The last blog I posted here by Jeff proved controversial. It was about censorship and free speech, emotive topics, but evenso I was surprised how diverse opinions were on things that seemed to make good sense to me! Which is why I know I have to refer to all of you on topics like this one.
So, I shall not be surprised when Jeff’s, to me self evidently wise nuggets of wisdom evoke here, some of the very things he’s talking about!
I’m including a quote and a hint of what he’s advising, but recommend the article as I think it’s very relevant to us as a community, whether we agree with Jeff or not. And if you do or don’t agree with Jeff I would very much like, and need, to hear about it, because it is you guys, not Jeff, who I seek to guide me and the other mods in our task.
The article begins by stressing the importance of empathy between members, and things that support this as being the highest priority. Otherwise, what kind of community do you have, and what can it possibly deliver?
Jeff suggests some things are poisonous to a community, but easy to recognise and deal with:
Hate is easy to recognize. Cruelty is easy to recognize. You do not tolerate these in your community, full stop.
Things he suggests are not quite as easy to recognise but important to deal with are:
- Endless Contrarianism
- Axe-Grinding
- Griefing
- Persistent Negativity
- Ranting
See: What if we could weaponize empathy?
You’ll need to read the article to understand what Jeff means, and as always we’ll all have our own interpretation of when certain behaviors are a problem or not. And since I don’t consider myself a great judge of that most of the time, I still look to you to point out things you think need moderator attention, and to explain why.