Ok so it seems like things have mostly calmed down in the Obesity thread now, so I thought rather than stirring that up again I’d post a new thread – especially seeing as this is relevant for everyone on here, not just those who participate in that one thread. PLEASE NOTE: This is not a second thread for carrying on the specific debates taking place in that thread.
Also: I have not discussed this with the other @moderators before posting this thread. So these are my thoughts as a long time poster and individual moderator, rather than a statement on behalf of all admins/mods.
When we re-opened the Obesity/CRUK thread, I posted a message asking everyone to “Keep it civil”. While the thread does seem to have calmed down a bit, there are still several “low-level” personal attacks being used, just like earlier in the thread before we closed it and deleted things etc and obviously in other discussions across the boards.
In my opinion, in a serious discussion like that one, calling someone a “fucking weirdo” for stating their opinion, saying that someone else is using “cunt tactics” or anything else of the sort (and we all know there are plenty more examples) is not OK. I absolutely appreciate that this is an emotional subject for lots of people (as indeed, most things really worth discussing in length will inevitably be) and you can get carried away, but that’s just all the more reason to mind how you put your points across. We all get angry, of course, I have a bad temper a lot of the time myself, but please don’t forget the simple fact that the one on the receiving end of your attacks is also a human being with emotions just like you. That sounds really hippie-ish, but it honestly seems like a lot of people still forget about this when online.
I’m obviously not saying that everyone needs to be friends and get along perfectly OR ELSE, I’m just saying that name calling and petty personal attacks are really not the way to go. And I honestly thought that we had mostly moved past that.
It’s all about what kind of place we want this to be, and I as a moderator I will be taking this sort of thing way more seriously from here on out. No matter how RIGHT you think you are, it’s not really an excuse to just be downright rude to other people. If YOU want this place to be nice and welcoming (and to carry on with the improvement we’ve seen since the new boards opened), then it’s as much YOUR personal responsibility to keep a civil tone as it is the responsibility of those you disagree with.
So yeah, this is a thread do discuss how we discuss things. Play nice.
