What do you think about MLP Forums community?

[SCS 7,537]

Firstly, thank you for making this thread, and thank you to everyone who posted in it. It's always great to get feedback about the anything, especially the community.
 
I'll post my own thoughts at the end of this post, but first I want to address some people's comments and concerns.


 

On the flip side, I find it rather lacking in participation and content (compared to some other fan forums I'm apart of)

This is an interesting comment. Could you please give some specific examples of this?


 

For what we could do better... Like I said I think people get worked up over things too easily at times... Shipping, Alicorn OC's, & clo- *Banned by admin* & the like tend to be really hot button topics when there really is no need too.

 
I agree. There's no reason why these issues need to be prone to incite arguments. Clopping discussions would be a prime example of this: the only reason why clopping discussion is banned here is that history has demonstrated that, for whatever reason, time and time again people here end up turning clopping discussions into flame wars or porn threads. None of that has to happen, and it's unfortunate that it does. And, as unfortunate as it is, we have to take necessary action to preempt such things. 
 
I hope that there will come a day when clopping discussion can be allowed here, and people would discuss it respectfully.


 

However, those are things that come along with any kind of community, group, etc. It may not be pleasant, but it's just a part of the experience.

This is true. I agree that MLP Forums is wonderful, but there will be bad people here. I encourage people to focus on the good and deal constructively with the bad.


 

One thing that may be lacking is the whole allowing members to fight eachother

What do you mean? Discussion (including respectfully arguing for one's point) is allowed, and actual debating is allowed in the Debate Pit. That being said, as stated in the Global Rules any form of abusive behavior is not allowed anywhere on this site, regardless of the context.


 

I've been on a few different forums and it's the constant ridicule and gay comments because of me being a Brony. I don't even try to hide it. My profile picture is always Vinyl. Here there's clearly no such comments going around lol. Probably the friendliest people I've ever met on here and I've only been around a few days. Another more gaming focused forum I use I've been active for two years on and I still get assholes. This place us definitely a good break from the horseplot I get in high school

I'm really sorry that you've had to put up with so much abuse, but I'm glad that you've found friendliness and acceptance in the MLP Forums community.

If you are being bullied elsewhere, including at school or other IRL places, I recommend working with your parents or guardians, teachers, and any other trustworthy adult to get those situations resolved in a constructive manner.


 

I disagree, that never happens.

lol
 

 

The Staff

All of the points you addressed were incredibly helpful and insightful, but I wanted to make sure to thank you for your comment regarding the staff. It means a lot.
 

 

And I think if I posted goodnight statues and statues asking for hugs and stuff id be insulted like crazy many other places, but not here.

This is one of the many reasons why I love MLP Forums. That sort of friendliness would be met with insults for wholly stupid and flawed reasons in some other places on the internet.


 

But we can all do our part to better this place! I try my best to make this place as awesome as i can, because afterall we are the community, so how we are affects the community.

I agree completely, and I'm really glad that you have this perspective. It's easy to remove the concept of "community" from oneself, viewing it as some external entity, an abstract, amorphous blob of consciousness that you have no control over. This is not the case. After all, a whole is only the sum of its parts. Therefore, inherently, a whole is not a separate entity from any of its parts. It is its parts working in harmony. If any single part is absent or corrupted in some way, the whole will be altered.

This abstraction applies to the MLP Forums community. The MLP Forums community is every single one of its members. We all play an equally essential role in making it what it is. Therefore, it is each and every individual's responsibility to determine whether or not this is a good place.

One individual can and will make a difference. I encourage people to do what they can to make a positive difference.

As a footnote, I would argue that this same abstraction holds true for the entire world. The scale increases, but the underlying concept remains the same. The notion of the powerlessness of a single individual is an illusion, not an actuality.

 
 

SCS has said that the staff is discussing the issue and will come to a solution "sooner rather than later"

Progress has been made in regard to this endeavor so far, but as far as I am aware our movements have yet to be completely formalized or announced to the public.


 

I can understand the points about being on topic but are we not allowed to criticize hate groups because "we don't know the background of everyone here?" What?

As a formal moderation dispute would need to be carried out through the ticket system, I won't comprehensively address this matter but I will gladly comment on it.

From the perspective of a member (in other words, without reviewing any reports or moderation chat logs) I agree with the reason behind this topic lock. I believe the main reason behind why it was locked is that MLP Forums is not the place to organize hatred against anyone, even the Westboro Baptist Church folks. I know I certainly hate and disagree with what they do, but at the same time having topics that basically become zones for people to express their hatred for an individual or a group of individuals isn't conducive to a friendly and welcoming community for people with a wide range of beliefs from a wide range of backgrounds.


 

I don't understand what Simon was talking about when he said that the posts were "all over the place", pretty much everyone answered the OP's quesiton and I didn't see anyone post anything abuse or inappropriate which once again leaves me bewildered.

Same as I did with the above example, looking at this from the perspective of a member I, too, am confused by the lock reason. Now, I'm not necessarily saying Simon was wrong to lock it: I'd need to conduct a formal investigation including the reviewing of relevant reports to determine that.

But, at the very least, I would agree that a clearer and more substantial reason could have been given. As you said, this isn't to attack or disparage anyone, but simply to objectively comment on ways in which the staff (including myself) can improve.
 

---

 
 
Seeing so many people say that they love this community brings me a great deal of joy. Knowing that people have fun and make friends here is what makes being a staff member here truly worthwhile. I have truly loved this community for a long time, and I still do. Yet, I have had my moments of darkness.
 
One of the difficult aspects of being a moderator or an administrator is that I have to see some of the worst the community has to offer on a regular basis. For example, I check up on the report center pretty frequently, and more often than not there is some kind of negative situation being discussed in there. Sure, several things that are largely benign end up in there, but overall it is a collection of darkness and strife. 
 
Seeing this for months on end wears down on me mentally. There have been times when I've seriously considered just leaving the staff, or even the site as a whole. 
 
But I don't. There is an important fact to keep in mind here: what I and many other staff members see and deal with on a regular basis is in the minority. We see a lot of it because this is a massive site, and as a result the amount of negative behavior that does go on is enough to keep the report center busy almost all the time. Yet, these are only a handful of things or people out of thousands upon thousands of things and people on this website. The vast majority of interaction here is positive, and the vast majority of people here are good.
 
Being a mod or an admin can result in a clouding of that perspective. This is why I always make sure not to put all of my energy into staff work. I take plenty of time to just interact with the community, have fun, mess around in the forum lounge, post in discussion topics, comment on status updates, and so on. All of that reminds me of how awesome most people here are.
 
All of that being said, I know that this is a truly wonderful community. I love this community more now than I ever have. This i worlds better than most if not all other internet communities I have encountered thus far, and I intend to do what I can, both as a member and a staff member, to keep it that way.
 
Whether or not you're in the staff, I encourage you to not allow your perception of the bad here to overwhelm your perception of the good. Yes, there is bad here. But the good is far more plentiful and powerful than the bad will ever be. 
 
Also, it is essential for people to live the change they want to see. If you see something wrong in the MLP Forums community, or more generally, in the world, one of the first steps to correcting it is to start living what is right, true, and good.
 
MLP Forums is a wonderful community. I will always love you guys. We must all play equally essential roles in keeping it a wonderful place by choosing respect over vitriol, compassion over mockery, tolerance over hatred, and tranquility over fire.

[Zygen 6,066]

 

 

I agree completely, and I'm really glad that you have this perspective. It's easy to remove the concept of "community" from oneself, viewing it as some external entity, an abstract, amorphous blob of consciousness that you have no control over. This is not the case. After all, a whole is only the sum of its parts. Therefore, inherently, a whole is not a separate entity from any of its parts. It is its parts working in harmony. If any single part is absent or corrupted in some way, the whole will be altered. This abstraction applies to the MLP Forums community. The MLP Forums community is every single one of its members. We all play an equally essential role in making it what it is. Therefore, it is each and every individual's responsibility to determine whether or not this is a good place. One individual can and will make a difference. I encourage people to do what they can to make a positive difference. As a footnote, I would argue that this same abstraction holds true for the entire world. The scale increases, but the underlying concept remains the same. The notion of the powerlessness of a single individual is an illusion, not an actuality.

 

I'd just like to say I agree, and that you expanded very well upon what I was trying to say, but really couldn't express that well.

 

But you did so perfectly, so yeah, I agree, even if it is basically expanded thoughts on the same subject ;p.

 

 

 

Seeing so many people say that they love this community brings me a great deal of joy. Knowing that people have fun and make friends here is what makes being a staff member here truly worthwhile. I have truly loved this community for a long time, and I still do. Yet, I have had my moments of darkness.   One of the difficult aspects of being a moderator or an administrator is that I have to see some of the worst the community has to offer on a regular basis. For example, I check up on the report center pretty frequently, and more often than not there is some kind of negative situation being discussed in there. Sure, several things that are largely benign end up in there, but overall it is a collection of darkness and strife.    Seeing this for months on end wears down on me mentally. There have been times when I've seriously considered just leaving the staff, or even the site as a whole.    But I don't. There is an important fact to keep in mind here: what I and many other staff members see and deal with on a regular basis is in the minority. We see a lot of it because this is a massive site, and as a result the amount of negative behavior that does go on is enough to keep the report center busy almost all the time. Yet, these are only a handful of things or people out of thousands upon thousands of things and people on this website. The vast majority of interaction here is positive, and the vast majority of people here are good.   Being a mod or an admin can result in a clouding of that perspective. This is why I always make sure not to put all of my energy into staff work. I take plenty of time to just interact with the community, have fun, mess around in the forum lounge, post in discussion topics, comment on status updates, and so on. All of that reminds me of how awesome most people here are.

 

 

I am sure being a Moderator or Admin is no easy task, being around the negative and difficult aspects of the forums can surely make it very hard to be positive about the community i'm sure. Honestly it's probably part of the reason why I don't know if i'd make it out as a mod or anything, simply because I don't know how long I could deal with that.

 

But you and the other staff have done an excellent job I must say, and I am very appreciative that you put your time and effort into the forums, to allow this place to be a positive and overall very well maintained environment that it is. 

 

I think it is easy to forget how much work really goes into this forums behind the scenes, and how much stress it can be, I don't blame you for wanting to give up at times, I can only imagine.

 

But I am again glad that you haven't that you strive through it, and continue to do awesome things for the forums! This place wouldn't be what it is without y'all. That goes for you, and every other staff member here.

 

Anyways, basically I just wanted to say thanks for the work you've done, I've known it was hard work, but your post just kinda sprung the reality of it to mind, and made me feel obligated to say something.

 

So thanks! To you, and all the past, and present staff(And future ;p.)

[LZRD WZRD 1,929]

This is an interesting comment. Could you please give some specific examples of this?

 

Well one forum I'm on is Kanyetothe. As I'm posting this 9,000 users are online and it's usually higher. This site comes nowhere close to that. Also, compare their thread for Kanye West's next solo album to the one for MLP's next season: almost 4,000 pages vs 13 on here, and we have significantly more content to talk about!

 

If you take those 9,000 users on now compared to the 350 users on here right now, you get .4 posts per user there vs .03 posts per user here. So participation in KTT's major thread is significantly more.

 

I think a few things explain this: one, KTT has no post minimum, so posts can be as simple as gifs or smileys. Another is that community appears to be on average much older than this one. So more maturity plus more experience probably equals more posts. But I'm no expert, that's just my guess.

 

But it is a little surprising that the communities differ in number so much. I'm pretty sure the brony community is larger than Kanye West's fanbase (although KTT, being such a big site, does attract regular hip-hop and music fans), but yet their community outnumbers ours (based on people online at the moment) 26 to 1.

 

Anyway, that's what I meant by this being a smaller and less active community.

Edited August 25, 2014 by LZRD WZRD

[碇 シンジン 27,431]

 

 

Anyway, that's what I meant by this being a smaller and less active community.

 

 

I rather have smaller and maybe less active community that cares about me than huge community where no one cares about individuals. I checked that forum you mentioned and looked one of the threads there and first page didn't consist any real opinions about the thread just smileys and "lol" comments. That is why I'm really happy with this forums character limits on posts I mean this is forum not some kind of chat.

 

 

 

MLP Forums is a wonderful community.

 

 

And you MLP Forums staff, you do truly wonderful job and I feel you should get more credit than you are getting right now, because you do your job with passion and dealing with hate and that kind of stuff every day that is hard. That can depress people, but you guys fight through that and keep these forums safe for others to enjoy. I just want to say Thank you.

[Jeric 46,854]

Being a mod or an admin can result in a clouding of that perspective. This is why I always make sure not to put all of my energy into staff work. I take plenty of time to just interact with the community, have fun, mess around in the forum lounge, post in discussion topics, comment on status updates, and so on. All of that reminds me of how awesome most people here are.

 

 

I considered briefly just sending you a PM, but I though that it was important enough for me to highlight this for everyone else who stumbles on to this topic. This is what I am talking about when I say that the Staff cares. I can't recall anyone in a high traffic forum taking a moment to make an Ask Octopony thread. That's far from the only example, and this isn't exclusive to you. Each one of you has demonstrated their you brand of dedication to the forum as a whole.

 

This is not normal on large boards like this. Please all of you ... never be normal, k?

 

 

Also, it is essential for people to live the change they want to see. If you see something wrong in the MLP Forums community, or more generally, in the world, one of the first steps to correcting it is to start living what is right, true, and good. MLP Forums is a wonderful community. I will always love you guys. We must all play equally essential roles in keeping it a wonderful place by choosing respect over vitriol, compassion over mockery, tolerance over hatred, and tranquility over fire.

 

 

SCS ... I know science may be your calling, but please consider this as a possible option later down the line.

 

 

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One thing that I didn't bring up, if we as members want the forum to grow in quality ... keep befriending new users. Encourage their opinions even if you disagree. Applaud new user contribution. Member retention is actually one of the most important metrics and a key indicator for a successful and thriving community. The staff can only do so much. When I saw some newer members posting in here saying that the community felt so welcoming, I must have had a mile wide smile.

[LZRD WZRD 1,929]

 

 

I rather have smaller and maybe less active community that cares about me than huge community where no one cares about individuals. I checked that forum you mentioned and looked one of the threads there and first page didn't consist any real opinions about the thread just smileys and "lol" comments. That is why I'm really happy with this forums character limits on posts I mean this is forum not some kind of chat.

 

You actually get to know everyone pretty well and I myself am one of the most recognized posters there now. But yes, it is far less formal, but I think that can sometimes be more fun and entertaining than just serious posts and threads all the time. I routinely get a good laugh out of the things I see there.

 

But I definitely prefer the people and opinions here as opposed to there. I swear, if I see another Kanye West is the greatest artist in history thread I'm gonna bang my head against a wall lol

[Darker 1,351]

This is a pretty good community, so far I've found pretty good friends to talk to. Something I didn't expect when I came here.

[Moved to Elsewhere 11,331]

The best community ever. Like how everyone's nice to each other.

[Starlight Fan 538]

I've been here for a day or so and I think that I've been accepted into the community and that it's very easy to make friends here. I feel very comfortable in this environment and I'm happy with the community as the whole!