meow_d

we have to got to unlearn the arguably-valid trauma response of assuming that every tiny mistake is the first step down the slippery hill to bullshit. at least here, on this tiny website made by a group of pals

I imagine those reactions are holdovers from being on much larger sites with much more resistance to doung the right thing. Users here are so tired of things going bad so fast abd so suddenly, and moderation being so ambivalent to change things for the better they feel threats to the overall traffic and boycotting are the only way anyone can achieve positive change. Its hard to get out of that mindset, i would ask patience with the userbase as they discover you are in fact different.

I think this is very fair and I agree :) I'm glad the staff team has you

i know Ruby was worried this was about her, and so i sought out this post to read it and saw: it's not about her, it's about everyone else's reaction to her situation, because others were saying things much more strongly than her. she's still reeling with having to be the target of nazis so hopefully folks will leave her alone after this.

everyone is dealing with this being a skirmish with nazis and feeling uncomfortable, so tensions feel pretty high, so i want to just say: thank you for doing your best, thank you for reconsidering, thank you for trying to explain your thought process and be transparent

i learned from adminning a fairly popular masto instance and dealing with literal nazis on kiwifarms targeting ppl on the server that the people who are targeted or are direct community of those targeted are going to have very strong reactions to their sense of safety being threatened by the nazis, so i hope everyone takes a moment to reflect on this situation and understand that for this particular issue, this is a good ending

also I hope the nazis die and leave Ruby alone

100% on your side, but i also understand why people tend to act like this: on pretty much every major social media site there is some form of moderation, but most of them don't have an active conversation around it. on here we talked about it and peacefully resolved the issue. if this had happened on twitter that person would just stay unbanned, and any attempt to contact the moderators would be more than pointless. people are just not used to social media platforms not being shit! it doesn't excuse it, but it shows how much better cohost is than others lol

Absolutely agree with you. That kind of mistake is understandable especially if you've worked in moderation elsewhere where the expectations are different and especially for cases involving primarily off-site activity. It's clear to me that you care deeply about maintaining a good community that takes such abuse seriously, enough to admit mistakes and make corrections, even when others misunderstand you, argue in bad faith and generate drama rather than talk and debate things out. The habit of feeling powerless against bad moderation decisions in the past is also understandable coming from other websites and communities but not here.

Acting with good faith doesn't mean giving the benefit of the doubt. It just means being sincere about what you say and do, as opposed to acting with some ulterior, malicious motive. I don't think you can say that those criticisms you mention were made in bad faith just because they were disheartening to hear.

It's fair enough to ask users that, when they think you've messed up, they consider that you'll come around on that and fix the mistake. But if they don't, you can't pretend they're not reacting in good faith - they're just taking you at face value. I don't think those criticisms were unreasonable - overreactions, maybe, but not unreasonable. (Well, except thinking you were purposely trying to smuggle a Nazi in - that's assuming bad faith on your part which I think is unfair.)

for posterity: i hid a comment thread that was so far off to the side it was getting funny

blessings, you have the faith and support of a pretty few. people react to what they react to for their own reasons, and you've been very understanding.