Please talk amongst yourselves

Hi everyone,

I'm heading to Los Angeles for a week and will be checking in here only sporadically. It is time for some sunshine and to check in with family and meet with my mentor to keep "all things online" going well. Be prepared for changes upon my return.

In the meantime, I have been receiving messages from various members of the site who are not pleased with the somewhat adversarial conversations taking place in the discussion area. People are telling me they are not coming back because they feel attacked. I'm sure there are others who aren't telling me, but have crossed ArtFairInsiders.com off their list of places to spend time.

I need your help and input. Please tell me:

How do you think this should be handled?
Do you think we should have volunteer moderators who could monitor the conversations and keep them civilized? A moderator could be someone who keeps the discussion in the parameters of the subject.
Should we put together a group to create a policy that will allow everyone to put forth their point of view within guidelines?
Should discussions be closed out at two weeks?
Any suggestions?

Here are the general rules of the Code of Conduct that is already on the site:

Be nice
Be generous
Be ethical

Visit this link to get the whole story. The presumption is that everyone here is an adult and will behave like one. Walking the line between open discussion of opinions and not antagonizing others is tricky. Right?

Comments

Terri Drake April 14, 2010 at 11:29pm

Unfortunately, it seems that a lot of sites are having the same problem. Lots of people are able to discussion all kinds of topics, but there's always that one person who doesn't know how to play nice in the sandbox. Other groups to which I belong will have the owner of the site or a moderator send an email to the person letting them know their harassment or conduct will not be tolerated and the next incident gets them removed from the list.

I would have thought that a diverse group such as this would act like the professionals they wish to be treated and not stoop to acting like spoiled children when they can't get their way or attacking people verbally when they disagree. There are nicer ways to do things.

Hope this helps. And to coin the phrase, it's JMHO. ~2~

Namaste- Terri at the Drake's Nest in Ossineke, MI where I'm preparing for finals
Connie Mettler April 12, 2010 at 10:09am

Home again and feeling very relieved about the direction of the comments on this post. Thanks to all of you for your cogent replies, the straight shooters, the cynical, the combative, the "can't we just get along", the factual, the wise asses, the grumpys, etc. I believe in controversy keeping things lively and that occasional pot shots are allowable. Thank you for caring enough about this site to answer my query. Willie McTell summed up my feelings in this post: "people should not wear their feelings on their sleeves. stop being so sensitive. stop taking everything personally. grow up. be an adult. join in the conversations without complaining so much. guess what : another adult might have an opinion that is different than yours. that's ok. "

Thank you to all of you who keep this site alive and flourishing: Munks, Michelle Babcock, Phil Crone, Nels Johnson, Linda Anderson, Lila Skolnick, Holly Olinger, Geri Wegner, Michelle Sholund, Kevan Breitinger, Ginny Herzog, Paula Johnson, Felicia Parsons, Fran Hurst, Lee Hill, Philip Hall, Lindsay Pless, Victoria Herring and the others who read this particular thread and contribute to the community.

Thanks for these thoughts, Philip Hall: "Civility is great but having a site comfortable for everyone who can not take a breath of disagreement makes for some lackluster and useless posts."

My goal is to have a supportive, thought-provoking community where we all learn from each other and can have some fun too. Warm regards -- from the overseer of the unmoderated ArtFairInsiders.com.

I know some of you are active on other Forums and "misbehavior" is not uncommon -- perhaps you will find this article interesting: The Day I was Flamed on my Blog...
Lindsay Pless April 10, 2010 at 12:22pm

Yayyyyyyy Connie said the operative word "unmoderated"
S. Michelle Babcock April 5, 2010 at 4:47pm

I can't say I'm sorry to see William leave. I dealt with him in person at an art fair. And no he is not new to art fairs and he's not any nicer in person.
As for moderators I don't think that's needed. We don't want to make this a censored site. I think some artists might find that offensive to have to censor their views.
Willie McTell April 2, 2010 at 9:14pm

here is suggestion: people should not wear their feelings on their sleeves. stop being so sensitive. stop taking everything personally. grow up. be an adult. join in the conversations without complaining so much. guess what : another adult might have an opinion that is different than yours. that's ok.
Nels Johnson April 1, 2010 at 10:13pm

Ah Victoria. God Bless You. I will try and make some necessary noise to DROWN OUT poor Munks hitting head against the wall. (A little aside here. I checked out your home site--very good photos, you have a lot of good going for you.) But alas, moderators--I don't think so--let alone five of them. We could not tolerate one of them. Why do you need a referee? Nice thoughts though, keep on us. Be prepared for a little shellacking once in a while. God Bless ya, have a happy Easter, but don't make any more innocent pronouncements like that-- have you not read the last 22 threads? Ooh! I hope you don't thinkme a little harsh, because I don't mean to. Aloha, and don't smoke too much pakalolo braless, Nels.
Linda Anderson April 1, 2010 at 3:57pm

Fully & Completely agree w/Munks. I'll finish it for ya .... king code
Victoria L. Herring April 1, 2010 at 2:10pm

I haven't followed this at all but if you have a Code of Conduct and people violate it you can ban them - they can then reup if they promise to follow the Code. And people who feel attacked can report to whoever administrates this and then administrators can block/ban offenders. I'm on other lists and every now and then something breaks down but we have a group of 5 'administrators' who watch things and step in and remind people to be civil etc. The admins can ban those who won't. You don't want to overorganize or complicate things but sometimes an open forum does need a little monitoring to smooth the edges. Good luck.
Lila April 1, 2010 at 10:15am

Connie,
Is there any way to know how many members have signed off due to being offended? The number may be rather small and, as someone else here has mentioned, some of us enjoy robust debate. It can open the mind to new ways of thinking. You may actually have an increase in numbers because of such lively open discussion. At this time I have not seen anything rude or obscene on the board. Also, as a reader/contributor to other message boards/chats, I see that some of us are less eloquent and may word their ideas in a way that seems negative, even if the intention is not to be so. I would say, that unless the message board gets out of hand, leave things as they are now. You have very clear guidelines that are not restrictive.
Enjoy California!
Lila
Linda Anderson March 31, 2010 at 7:30pm

Love the Alvin Holly!