I see the post was unhidden (THANK YOU that means a lot more than you realize) but I think my main point still needs to be addressed at a certain point in the future. We as a community need to sit down and finalize what we do and don’t want posted here, what constitutes bad posting.
For me I’ve always wanted growth out of this forum. I know that isn’t everyone’s goal but we’re all a part of this and I think it is special and think it should spread. Unless we all want to just sit around and try to debate the merits of not voting 3 days before the most significant election of our lifetimes. Idk. Some fresh blood would be nice, but whatever people want, I guess. But I would really like to see some standards, even if it’s just like 2 or 3. I would follow them to a T as I expect many others would too.
I observe a lot of interpersonal drama and I suspect that’s the main threat to these forums, lately. I know I take part in some of it but some minimal rules on what constitutes personal attacks, what constitutes going over the line and harassing someone, etc. etc. would go a long way.
You (@jmakin) posted a content-free personal attack that was actually pretty harsh. It was a lot more personal than a generic, “fuck you.”
I don’t honestly remember if I was the one who flagged it, but I’m glad it was flagged and I think it’s a little weird that micro is suggested you be modded over this behavior.
Different posters’ flags carry different weight, which is affected by how frequently moderators agree or disagree with their flags. A single flag from a high TL user whose flags have a 100% approval history can instantly hide a post, while some n00b who has lots of spiteful flags that get ignored may only push a post 10% towards being hidden.
This is one of the reasons why joking and spiteful flags are a bad idea - they lower your flagging mojo. (Those flags are also a bad idea becuase they annoy the mods and admins.)
Jmakin is interested in modding rules. He does a lot of good posting and some hostile bad posting, but I doubt he’d be vindictive as a mod. He’s a member here in good standing. Personally I like him and like having him around. He’s not perfect, but neither are goofy or wookie or whoever else the mods are. He should be able to be a mod, especially if he’s strongly interested in mod policies.
My views on Sabo are well known; he is trying to radicalize the forum and should be stuck in containment threads. I was actually agreeing with Cassette’s judgement of the quote, I just thought if we’re going to talk about it we should all have a chance to see it.
I am too polarizing of a personality and am perceived as too much of a hothead for moderating, as I learned over years of being passed over in OOT. But I do have an interest in the rules and have strong opinions of them and feel like I should have a voice in the conversation.
I’ve been pretty in favor of having some basic rules for a while now and felt this was a good opportunity to voice it as any.
Ok. It’s not going to get done without a thread. And you probably have some ground work to do to even have a productive thread. From a politicking perspective, I wouldn’t push too hard until after the election, but if someone else is interested in the same kind of thing, maybe you can workshop some basic modding rules and then bring them forward into a thread. I think doing something like that via PMs or otherwise off the forum and then presenting together something at least a few people already agree on would give you the best chance for success.
I think people would be less likely to make frivolous and personally motivated flags if they were outted.
Discussions alone can foster animosity. We kinda all accept that possibility when you engage in these conversations. I don’t necessarily agree that protecting a flagger is an effective way way to minimize this risk.
I’m not convinced that outing flaggers is the right way to go, btw. But a do think it’s much closer to an answer for this particular drama than trying to set boundaries for acceptable discourse beyond what we already have.
I think this is a big unaddressed need for the forum; it would be nice to have new blood. I don’t really have any ideas on how to expand the userbase. I’m more of a problem identifier than a problem solver.