us to explain.
  • Green – There’s nothing here that you wouldn’t see on TV. Stuff in this category is almost certainly safe for your teenage son or daughter (or your dog, if it’s not a poodle or pug).
  • Yellow – Yield if you’re with youngsters and you encounter this rating. Yellow content is safe for late teens and up, but it’s probably not something you want little Bobby/Sally/Timmy to watch (of course, they’ll probably have seen it already with their pals on the playground).
  • Red – Now we’re getting into territory that could be considered “raw”. If a joke is flagged Red, it’s a good chance that it contains nudity, extreme language, drugs or violence. It might even have content that would offend adults, so proceed with caution.
  Unlike the MPAA, we don’t rate the jokes ourselves. With the amount of jokes in the JokeBox, it would take us forever, and we’re still a relatively small company (plus, that’s like… hard work). So that’s where you, the user, come in. Click here to learn how to report jokes. It’s fun and easy! Actually, it’s just easy.
  
  At JibJab, we want you to have control over your JokeBox experience. Therefore, if you have an iron constitution and don’t want to see any warning labels, we give you that option. To set your preferences on what level jokes you would like to be warned about before viewing, simply choose red or yellow in your “account settings” in My JibJab. That way you can choose to skip a possibly offensive joke when one comes up, averting a crisis before it occurs. That’s what we’re all about here at JibJab. Crisis-aversion. And jokes.
• BLOCK BUTTON As with any large group of people, the JibJab community is bound to attract its fair share of a-holes. If someone posts something offensive, tries to engage you in a nasty exchange or gets “all up in your business”, just hit the “Block User” button on their profile page and you’ll never hear from them again. Don’t you wish you could do that in real life?

STUFF THAT WILL PUT YOU ON THE “NAUGHTY LIST”

We mentioned our collection of JibJab Deputies, the A-Hole Patrol, above and what follows are some guidelines you should follow if you want to stay off their radar. You can review a complete list of unacceptable behavior in our terms of service, but for those of you who don’t want to comb through the legalese, here is a common sense guide to staying out of trouble on JibJab:

• NO PORN, SMUT, VIOLENCE, HATRED OR OTHER CRAP We're not prisses by any sense of the word (have you seen Nasty Santa?) but if you submit something to your JokeBox containing hardcore sex, violence, goat porn, or something seething with hatred, you'll find your account shut down without another word about it. If you need more illumination as to what we consider garbage, check out the “crap-list” in our terms of service. It’s…crappy. (Ed. Note – we reserve the right to save the goat porn on our personal computers)
• JIBJAB IS A PLACE TO SHARE LAUGHS While watching that goal scored in the World Cup may be amazing and seeing the latest helicopter in action is incredibly interesting, JibJab is not really the appropriate place to store and view them. After all, it’s called JokeBox, not AmazingWorldCupGoalBox. That’d be a stupid name. We’re not going to kick you off the site for doing it, but keep in mind that JibJab is about the funny and that our main goal is to keep people laughing, chuckling, or chortling. Thus, please try to make sure that all of the jokes that you are uploading are just that: JOKES!
  
  To keep hilarity levels high, we have entrusted the A-Hole Patrol with making sure that only jokes are uploaded, so please don't be surprised when something you tried to upload with no HQ (humor quotient) never makes it in to your JokeBox. If this happens to one of your uploads, don't get angry, get funny!
• IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANYTHING NICE TO SAY, DON'T SAY IT! It's amazing how many people forget this simple lesson. Didn’t they learn anything from Sesame Street? We understand that not everyone can get along, but JibJab isn’t the place for drama – take it outside! And if someone just won’t let up, use your good friend the “Block User” button and they’ll be out of your life for good. Au revoir, jerkface!
• NO SPAM Words like “distaste”, “loathing” and “intense, burning hatred” don’t even begin to describe how we feel about the s-word here at JibJab. If you post anything in your JokeBox that contains any kind of business solicitation whatsoever, your account will be shut down faster than you can say “I AM THE SPAMMER SCUM OF THE EARTH”. And that’s fast. Then you can pack up your poorly written email pitches and pictures of hot girls and take them over to MySpace (they’ll shut you down, too).
• NO PIRATED STUFF We’re not talking about peg legs, eye patches or gold bouillon here, we’re talking about copyrighted works. However you dress in your free time is up to you. Seriously though, it's in the terms of service but we want to reiterate it: JokeBox is not about putting Saturday Night Live or Jay Leno skits online. It's about the quirky, crazy, fringe, obscure stuff that filters through your inbox that you'd like to hold on to. Putting copyrighted stuff online exposes you to legal liability, and there’s nothing we can do for you when NBC, MTV or the Food Network sends a couple of broad shouldered “associates” named Vinnie and Tito to your door. (but, if you could encourage them to sign up for a JokeBox when they’re done with you, we’d really appreciate it!)
• COMMENTING For some reason, certain people will post thousands of comments containing nothing more than a smiley face. Basically, this amounts to nothing more than a dog peeing on a fire hydrant Remember spam? This is spam’s inbred cousin. If you want to leave a comment, try to be thoughtful and funny. Or at least form a complete sentence, for goodness’s sake. If you post too many comments with little (or no) value JibJab reserves the right to suspend your commenting privileges. Also, keep in mind that cursing in the comments section is the same thing as shouting cuss words in a supermarket checkout line; only here, thousands of people will hear you instead of dozens. Repeated cursing in forums will likely trigger a complaint to the A-Hole Patrol, and if you're behavior is bad enough, you could be banned. More importantly, though, everyone will think you’re a jerk-weed. You don’t want to be a jerk-weed, do you?

SOME THINGS TO BE CAREFUL ABOUT

• INTERACTIONS WITH OTHER JIBJABBERS You are solely responsible for all of your interactions with other JibJabbers. We aren't your mommies and daddies over here, at least not that we know of. That being said, if things get out of hand, we reserve the right to step in and take whatever action we deem necessary. Before it gets to that extreme, the best thing you can do is hit the "block user" button and make that person disappear. One other thing worth mentioning: Don’t get fresh with other JibJabbers. If someone reports you for sexually propositioning them, your account could be shut down, and you and your overcoat can take a hike. We understand that it can be hard to meet people, but this isn’t the place to do it. To that end, the best approach is to assume the JibJabber you are interested in is happily married with eight children - and is your cousin.
• DISCUSSING YOUR ACCOUNT During our JokeBox beta we learned a hard lesson: people who get “warned” for uploading offensive material and/or harassing other members tend to blame us for their idiotic behavior. Sorry, but we're not having it. We’re very clear about the rules and if the A-Hole Patrol issues you a warning, it's not a big deal. Just learn from the mistake, make sure it doesn't happen again and in six months the warning will be erased from your account. Easy, right? On the other hand if you turn to the community forums and start spreading lies, misinformation and generally talking smack about how we manage the community, we can cancel your account. You’ve got every right to speak your mind, but we’ve got an equal right to protect ourselves from libel. We've worked too hard on JokeBox to let a handful of nut jobs ruin the fun for the vast majority of our audience.
• SHARING PERSONAL INFORMATION We understand that part of the reason you use social networking sites is to meet people, but we want to stress that you should be really careful when sharing your personal information with other JibJabbers. We like to think that all JibJabbers are good folks, but the truth is that there’re a lot of you, and we can’t know for sure. Personal info includes your real name, email address, phone number, address, grandmother’s maiden name or ATM code.
  
  We also recommend caution when posting pictures of your children, if you have them (children, not pictures). The InterWeb is like a cashew farm – really big and full of nuts – do you really want to put little Sally/Bobby/Dylan’s face out there? Lastly, be on the lookout for license plates, addresses or the entrance to super-secret underground lair that might appear in the background of photos you post. If you post such a picture, everyone will be able to see – and that would really ruin your plans for world domination.
  
  We can’t be responsible for your interactions with other JibJabbers so, just like you do in your offline life, use good judgment when it comes to picking friends (and feel free to use the “block user” button often)!

THANKS FOR LISTENING

At the end of the day, we know that 99.9% of JibJabbers are good people with common sense who don't need a list of bad behaviors to tell them how to behave in a social environment. These rules have been put into effect to protect the overwhelmingly large number of good citizens from the 0.1% that are freaks, troublemakers, scum, idiots and morons who would waste their time trying to ruin a good time for everyone else.

Creating something that helped people put aside their differences and share a laugh during the 2004 election was what put JibJab on the map, and it’s the reason we get up in the morning (that, and an alarm clock). We’ve worked our buns off to build this place, and the last thing we’re going to do is let some hosebags run it into the ground. Just please keep in mind that all these rules are in place to make JokeBox as fun and hilarious as possible, not to restrict you. No one messes with our audience, baby. We got your back!

Thanks for your support and we hope you have fun in the JibJab JokeBox!

Hasta La Vista Babies,

The JibJab Team

* These rating are determined by users expressing their own assessment of how "offensive" a particular joke is and is in no way are associated with the Motion Picture Association of America. It also has nothing to do with that other MPAA, the Missouri Public Auctioneers Association, or the popular children’s show My Parents Are Aliens. Don’t be silly.