Yes, we need more moderators in here. My bad. It’s been on my to-do list for too long.
It’s a combination of being overrun with other things and also allowing the perfect to be the enemy of the good. Moderators set the tone here and they’re really special people, I have erred on the side of caution, perhaps too much so.
I know this needs correcting. I AM working on it.
This board is an unusual place in a lot of ways. It’s like when people who have never had a pet say to you, “Oh, it’s just a dog.” Well, to most people it’s not justadog, that’s a member of your family. As you are emotionally attached to your family members, people have made an attachment to this place that is deep and enduring.
People care – a lot – about what happens here.
People invest – a lot – in what goes on.
This is why things like warnings and even notes can absolutely rip people out of the frame. Because of how it feels.
So it’s not justamessageboard.
Everyone cares and wants this place to be better. And everyone has a vision of how this place should be. Not all these visions play well together.
We’re committed to this place too. And to you. That’s why we do what we do, everyone that works here. We’re aiming for the most and the best. Do we always make it? No; we’re all too damn human. But we’re working on it.
And we want this place to be as open and inclusive as possible. That means sometimes seeing an opinion you don’t agree with, written by someone you despise, said in a way that really pisses you off.
We do have rules here and we generally try to interpret them as broadly as possible. For some people, this is not going to be sufficient. But we are trying to make house room for most everyone. You are free to let us know if you disagree at any time. Sometimes we get things wrong; we can take a correction. But we’re not always wrong, even if you disagree.
Mod notes are more common than formal warnings. The majority of people who have notes or warnings modify their behavior and that is the end of it. Suspensions come in the wake of serial negative actions that go uncorrected over time; they don’t just happen out of the blue. (We also temporarily suspend people in the wake of meltdowns or when they need to not be on the board and doing other things, like real work. See “Posting Sabbatical.”) Bans for bad behavior (unless you are a spammer or some other major nuisance, those comes swiftly) only come after we have exhausted every other alternative and there is nothing left. We do try to keep all enforcement to a minimum but sometimes you gotta go there and then so do we. You’d hate it more if we didn’t do it.
Most of all we want you to hang out here and have fun. To share views, to answer questions, to give opinions, to play all our reindeer games. We’d like to think we offer an assortment of things – different things – enough things to please most anybody. If not, tell us what you’d like to see. Maybe it can happen. Or, worst case, there’s lots of other places on the internets and one may be more to your liking. We hate to lose people but sometimes it’s just not a good fit and life is too short to be miserable. But we hope you stay.
And it’s always something going out outside, you know. If you’re really bugged, sign off, go take a walk, come back. Take a deep breath. Try again. We will too.
Love always,
Jenny
your humble TubaDiva
Administrator