(05-15-2015, 12:34 PM)Natalie Mcbeef Wrote:Quote:I understand all the rules of the legit talk thread, and will obey them. If I am found to have broken any of the rules, I will refrain from posting in the thread for a week. I understand that the purpose of this thread is to try and maintain discussion in good faith -lazily quoting but there it is
The first question I will ask is:
What do you think of this thread? Do you agree with what I think has happened in the RPC community? Was the RPC community always this way?
I think it's a good thread in intent, sure. I also believe that no topic is 'sacred' or 'off limits' because of the innocuous chance of 'offense'. I will hold a discussion with anyone on anything, at any time because that is my right to do so and 'censoring' discussions don't help anyone or any situation, ever; even the most heinous topics are up for debate, discussion, and ultimately skepticism.Â
So when you mention if I and others agree on what has happened to the RPC community? Well I suppose so, to a degree. Though this isn't any different than anywhere else; this isn't unique to the RPC. You see this a lot on tumblr, of course, and other online communities. Sanitizing discussions, hugbox cliques, passive aggressive behavior, and the general nature of 'offense/outrage culture' lend people to believe that they have a right to never be offended (they don't), and that their feelings are valid reasons for ceasing a discussion (they aren't). Of course the opposite to this is if the site rules DO state that such things are the case, which as far as I know aren't the case though given that we're about to experience an ownership/moderatorship/adminship change here, things might change.
Was it always this way? I can't honestly say one way or the other. I can say that what I've observed is that the moderatorship of the RPC is and has been far too involved in the RPC's general discussions. My personal experiences moderating an equally sized community in the past for TESO have shown me that the more involved the moderators are the more unhappy people are with the moderators. Tone policing, nitpicking every word looking for 'offenses', and getting into petty arguments with the users do not endear a community to you, your authority, or whatever order you're trying to maintain; just because someone reports something and/or is 'offended' does not mean it warrants action.
On the nature of gifs etc, I think people kneejerk too hard on them as if they are some kind of giant lump of feces in the middle of their driveway that they're about to step in. It's kind of ridiculous to fixate on the use of images rather than focus on, say, the reason and intention behind why people use these images. To me it's like using vulgar language. IRL I swear pretty much every hour of every day because to me language is just language; it's only 'offensive' if employed offensively. However do I swear to people at work? Of course not unless I'm absolutely confident that it won't get me in trouble, of course. The difference being that a workplace IS a sanitized area for many reasons, some legitimate, others not. People tend to use gifs and images as a sort of passive aggressive caltrops, on average. That's pretty shitty and shouldn't be condoned. If, however, an image compliments what you're saying and is on the topic of whatever you're responding to? That's fine. Just like swearing; if the language fits the narrative then good. If not, then you're just being a tool.
