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

Hello, Kea. Thanks for coming and saying that.

I realise that feelings are running high and it is pretty much hacking a lot of people off. That thing with Ed was one of those things that blows up now and again on the interweb and it's only to be expected.

To be honest if it had been me and Ed I'm not sure how I would have reacted - probably not as restrained as you. I do tend to get my slapping hand out then give this place a break for a while while I calm down.

That whole thing just left me feeling sad and frustrated. But not as sad and frustrated as a lot of other stuff.

(am wondering if I'm allowed to drink even though it's 6:30am...)

Well it's 4.40pm here and I've just messed up my afternoon (again) so I might join you in a

>>But not as sad and frustrated as a lot of other stuff.

I'm a bit relieved to hear that. I know the whole thing was annoying for people but I've been surprised at how much.

It is sad though, the whole caboodle.

>>I do tend to get my slapping hand out then give this place a break for a while while I calm down.

Interestingly, it's my very low energy at the moment that led me to yikes. Otherwise Ed and I would probably have had an argy bargy over it, which apparently would have been much more acceptable than what I did I just don't have the energy currently for those pages long weekend arguments that are a replay of all the previous pages long arguments....

The modded post was me.

It contained the word "fuscia".

Other posts contining the words "duck" "f-word" and "f-bomb" have all survived.

Most petunia.

Ben

How odd!

I think that one might take the

Fuscia or fuchsia? If we were up to our usual community hijinks everyone would now change their name to fuchsia (or petunia).

I lost a flick...

Fuchsia.

Preceded by "What the"

W
T

actually.

And followed by a question mark.

Next?

It would be fabulous if the site went all fuchsia for awhile

That's particularly hilarious as when I saw the removed post, my response was about to involve a letter T, a W and an F, but not in that order.

I'll go fuchsia! Though I normally prefer black or earth tones.

The biggest fear I have about naming and shaming for bad behavior onsite is that the last time I had a major disagreement with a hootooer, it got really ugly for me. It even followed me offsite and into my home (including sending hugely offensive items through the post and phoning my house at all hours of the night to leave threats on my machine), and didn't stop till the person found someone else more fun to lash out at. I know a lot of people deny it is the case, but it *is* true that being friendly with or sucking up to the Eds or at least the "right" researchers has, at least in the past, allowed some people to get away with behavior that others wouldn't, or enabled them to ostracize others who aren't part of the "In Crowd"- that was definitely the case with this person. No consideration of context or intent, or the overall pattern of behavior, just "this post doesn't break any rules". I think we all agree that leaving a flood of otherwise harmless messages can be worse than annoying- it can be outright threatening. It's not necessarily a matter of the person doing it having a "bad day" or the person at the receiving end being "over sensitive". Sometimes someone's probably just trying to be mean.

No idea how to deal with bad behavior as a community other than the Transgressions Procedure used in the past. But moderation needs to be so much less letter-of-the-law and more the spirit of the thing. Maybe a good rule of thumb isn't "is it offensive" but "is it mean"? I swear like a sailor, but not *at* people, like Mrs. Zen has mentioned earlier (or perhaps elsewhere). Big difference using an f-qualifier and telling someone "f u". In fact the only two phrases I refuse to use (or respond to) are "f u" and "shut up", because I think they're really mean.

(Full disclosure- while I have seen that happen here more than once in recent weeks, I don't think that was Ed's intent at all. I think he just felt like being an ornery PITA. )

>>> The biggest fear I have about naming and shaming for bad behavior onsite is that the last time I had a major disagreement with a hootooer, it got really ugly for me. It even followed me offsite and into my home (including sending hugely offensive items through the post and phoning my house at all hours of the night to leave threats on my machine), and didn't stop till the person found someone else more fun to lash out at

If that happens as a result of being on h2g2 then we need to stamp on it. I've actually talked about this a lot with Aly Larholm (they run a huge chat service) and they have robust methods for protecting users from harassment, including bans, and they have contacted the police in the past. If people are being harassed then they need to be protected.

I really don't think discussing bad behaviour onsite is productive for anyone. Most people who have been, or felt victimised aren't going to want to post the details, so we would only get one side of the story.

It strikes me that Aly is a very experienced but unbiased and neutral resource here.

Not sure where that takes us, in the context of this conversation.

Let me go and find 2legs' thinking thong.

B

blimey, PC, that's awful.

Z - that's very reassuring actually.

For me, well, it's a website and at the end of the day if I feel that it's not a comfortable place to be, I'll go elsewhere. I do realise for some, however, that it's a bit (lot) more than that and they do need to feel safe and that will be an important feature of this place in the future I feel.

Yeah, that's really bad pc

I didn't mean name and shame (although I completely understand your reluctance). I meant let's be adult and upfront about what we're talking about instead of using innuendo. But I'm probably overestimating the community's capacity for managing that currently.

*leaves a (clean) thinking thong*
At the moment... all this* stuff* on site but its just a passing phase... the phase to get us too* the new site... I guess Things shall, settle down...

They will have to and they will