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*I usually flock SD posts these days because BLAHGNONONO, but this one is open.
Fandom Secrets post and the inevitable FFA thread.
In all seriousness, I do think there are things the comm could be doing better. That's always been the case, and it always will be. The major challenge with respect to modding Scans Daily is balance, and that balance was/is really hard to find.
The current rules structure was designed to balance free-ish speech with a) respect for copyright, and 2) an anti-oppression ethos. Comics fandom can be pretty terrible, and even SD had it's moments. Our goal was to make it a bit safer for existing members. (We never intended, in designing the rules, to make the comm a safe space). They came out of about year of refinement, after experience proved that previous models didn't work. When our guiding principle was the golden rule, some members found it impossible to call out bullshit unless they were exceedingly polite. We also had issues with members abusing the rules structure to troll very, very politely. After a particularly bad blowup, we decided to make 'calling out' protected by the rules. This was and continues to be controversial. One of the difficulties this presented to the mod team was whether we should lead or follow. Letting the comm self-mod anti-oppression discussions sometimes left members feeling unsupported. Jumping in from the get go sometimes had members feeling oppressed by the mods. There were no easy answers, and during the adjustment period, the mod team had to be really, really active.
I'm not a mod at SD anymore. So far as I know, a rules change isn't on the horizon. I'm not convinced a rules change is necessary (although rules streamlining, there's room for that, now that things are so firmly established). 'Calling out' is not a problem, it's an opportunity. It's a tool that any member can use to defend themselves or others. We can--and definitely should!--have a conversation about people who abuse that tool to bully. That's an essential part of working on the culture within the community, and the relationship between the mods and members. But honesty requires that we still keep the tone argument in mind, even now that it's a much abused buzzword. Sometimes people use social justice as a mask for their bullying. Other people do the same thing with free speech. That lots of people know about the tone argument, doesn't mean that they're not still pulling that shit.
On a different note, many of the once frequent posters and commenters are in my circle. Lots of us are just tired, or have moved on to other fandoms. There are also plenty of people who left the community after deciding it was no longer for them. Some of them are incredibly bitter over having 'lost' a community they loved. Some of them, like me, are just not in a comics comm headspace anymore. The slowdown on SD is more complicated than 'because mods', although no doubt, that's one of the reasons. The same fandom migration that's slowed down so many flists, hit SD damn hard. And Tumblr, bless, lets you have exactly the comics fandom experience you want. All Damien Wayne, all day? Go for it. No need to scroll past some joker's Sailor Moon posts (or whatever).
Anyway, I'm running out of steam here, and I've got a to do list a mile long. So yeah, my Scans Daily tl;dr of the month, I guess.
Fandom Secrets post and the inevitable FFA thread.
In all seriousness, I do think there are things the comm could be doing better. That's always been the case, and it always will be. The major challenge with respect to modding Scans Daily is balance, and that balance was/is really hard to find.
The current rules structure was designed to balance free-ish speech with a) respect for copyright, and 2) an anti-oppression ethos. Comics fandom can be pretty terrible, and even SD had it's moments. Our goal was to make it a bit safer for existing members. (We never intended, in designing the rules, to make the comm a safe space). They came out of about year of refinement, after experience proved that previous models didn't work. When our guiding principle was the golden rule, some members found it impossible to call out bullshit unless they were exceedingly polite. We also had issues with members abusing the rules structure to troll very, very politely. After a particularly bad blowup, we decided to make 'calling out' protected by the rules. This was and continues to be controversial. One of the difficulties this presented to the mod team was whether we should lead or follow. Letting the comm self-mod anti-oppression discussions sometimes left members feeling unsupported. Jumping in from the get go sometimes had members feeling oppressed by the mods. There were no easy answers, and during the adjustment period, the mod team had to be really, really active.
I'm not a mod at SD anymore. So far as I know, a rules change isn't on the horizon. I'm not convinced a rules change is necessary (although rules streamlining, there's room for that, now that things are so firmly established). 'Calling out' is not a problem, it's an opportunity. It's a tool that any member can use to defend themselves or others. We can--and definitely should!--have a conversation about people who abuse that tool to bully. That's an essential part of working on the culture within the community, and the relationship between the mods and members. But honesty requires that we still keep the tone argument in mind, even now that it's a much abused buzzword. Sometimes people use social justice as a mask for their bullying. Other people do the same thing with free speech. That lots of people know about the tone argument, doesn't mean that they're not still pulling that shit.
On a different note, many of the once frequent posters and commenters are in my circle. Lots of us are just tired, or have moved on to other fandoms. There are also plenty of people who left the community after deciding it was no longer for them. Some of them are incredibly bitter over having 'lost' a community they loved. Some of them, like me, are just not in a comics comm headspace anymore. The slowdown on SD is more complicated than 'because mods', although no doubt, that's one of the reasons. The same fandom migration that's slowed down so many flists, hit SD damn hard. And Tumblr, bless, lets you have exactly the comics fandom experience you want. All Damien Wayne, all day? Go for it. No need to scroll past some joker's Sailor Moon posts (or whatever).
Anyway, I'm running out of steam here, and I've got a to do list a mile long. So yeah, my Scans Daily tl;dr of the month, I guess.