Thread Closed
So I read all of it. Very slowly I watched this thread unfold all day. I wanted to post here and there but wanted to get a feel and understanding of both sides. I believe what I am seeing is a growing/changing community. A year ago we had a smaller site here. Sure numbers were there but I only counted maybe 15 active posters, myself included. Yes I know there were more then 15 users on the site, and more then that posted, but those 15-20 were the majority of posts. Now a year later, the number of majority posters have doubled. I count about 30 people who post most of the posts.
So as the numbers go up, new ideas showed up. More people meant more conflicting opinions. Now it wasn't just WHM/DRG threads that flamed, but many different things not set off arguments. New words (not really new but new here) started appearing. Words like hyperbole, echo chamber, baiting, populars, hugbox, and so on. In what seems like a sudden shift, but looking back was a gradual change, the site became divisive. So mods do as they normally do, claim rules had always been the rules, and began to enforce them more then they did. This causes some (mostly long time users) to become irritated. Yes the rules were always there in some form, but the smaller size of the community allowed for more personal interactions, fewer people, with fewer misunderstandings because everyone knew everyone and there was an understanding of people. Older users remember that personal feel, that looser use of rules and feel the tightening as the rules are changed to effectively handle the larger and less personal community.
A similar situation has been effecting the Red Wings for the last few months. Where as we are still personal and friends, as our numbers have grown, rules had to be put in place where before it was more an understanding among friends. Again we are all friends and friendly, but as different people joined, with differences in how they do things, it had to be organized more and became less personal. An example I can give is that in the early days of the FC there was no rule on bad mouthing or being toxic, however when a few new people joined, several members decided that they were not like them or something like that. Names were called, like "terrible" and "bitch", and even though they tried hard to not let it be known what was said behind the back, my ears are sharp, and friendships with others outside the fc leaned to me things said in confidence. This back and forth, old and new, caused a rift. Feelings were hurt, moves made in secret, friendship and understanding were lost. There was no set rule about such behavior and yet I thought it was understood, and as the fc leader that was my shortcoming I felt.
I do things differently now. The fc is no longer run on a "gentleman's agreement" as it was before. There are rules in place to keep fragmentation from growing as it did. Rules that protect new members from distrust and disrespect. And a more cut and dry, and by virtue, a more transparent method of punishment. We recently let a member go, something in the past I never would have done. This was more then a fc I use to think, its a family.... but it is not. The member in question violated rules, was warned publicly, and on the third warning removed from the rolls. I felt bad but it had to be done. To me as the oldest member here, I can see what we are now, and though good and even stronger and more focused then we were, I can see what was lost. And on that I worried that I would dry up my own fc, and a few did go, but in time were replaced by better people. And though it is less "a family" now, there is a focus now, a feeling of unity. We are all on the same page, no room to misunderstand what is expected, and from that transparency we form friendships which feel more trustworthy.
So from all that I sort of see on a larger scale what is happening in the RPC. More and more people coming in, different ways of seeing things (ie, gifs disruptive & gifs not disruptive), rules changing to meet the needs, hells even new leadership on the way. There will be whispers in secret, feelings hurt, and so on. But if we manage to hold fast through the changes, we may come out stronger then ever.
So as the numbers go up, new ideas showed up. More people meant more conflicting opinions. Now it wasn't just WHM/DRG threads that flamed, but many different things not set off arguments. New words (not really new but new here) started appearing. Words like hyperbole, echo chamber, baiting, populars, hugbox, and so on. In what seems like a sudden shift, but looking back was a gradual change, the site became divisive. So mods do as they normally do, claim rules had always been the rules, and began to enforce them more then they did. This causes some (mostly long time users) to become irritated. Yes the rules were always there in some form, but the smaller size of the community allowed for more personal interactions, fewer people, with fewer misunderstandings because everyone knew everyone and there was an understanding of people. Older users remember that personal feel, that looser use of rules and feel the tightening as the rules are changed to effectively handle the larger and less personal community.
A similar situation has been effecting the Red Wings for the last few months. Where as we are still personal and friends, as our numbers have grown, rules had to be put in place where before it was more an understanding among friends. Again we are all friends and friendly, but as different people joined, with differences in how they do things, it had to be organized more and became less personal. An example I can give is that in the early days of the FC there was no rule on bad mouthing or being toxic, however when a few new people joined, several members decided that they were not like them or something like that. Names were called, like "terrible" and "bitch", and even though they tried hard to not let it be known what was said behind the back, my ears are sharp, and friendships with others outside the fc leaned to me things said in confidence. This back and forth, old and new, caused a rift. Feelings were hurt, moves made in secret, friendship and understanding were lost. There was no set rule about such behavior and yet I thought it was understood, and as the fc leader that was my shortcoming I felt.
I do things differently now. The fc is no longer run on a "gentleman's agreement" as it was before. There are rules in place to keep fragmentation from growing as it did. Rules that protect new members from distrust and disrespect. And a more cut and dry, and by virtue, a more transparent method of punishment. We recently let a member go, something in the past I never would have done. This was more then a fc I use to think, its a family.... but it is not. The member in question violated rules, was warned publicly, and on the third warning removed from the rolls. I felt bad but it had to be done. To me as the oldest member here, I can see what we are now, and though good and even stronger and more focused then we were, I can see what was lost. And on that I worried that I would dry up my own fc, and a few did go, but in time were replaced by better people. And though it is less "a family" now, there is a focus now, a feeling of unity. We are all on the same page, no room to misunderstand what is expected, and from that transparency we form friendships which feel more trustworthy.
So from all that I sort of see on a larger scale what is happening in the RPC. More and more people coming in, different ways of seeing things (ie, gifs disruptive & gifs not disruptive), rules changing to meet the needs, hells even new leadership on the way. There will be whispers in secret, feelings hurt, and so on. But if we manage to hold fast through the changes, we may come out stronger then ever.
![[Image: Emblem%252520by%252520Rhea%252520Zaheela%252520x50.png]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5YSh8yMniHU/VlLStr_7SSI/AAAAAAAAIQ4/qLoOmtz-Jdg/s100-Ic42/Emblem%252520by%252520Rhea%252520Zaheela%252520x50.png)