Suggestions

[sd_admin]

First an announcement: While modbot seemed like a good idea at the time, it's proved to be unpopular with members. From now on we'll be using it only for admin posts, so that they can be edited by all members of the mod team.


We know that some members have had issues with the community and the mod team, and felt like they couldn't bring them to our attention. Here is your chance. If you've got a question, concern or suggestion about Scans Daily, here's where you can post it.

This post will be linked to in our profile, and checked regularly by the mods. Comments won't be screened, so you can suggest amongst yourselves.

Comments

[julian]

I honestly found the flamewars back on SD 1.0 more difficult to deal with than the various issues on DW that have arisen and will probably happen again in times to come.

...Really? Is that what they're ALL doing?

OK, let me take this into some component parts.

SD on LJ was slash-positive and queer positive. That in and of itself is a political statement.

The mod team of the time tended not to come down on a lot of behavior, in part because IIRC the mod "team" was one person. So while I do think it was slash-positive, I think it was often a hostile environment otherwise.

The current mod team has changed some of the parameters of the community. They are trying to make it more acceptable to have certain kinds of conversations, many of which are more specifically political.

You don't like this.

Not everyone is going to like any given moderation style. I don't actually think that's a problem. I think it's just a fact of life. It's unfortunate for you that you happen not to like this moderation style.

...I feel that what s_d is in fact doing...

And I don't feel that way at all. I consider SD's efforts in this direction a positive, and I walk on /way/ fewer eggshells than I did on SD on LJ.

A lot of the flamewars then seemed really arbitrary and I felt as if I might well be slammed into just for how enjoying how a character was portrayed. I can't count the number of really vicious flamewars over incredibly specific aspects of a character's personality.

Whereas with this iteration of the community, it seems that the more heated arguments are over less arbitrary and more understandable things. (I mean. I think it's worth examining these kinds of unexamined assumptions & biases.) And, at least for me, there's still lots of room for squee and enjoyment.

No, I was never a frequent commenter then, and probably won't ever be a frequent commenter now. But nonetheless, I feel more /able/ to communicate here than there.

Also, just for the record, I don't agree that bullying is in fact what's going on here.

[skalja]

The mod team of the time tended not to come down on a lot of behavior, in part because IIRC the mod "team" was one person. So while I do think it was slash-positive, I think it was often a hostile environment otherwise.

As the last and longest-lasting of the solo mod "teams," your assessment is one hundred percent correct. I was completely oblivious to the idea that in "keeping the peace" and "staying neutral" I could be punishing people for being upset about discrimination. When I recruited the first wave of the new mod team, I was starting to think that the way that I had been doing things wasn't the right way, and I specifically recruited people I thought had the skills and the insight to make the changes I was looking for, i.e. a comics community that is progressive in more than just name.

Although I'm no longer a mod as of this April, this community still means a lot to me and I'm really happy to hear that you think the efforts I and my fellow mods made have been worth it. Not that I think scans_daily is perfect by a long shot, but we're so much better than we used to be.

ETA: wasn't, not was. *facepalm*

[julian]

Well, and as I remember things, when you were solo mod, you were basically swamped; it's by no means easy to be sole moderator of a fractious bunch of energetic fen.

So what I came back to say was, I didn't mean to imply that I somehow blamed you for how the community presented itself, then. And I loved the SD of the LJ era. I just think this is a positive change. And I really do thank you.

[skalja]

Oh, no, I didn't mean to suggest that you were blaming me. The situation was what it was, and there were things I'd do differently now, is all. I'm glad you like the community in its current iteration. :)