New zero-tolerance policy on member-to-member drama

[Zaysho]

As moderators, we are not perfect. We read every report and discuss amongst ourselves, and with administration if necessary, the best course of action to take for whatever problem comes up. One recurring problem we've noticed, previously addressed by Nepenthe but it's still happening, is member-to-member drama: passive-aggressive attitudes and general pot stirring that instigates in-fighting between members. This includes vague-posting in places like the personal discussion or even the status updates to complain about something another member said. These things lead to an overall worse atmosphere for the board and our members, and ultimately makes our jobs that much harder because instead of dealing with the source of an issue, we inevitably have to deal with off-shoot issues spurred on by other users that got too involved and too heated with the original issue.

As this is something that isn't just going to go away or sort itself out, we're putting our feet down. We will no longer tolerate this sort of drama stirring from members' petty differences and passive-aggressive behavior, and if we see anything of this nature from now on, it will result in an immediate ban. Learn to settle your differences, and if there's some issue going on on-site (harassment, generally abusive behavior) that we should actually know about then you come to us immediately. Do not sit on it, do not run to a safe space to whine about it in vague terms just so you can rile up whoever pissed you off, because you're only making it worse and, depending on how bad it is, you'll be the one getting banned. On the flip side, if you suspect someone is referring to you in such a way, come to us instead of getting involved and exacerbating the issue, because, to us, you'll look just as wrong as the one who started it. Our jobs are dependent on member cooperation, and members have no place to complain about how we're not handling something when it's entirely possible we just don't know about it.

In short, if you start shit, you will be banned on the spot. Consider this a first and only warning, because we are tired of having to contain pointless drama that breaks out because a member got upset about the thing they like being called trash or whatever. If I can put up with people trashing Shadow the Hedgehog every five minutes, you can deal with this, too.

We want SSMB to be a fun and friendly environment for our users, and we feel this has to be our first step toward ensuring that.