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A brief community musing.
Nov. 28th, 2022 04:48 pmI am overall a pretty liberal user of blocks and bans. I think that's a great way to be. Don't argue with the fash, just shut them out. Don't even argue with the "fandom antis" or whatever else. Shoo, go be weird prudes in your spaces, I'll be a weird horndog monsterfucker in mine!
It might say something, though, that I have blocked just two people here on DW?
I've talked in other places about running communities. I run several, all of them very small as these things go, but some of them venturing into difficult territory. And I've found that listed rules don't matter nearly as much as the way the community's moderators behave. Community culture shapes things in ways that written rules can't!
Sure, I can say "no bigotry here, treat people as real human beings" but saying that does nothing at all. Even banning people who cross a line only does a tiny bit. Consistently saying "Hey, so this conversation is getting uncomfortable, I don't want to forbid this, but maybe we could change the subject now?" when somebody goes on a rant where legit hurt feelings are involved but also harming other people is potentially happening... THAT does more than any number of listed rules. You're setting an expectation, you're controlling the "vibe" you're encouraging better behavior and not forbidding difficult feelings or uncomfortable topics, but just creating a structure where those things can be brought up, but if it goes too far, you're gonna haul it back just a bit.
I think shades of that are why Dreamwidth is so good. There's rules, and there's bans, and there's more structured moderation, sure, but there's also just...encouraging what you want to flourish.
So hey, thanks to the peeps who run this place. With twitter melting down, and with certain events in the Hades fandom I SEE how badly a lot of spaces are run, and I'm grateful that whatever happens, this space here is going to exist, to have some good vibes, and to attract and encourage people I don't have to block.
It might say something, though, that I have blocked just two people here on DW?
I've talked in other places about running communities. I run several, all of them very small as these things go, but some of them venturing into difficult territory. And I've found that listed rules don't matter nearly as much as the way the community's moderators behave. Community culture shapes things in ways that written rules can't!
Sure, I can say "no bigotry here, treat people as real human beings" but saying that does nothing at all. Even banning people who cross a line only does a tiny bit. Consistently saying "Hey, so this conversation is getting uncomfortable, I don't want to forbid this, but maybe we could change the subject now?" when somebody goes on a rant where legit hurt feelings are involved but also harming other people is potentially happening... THAT does more than any number of listed rules. You're setting an expectation, you're controlling the "vibe" you're encouraging better behavior and not forbidding difficult feelings or uncomfortable topics, but just creating a structure where those things can be brought up, but if it goes too far, you're gonna haul it back just a bit.
I think shades of that are why Dreamwidth is so good. There's rules, and there's bans, and there's more structured moderation, sure, but there's also just...encouraging what you want to flourish.
So hey, thanks to the peeps who run this place. With twitter melting down, and with certain events in the Hades fandom I SEE how badly a lot of spaces are run, and I'm grateful that whatever happens, this space here is going to exist, to have some good vibes, and to attract and encourage people I don't have to block.