The idea of removing currentevents at all, is based on the idea that PureZC has not been inclusive. This is either an error on staff's part, or it is intentional, I do not know, though I will say that given how Aevin has to ask people to bring up examples of positive conversations in currentevents, that proves that he has no idea what he's arguing against, and that may be an indication that this was indeed done in error.
This is simply untrue, and I have yet to post in this thread because I have felt that this singles out a small portion of people as opposed to being a legitimate turn towards helping others feel more comfortable in the server. You don't make 2 people more comfortable if it requires removing a channel a huge part of the community clearly enjoys, if those two people have an issue with the channel, they don't have to go in there, and it really is as simple as that. If you do not have staff member who are willing to moderate it, then you need to hire some people who are. Again, they are not hard to find, I know at least 5 different people who have said they would like to moderate just currentevents.
The main reason I have stayed out of this conversation is that I have been deeply hurt by it. This may not be completely rational on my part, and I admit that, but this is very much the reason why I have been so angry in other channels, as several staff members will be aware of. This ties back to the creation of currentevents, which happened pretty much almost instantaneously as me and some of the other remnants from the IRC channel decided to come over. On IRC, we had always had an open nature, people could talk about the things that concerned them, and the only times this was an issue was when people were trying to have multiple conversations going on at the same time in the same channels. Simple issue that could have been solved by having multiple channels, of course.
When we moved over to Discord, it didn't take long before staff members that had never before been active in chat, decided that we needed to be singled out and placed into the 'controversial channel', because apparently having adult conversations is too much for some people. I was annoyed with this back then, because I felt like I was being singled out there too - we even had staff members openly joking about how it was the '#robinchannel', so while I was assured several times that this was not the case, we all know that it played a part. But it was fine, currentevents was not moderated in such a way that people's conversations would be limited, and that convinced me that you really did just want to help out the people who didn't want to see discussions about Trump or China or whatever in general. And that is completely understandable.
So now when I see one of those same staff members make a thread saying that not only are they closing currentevents down, but they are doing so with the excuse that this is a push towards inclusivity. That is so illogical that I don't even know where to begin. It has already been said a hundred times, so that's okay. But you need to understand that when you say this, it makes me think that you think that I, and everyone else who participated in that channel, is in any way against letting people be comfortable with themselves. You say you're concerned with making people feel comfortable in this community, but how do you think it feels when you're essentially labeling me and anyone else who participated in that channel as transphobes? Without any reasonable excuse. Heck, you even have a user who was previously banned for being toxic, straight up implying that I may be a transphobe in this very thread, and bringing me up by name. The example they cite is an inside joke this person does not understand, but even then they say that even if it is a joke, it 'isn't a matter to be joked about'.
Tim's ban was similar, you banned him for making a joke that you understood to mean something other than what he was actually saying. You misunderstood a joke and assumed he's a transphobe so out with him. These are the kinds of actions that makes me wonder if you really give a shit about making this place inclusive, because despite the fact that you claim that 'so many people' have complained about this for long time, other than banning Tim for a joke you misunderstood, you have done absolutely nothing to actually put an end to the shit that happens in that channel that ALL of us agree is not fit for it. I have even told you personally Aevin, that there are things that have happened in there recently that you should have done something about. And these things have NOTHING to do with serious conversations, we are talking about one person posting content that clearly is not in any way a serious conversation or an invitation to such. And I'm not saying I have a huge problem with this myself, but I do have a problem with the lack of moderation OF that, if THAT is what you're going to use as an excuse to be like 'see! Currentevents IS bad!'
And you already did that, you posted to this guy's spam in there, that came as a direct result of this thread, as 'evidence' as to why the channel is so bad. And you wonder why people are mad? Seriously?!
Yeah, this issue made me really angry. I do not know if I have ever felt about Pure like I do right now. I am still deeply hurt by the horrible implications of the OP and I think if you want to turn this ship around, it will require immense personal reflection on behalf of staff, along the lines of Anthus' fantastic post up there. You need to realize what a colossal mistake you just did, and you also need to take in over yourself just how much this has hurt and offended what I would otherwise argue are great contributors to this community.
It is shameful and disgusting, and I do hope you understand that I say this with the best of intentions. You are acting like dictators of a community that should belong to all of us. You should see yourself as custodians, because that's what you are. This isn't your forum, you have inhereted it. Realize that what you are in control over, is not just your property, it is the place where many of us got to know each other. It is not just a community in the sense that it is a forum on the internet, this place is filled with real people some of which have spent more than half their lives in this place, and many of us have grown up together. And you need to let us continue to have conversations like normal human beings, and shutting down currentevents is the opposite of that.
I simply cannot overstate how much and how deeply this hurt me, and I know I am not alone in that.
Edited by Migokalle, 13 March 2020 - 01:14 PM.