h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

How can we make h2g2 a pleasanter place to be, without making it dull, dull, dull?

At it's best being in the h2g2 community - hanging round Ask for example - is

challenging
interesting
thought-provoking
fun
funny
silly
enjoyable
informative
serendipitous
unexpected
diverting
memorable
delightful
surreal
creative
playful


But recently it's full of behaviour that is

snide
agressive
undermining
sly
malicious
deliberately provocative
sharp
targeted
manipulative
game-playing
malignant
arrogant


What can we do to foster the former and help the community and the volnteers re-create a place where there is zero tolerance, or at least zero reward for the latter?

Ben

Unsubscribe from 'Ask', subscribe to 'Miscchat'.

Seriously, I don't know. I just tend to unsubscribe if find the latter behaviour and go an moan about it elsewhere.

Same here. That's probably why I'm not seeing so much negativity. I unsubscribed to several areas long ago for two reasons. One was nastiness, but the other was just to pare down what I was subscribed to to make the backlog bearable.

If a convo isn't one I like, I leave it.

Which brings up something for the volunteers to consider. They will not always have that option depending on their duties.

as you are asking about Ask, shouldn't you be asking on Ask,

just asking,

can't say it out loud quickly without saying a Taffism mind

Peanut

It's not Ask, it's h2g2.

Hopefully in the future we'll have a large enough base of people that Ask eill be one tiny part of h2g2, rather than the only place in an every-dwindling puddle.

Re-introduction of Taff... Its easier to be light-hearted when we've all got one person we can poke fun at <tongueout (and, to be clear, this is a .. joke... )
I think everyones just a bit on edge at the moment.... Maybe its the ever-radpily-approaching return of the prodigal one, maybe its the ever-so-approaching move of the site, or maybe its just the baffling array of conversations to do with the latter... or, maybe its time for my h yearly bath

It is h2g2 in general, not Ask in particular, but I might take the summary of whatever we come up with here and take it over to Ask.

Here's a thought.

Lil's got some pretty clear standards for her role-playing games in Atelier-land. She also firmly enforces her no trolling rules. Could we have something that's got less force than the House Rules but is still a guide to expected behaviour. Something half way between a Code of Conduct and a Guide to Nettiquete. Hootiquette, perhaps. Hints and tips. Dos and Donts.

If we DID have some "dos and don'ts" what would you put on them?

I'm not sure to read that comment Vip, how do you see the future of Ask?

Peanut

DO
- act courteously towards all fellow users of the site.
- Respect the privacy of others

DONT
- post abusive messages of any sort
- flame troll or spam any conversation
- spit

mini

I like those, Mini.

> I'm not sure to read that comment Vip, how do you see the future of Ask?

I read it that the fish and the pond would both get bigger, but that if the pond is 10x the size and the fish only doubles then it's easier for people not to bump into each otehr.

Er,

Ben

Peanut, you assumed that Ben's post was talking about Ask, I was trying to point out that it was talking about the whole of h2g2, but because Ask is the most active place these days it's easy to think that h2g2 = Ask which I hope will not be the case in the future.

Ben - yes. We need bigger ponds and smaller fishes.

Anyhoo, the question I'm asking is how to make h2g2 better by making it feel less dangerous and unpleasant, but keeping the standard of debate high.

Mebbe I should ask in Ask.

B

I think one thing that will help is being a bit less tolerant of postings which are clearly mean-spirited to those In The Know, but are carefully worded to avoid actaully breaching the House Rules... over the years I've yikes'd a few such posts only to basically be told in the email back that I don't have a leg to stand on because the *letter* of the House Rules has been obeyed.

This a great thread and I'll give it some thought. But I just had to say when I read those awful words of what we've turned into it did make me laugh a bit.

We're a bit a horror film now

I fully agree,Mr D. For some, it has become a veritable art form to post mean things to those 'in the Know' without breaking the letters of the house rules. However, it is hard to prove, if not impossible. Again, I usually unsubscribe so I don't need to read it.

Whose 'in the Know'?

Depends on who posts and on the history between researchers.

As in those who are able to recognise a post that is intentially mean-spirited but nevertheless is made to remain within the House Rules. *We* can do that, because we see the patterns and know the people. All the current offsite mods see is a post that obeys the letter of the Rules. What I'm basically getting at is less tolerance of posts which kick the spirit of the House Rules in the teeth whilst carefully remaining within the letter of them.

Obviously I'm generalising because even with the small community we have people will miss behaviour patterns and rarely (if ever) encounter certain Researchers, but that's the gist of it.

You've lost me but I'll move on.

>If we DID have some "dos and don'ts" what would you put on them?< mrs Zen

Make playfullness and creativity a fundamental thing to affirm about your taking part here.
Have a basic warm and friendly attitude to your fellow hootizens.
Always apologise if a situation goes wrong with people. It will - you're human.

That's for starters.