Community Guidelines

[Jeric 46,851]

Since we opened shop here back in October on 2011, MLPF had a general mission of connecting fans to discuss ponies in a less caustic and more friendly environment. Like most communities that last any reasonable amount of time, MLPF evolved. As the months became years we never lost sight of our mission, however, we did find ourselves falling into a trap. As unique situations with the community presented themselves to staff, we would address the problem and more often than not, create a new line in our FAQ or community guidelines to address that unique problem going forward. The intent what to have something in writing to point our users to so that rules can be clarified and understood. There is an inherent flaw in this honest endeavor though. For one it makes the rule book more expansive and so massive that it is no longer serves a practical purpose. A simple one page common sense document has a tendency to grow into a wall of text in which the casual user cannot be reasonably expected to read them all. 

Also equally important is the fragmentation of the rules. You have the community guidelines, dozens of FAQ entries, and rules for specific forums. Heck we even have thread specific rules. While some specific rules for areas like Debate Symposium and Octavia's Hall are important, there is an opportunity to streamline how they are communicated. Another unfortunate effect of the dense overly-wordy rule book is that it creates this illusion that Administration is bound by the text of the guidelines. Smug statements of, "this or that isn't listed in the rules therefore I did not break the rules", become more and more common. Let us clear that misconception up so we don't have that muddy the water. Administration are stewards of the community. We look at the big picture. Our general rule -- the most important one -- is that we should encourage behavior that supports the mission of a friendly and enjoyable community, while discouraging behavior that detracts from that enjoyment. This is why Administration will act on topics and posts that might not violate a rule, but are obviously annoying for the rest of the community. In short, staff are masters of the rules, and not the other way around. 

Then there is the worst element of a rule book that is overly long. It can stop common sense fun around the site even when the initial intent is benign. A few off-the-cuff comments become removed because they went off-topic slightly, even though there was no harm in one or two asides. A member who wants to launch a Pokemon tournament is shut down because it feels like it is "Official". Here is the thing about those moments, we as staff want those posts to stay. We want those unique fun elements to thrive. We fell in to our own trap though, and some enjoyment was left on the table. Ou crazy compendium of rules, built over years of ad-hoc management of this site, has become limiting. So what are we to do?

 

Spoiler

 

Joking aside, in the coming week we will be posting revised, and shortened, Community Guidelines. One that is focused on a few simple principles: Don't be an asshole, don't be annoying with your posting habits, and it is okay to have a little lighthearted fun. The FAQ's will be focused more on how to use the site and on section-specific rules and exceptions rather that a tome on how to not be an jerk to other users. Are any rules changing or going away? Some are, but not in order to give free license to those who are petulant, boorish, and obstreperous. We are basically removing the rules we tend to ignore, or are rarely issues anyway, but reserving the right to address them as needed should they become annoyances to the community. We also don't need twenty paragraphs to say, "Stop being a dick or a bother to others or you are going to be contacted by staff". Some changes will actually be a loosening of some policies that were implemented just to address one user long ago in the site's past.  

Stay tuned MLPF users.