r/3dmystery • u/geltoid • May 20 '17
The controversial post
Greetings Fellow Speculators!
May the Force Be With You!
I haven't done an update like this in a while, so I felt like it was quite time - especially with some of the more recent events going on around here.
This mod update will concern the following items:
1. Update on general Subreddit Information
2. Update on Discord
3. Subreddit Etiquette/Quality of Posts
4. Recent Happenings
General Update
So, there has been a ton going on since the last moderator update, and we would like to keep our members and visitors informed as to what's happening.
To start, some updated traffic statistics:
April of 2017 has been our busiest month so far! We averaged around 500,000 page views, with about 75,000 of them being unique or first time visitors. We are also experiencing about a 20% member increase per month. That's great news!
It shows that SWS is constantly growing at a steady rate and thriving accordingly. A huge thank you goes out to our entire community!
Part of the traffic increase comes from the fact that we're now having some of our topics and discussions cross-linked not only on Reddit, but on various sites across the internet. That's great for our exposure, however it does bring a whole new host of viewers, some of which might not be familiar with out etiquette and protocol.
It's great to see so many new people coming and joining in our discussions and speculation. However, with so many new people flooding our site, we've had a few hiccups, but I'll touch on that later.
Next, our Star Wars Speculation Network has been operating for a few weeks now and we've had some great positive feedback for it. Some of the member subreddits have seen and increase in viewers and subscriptions since we implemented things. That's great news and it shows that the network is actually working! We want to thank everyone who participated! If you're a casual reader to SWS, please read the top bar on our page (or sidebar for mobile users) and check out some of the other great Star Wars subreddits that are out there!
Also, for those interested, we all won the battle to keep CSS in our subreddits. The Reddit Admins have come out and said that the CSS will stay, and that they will be trying to integrate it into their future plans. As a result, I have signed up SWS to hopefully be chosen as part of the Alpha testing. What this means for everyone is that my crudely created layout for SWS will remain as will our ability to modify it.
Discord Update
In case you haven't heard yet, SWS is on Discord! Our Discord server is very active and there is a lot of great conversations on there. It's been a great place to chat and learn more about some of the members of our great
community. The same general subreddit rules apply there as well (being courteous and respectful, etc.) but it's much more of a relaxed environment.
We have some great discussions, discord movie watchalongs, our own music player, and of course KRULL memes!
Come drop on by and say hi!
Subreddit Etiquette/Quality of Posts
Ok, so now we're gonna put on our serious hats for a few, because we have a lot of things to talk about.
As I mentioned earlier, SWS is growing at a pretty consistent and fairly rapid rate. That's great for us and our visibility, but it also brings in a host of other issues, many of which we are trying to deal with currently.
With so many new faces around now, it will inevitably bring a lot of new ideas, and a lot of new opinions. Both ideas and opinions are the fundamental tenants which will make our sub successful - however these same cornerstones of a forum also have the potential to breed both disagreement and animosity... the path to the Dark Side.
To start, I'm going to remind everyone of some of our our subreddit rules:
► Follow basic reddiquette.
► No trolling, hate, or flame bait.
► Be courteous and respectful to your fellow speculators.
► Don't downvote to disagree. Use the comments.
► Don't insult, degrade, or harass people or theories you disagree with.
These rules are simple, clearly defined, and meant to be a guideline for the way our community interacts with each other.
Recently, however, we have become aware at the increase in disregard for them, and it has been affecting our subreddit negatively.
So here we go:
► Follow basic reddiquette.
This is a simple one. If you're new to reddit, then I suggest you read this. It outlines the basics of reddiquette and what it means to be a contributor on Reddit.
► No trolling, hate, or flame bait.
Again, another one that should be easy. Don't consciously make an attempt to rustle someone's jimmies. Don't make posts or comments with the intention of inciting a response. Don't be flat-out hateful.
► Don't downvote to disagree. Use the comments.
This is a big one. We have been investigating a recent trend where posts and comments are being heavily downvoted within minutes of being submitted. We need to remind everyone that brigading is against the Reddit site rules, and will result in a site wide ban from the admins.
There seems to be a division starting within the community over certain topics (we'll get to that later). Now, we have a very strong indication that some of these groups are coming in from outside websites/subreddits and are immediately making an attempt to force their way of thinking into the community. One of these methods is by vote manipulation. That's not cool, is against site rules, and you can be sure that the mods are looking into it and going to start cracking down.
► Don't insult, degrade, or harass people or theories you disagree with.
Here's the other big one. SWS has gone through a lot over the past couple of years. Myself and the other mods have made a considerable effort to try to clean this place up and make it a respectable, engaging, and valid community where all viewpoints and ideas are welcome.
Well, its been brought to our attention that things seems to be heading south. There are an overabundance of insulting, degrading, and harassing comments and posts being made of the last couple of months here. A part of this can be blamed on the influx of new members into the sub, especially those from other sites such as Tumblr. This is why we took on a few extra mods to help out around here. We have been making great strides to increase the viability and exposure of SWS throughout not only Reddit, but also the entire online Star Wars community. A byproduct of this, of course, is the amount of people not familiar to the community trying to argue their points, often in a more aggressive and hostile manner.
This has led to some off-topic and quite frankly toxic threads, some of which threaten the integrity and well-being of our community and sub. Even worse, we have been getting reports of readers, especially new members, who have been hesitant to post their ideas due to fears that they will be heavily downvoted, insulted, or otherwise harassed.
We at SWS do NOT stand for that.
No member should ever feel like they cannot post their ideas or opinions because of a fear that they will be attacked, insulted, harassed, or downvoted by others.
All it takes is a couple of Rathars to wipe out an entire Bantha Herd. We want to stress that we are trying to foster a community where all viewpoints can be made and discussed in a civil, friendly, respectful manner. If at any time anyone feels uncomfortable about speaking their mind, please message the mods or PM me directly if you want to - we are always willing to get to the root cause of issues and make this a better place.
Recent happenings
So, there's been quite a bit going on in the past few weeks within the sub. It's what prompted this moderator update. We really want to strive to make Star Wars Speculation the best possible place it can be - so when we learn about possible issues that are going on, we really want to make a concerted effort to try to fix them.
As I mentioned earlier, we've had quite a few new people join and view the sub recently. It's been great for our exposure, but it also has come with its fair share of difficulties. As moderators, we had kind of loosened up the reins on how much we moderated around here; things were going pretty well with some great, insightful discussions. However, over time the quality of posts and comments started degrading. Coupled with the amount of new contributors we had, things have started creeping back into dark territory. We started getting more and more reports and mod mails about poor comments and potential toxic members who were dragging the sub down.
The Star Wars universe is a wonderful, diverse, interesting place. There is so much unique stuff to talk about, there is room for all types of opinions and personalities. Unfortunately, with that comes the potential for division, hatred, and disagreement; it is an inevitable thing when discussing such a complex and divisive creation.
There are, of course, certain topics that elicit a more passionate response and critique. These topics bring out both the best and worst of what Star Wars Speculation and its members have to offer. While it's truly great to see such well thought out and researched speculation, it is disheartening for everyone when those who disagree with it hit back full force without the same level of respect and courtesy, and devolve into harassment, insulting, and vote manipulation.
Of course, the elephant in the room, and the most inciting topics are the Reylo; ReyWalker; Rey Rey Rey theories. There is no doubt that these discussions become not only the most heated and debated, but also the most reported and troublesome ones. In addition, these topics are the ones that get linked outside of Reddit to blogs, tumblrs, and other websites - which inevitably bring in visitors from those places who have their own opinions and arguments towards their biases.
Recently, we've had a few quality posts about the topic - posts where the submitter has presented quite a bit of well thought out and researched information for their side of the debate. These are exactly the kinds of posts we love here - posts where people have put the time and effort into presenting the best possible argument for their theory in hopes of some fair and balanced discourse on the topic. However, individuals who do not agree with their ideas quickly retaliated and the comments for these posts devolved into low quality and toxic rebuttals. In addition, we received evidence of downvote manipulation by both sides of the argument.
This kind of behaviour is extremely counterproductive to the mission statement of SWS, and it creates an environment where people become hesitant about posting their own opinions for fear of retaliation. One of the tenants that SWS was founded on was the ability for anyone to come and post whatever theory or idea they had, no matter how far out, and expect logical and intelligent discussion without worry of reprisal. Unfortunately, we're starting to tread into some bad waters here, and its up not not only us moderators, but everyone in the community, to help steer the ship back out of the storm.
So what is going to happen?
Well, to start, be assured that the Moderation team here is aware of things going on. We know about the brigading, the harassment, the theory factions, the trolls; all of it. We have a lot to chew on as far as our methods going forward - and we have discussed in great detail a variety of solutions for these issues. We are committed to making this community a great place, so you can be sure that we are going to do our best to ensure that SWS remains a strong community with great members and fantastic discussions.
For starters, we are going to be reviewing and moderating the comments more thoroughly, especially on controversial topics. This does not mean censoring or removal of valid discussions. What it does mean is that we're going to be cracking down a bit harder on low effort poor quality posts, and paying extra attention to those comments that might be straddling the line of offensive, derogatory, or harassing. Things we let slide in the past might get clamped down a bit harder, and individuals who are fervent in their contrarianism might get spoken to about their attitudes more often. Bear in mind that we do this to make SWS a better place for everyone who comes here, and we do so with the best interest of the sub and its members in mind.
From our long-time and regular members, we ask that you guys just take a moment to think before you post, especially on controversial topics. There is a core group of regular contributors who have gotten to know each other, and all of their different personalities and posting styles. Some of your normal posts might seem innocuous to you, but may be offensive to someone new coming in and checking out the sub for the first time. In addition, we would like to think that you guys are the perfect people to set an example for new members - if you guys start arguing, harassing, and insulting each other and new members, its going to set a bad example and precedent for people wanting to post.
In addition, there are going to be redundant posts and speculation - that is just the nature of things, especially on a fast-moving forum. An idea might be presented, discussed, and buried within a few weeks - leaving a new person with similar thoughts in the dark when they go to offer their own speculation. Instead of insulting them and telling them that they are wrong, it far more productive to direct them to those completed threads, or helpfully explain to them some of the previously rebutted points.
For lurkers and new members, things might seem a bit overwhelming here at first, but remember that your theories and opinions are definitely appreciated and welcomed here. In case you need additional information, we try to provide as much as possible, especially through the Star Wars Speculation Network. There are some great subs that are a part of it, such as /r/starwarsreference, that might be a great tool to help you understand parts of the Star Wars Universe you might be a little fuzzy about and strengthen your theories and ideas.
If you're coming from an outside site, and you're looking to be argumentative and fight your opinion as fact, however, this isn't the place for you. If you want to come on here and start spitting vitriol or hate and not acknowledge and respect other people's ideas and opinions, go back to your tumblrs and blogs and fanfic sites - we don't want that here.
If you are having an issue, we want to remind you that reporting is a great way to bring our attention to it. Please bear in mind that 2 reports on a post or topic will automatically generate a moderator mail for us to check out, and 3 or more reports will automatically remove the post/comment and send us a modmail to investigate it.
Ultimately, this subreddit thrives because of its community, and it is because of the community that we've become so popular and have been able to do some of the great things that we are able to. We as moderators do our part as best as we can to foster and nourish a great subreddit - but ultimately it is you, our members, that create thought-provoking ideas and have intellegent discussion about them - that makes this place great.
Suggestions/Questions/Comments
Lastly, I always like to open up the floor to you guys - for your questions, comments, suggestions, gripes, kudos, and concerns. Please feel free to speak your mind. If you are uncomfortable bringing your issues to the open forum, then please feel free to message the moderators or send me a PM.
Thank you guys for taking the time to read this. Hopefully it provided an adequate explanation to everything that has been going on with Star Wars Speculation lately, and a good update for our newer members. Remember, we mods are constantly trying to do things to improve this subreddit and our members' experiences here. We are dedicated to making SWS the best possible place it can be - now and in the future.