Feankie Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 Whew! I was about to fold up my tent and leave.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhuturePriest Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 Thank you! I might consider actually visiting here more often... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abrideofChrist Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 Just for your consideration, dUSt, it might be helpful in implementing whatever restrictions you may impose on people to hear them out or warn them first. I have seen situations in real life where drastic measures were taken before consulting the people involved because the mob was calling for blood and authorities felt it was more expedient to agree. Part of having a healthy phamily dynamic is to foster a sense of fairness which is equally applied and according to recognized standards. Perhaps it would be a good idea to create some special rules for the Vocation Station so that people are not in the dark as far as your expectations go, and then you have a transparent standard by which you can apply future warnings and suspensions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristinaTherese Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 And building on ABC's suggestion of clear rules, it would be good to have a pinned post to state them. I know that there's one pinned, but it seems like I've heard tell of other rules and not been sure what they were or what was going on when I'd first joined almost a year ago. So for the sake of newbies, it seems like a wise measure. As far as post counts, I know I only joined because I wanted to post on VS. I branched out to other parts of the phorum later. It seems like we should be able to deal with trolls who come to VS only to start being obnoxious quite quickly by just moderating the first post and reporting posts that break phorum rules. Thanks for all you do, dUSt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilllabettt Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 (edited) I don't know if special rules are necessary. Honestly, lots of rules are kind of a wet blanket. This community functioned alright for a long time without special rules. There was that one incident that required the rule about new communities, but that's all I can think of. In this situation, a number of people were upfront about what behavior was a violation of VS community norms. But the behavior persisted in spite of those warnings. Maybe just the threat of intervention from a higher authority will be enough to make people take this more seriously? Edited August 21, 2013 by Lilllabettt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikita92 Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 Not a moment to soon!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuthorOfMyLife Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 I am something of a lurker, so I do not know what unpleasantness is being referred to (although I believe it is surely justified in being called "unpleasant," whatever it is). Personally, I only joined Phatmass FOR "Vocation Station," and I do not post often, so I would be sorry to have post counts be what allows or denies someone access to Vocation Station. I would second ABrideOfChrist's suggestion that anyone in danger of being banned is warned first. One of my siblings had to go through a lot of frustration and stress because he was suddenly banned from a website, without being given a chance to defend himself and without a way to contact those who banned him in order to figure out what he had done to make them ban him. I felt so bad for him in that situation, and I would hate something similar to happen to anyone here. That said, thank you for your moderation of this forum! I have found it to be a joyful place in the past, filled with people striving to be holy and to help others to be holy. I am guilty of being a lurker, but I am really grateful for you all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 (edited) I sent a private message, but I'll pipe in here, too. I'm all for rules and clarification. One of the problems here is that it can get to be like a clique. If people are long time online friends, that's great! But those online friendships shouldn't dictate what threads are "acceptable" and what threads are not "acceptable." I've noticed quite a number of times that a group of friends will descend upon a thread/person they don't like and pretty much harass the thread. There should be some guidelines against that. There should be space for a variety of discussions. There should be room for all of us. Above all, I think the intention of the person who started a thread should be respected. If it's a fun thread, let it be fun. If it's academic, let it be academic. If it's to offer warm, uplifting advice, let it be that. I think it should be made clear that descending upon someone else's thread because you don't like the topic/the person is bad manners and not okay. A certain level of maturity should be expected: if a topic isn't your cup of tea, refrain from posting there. Edited August 21, 2013 by Laurie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie Posted August 22, 2013 Share Posted August 22, 2013 And, yup, I just gave myself props. ;) Didn't realize I could do that before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhuturePriest Posted August 22, 2013 Share Posted August 22, 2013 I sent a private message, but I'll pipe in here, too. I'm all for rules and clarification. One of the problem here is that it can get to be like a clique. If people are long time online friends, that's great! But those online friendships shouldn't dictate what threads are "acceptable" and what threads are not "acceptable." I've noticed quite a number of times that a group of friends will descend upon a thread/person they don't like and pretty much harass the thread. There should be some protection against that. There should be space for a variety of discussions. There should be room for all of us. Above all, I think the intention of the person who started a thread should be respected. If it's a fun thread, let it be fun. If it's academic, let it be academic. If it's to offer warm, uplifting advice, let it be that. I think it should be made clear that descending upon someone else's thread because you don't like the topic/the person is bad manners and not okay. A certain level of maturity should be expected: if a topic isn't your cup of tea, refrain from posting there. I agree with you. But as for the cliques, speaking from feeling the disappointment and sadness at not being in the overall Phatmass "clique" for a while and then finally being accepted into it, I can tell you that everyone here is well-meaning and nobody means to exclude anyone. Cliques happen naturally and sometimes it can be a little foreboding if you are coming on here and you say something pretty much no one agrees with and they all descend upon you (I speak from experience). Sometimes we in the clique can get out of hand, and sometimes (Especially in my case) the newcomer can get out of hand. I haven't experienced what is and isn't a proper thread, so I can't speak for much there. I'm more in the Open Mic/Lame Board clique than the Vocation Station one. However, that doesn't sound very good for anyone and I agree this should be stopped, especially if it leads to harassing someone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anselm Posted August 22, 2013 Share Posted August 22, 2013 I must agree with several threads above, particularly Christine Therese; I joined Phatmass particularly for this chat-room and I think to limit its membership to those who have posted a number of articles elsewhere in Phatmass would be counter-active. Essentially, why should one have a certain presence before one is allowed to discuss vocation here? If that was the case then I would never have joined, though I have been discerning a vocation for five years and am joining a community next year. If it is true that there are cliques (which I haven't noticed) then have a quiet word - don't restrict access. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhuturePriest Posted August 22, 2013 Share Posted August 22, 2013 I must agree with several threads above, particularly Christine Therese; I joined Phatmass particularly for this chat-room and I think to limit its membership to those who have posted a number of articles elsewhere in Phatmass would be counter-active. Essentially, why should one have a certain presence before one is allowed to discuss vocation here? If that was the case then I would never have joined, though I have been discerning a vocation for five years and am joining a community next year. If it is true that there are cliques (which I haven't noticed) then have a quiet word - don't restrict access. But this isn't about cliques. This is about people getting out of hand and turning Vocation Station into the Octagon -- something far from the original intention of Vocation Station. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anselm Posted August 22, 2013 Share Posted August 22, 2013 What's the octagon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spem in alium Posted August 22, 2013 Share Posted August 22, 2013 As far as post counts, I know I only joined because I wanted to post on VS. I branched out to other parts of the phorum later. I must agree with several threads above, particularly Christine Therese; I joined Phatmass particularly for this chat-room and I think to limit its membership to those who have posted a number of articles elsewhere in Phatmass would be counter-active. Ditto. Joined mainly for VS and ended up sticking around and posting in other places. While I think that VS can be somewhat of an unpleasant place at times and that some people (particularly trolls) should be restricted or warned, it would be a shame to restrict based on post count. It definitely meant a lot to me to be able to post here and get support straight off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhuturePriest Posted August 22, 2013 Share Posted August 22, 2013 What's the octagon? The Octagon is an American kickboxing sport, where two fighters get in an octagon-shaped arena and beat each other senseless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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