I'll be honest having my upvotes monitored by secret committee has always made me very uncomfortable and I do not like this as an approach to push the site into whatever the mods want to unilaterally create. I genuinely thought that ended after that giant purge in the first year I didn't know mods still did that.

This is not to say I'm against any of the reasons mods want to moderate upbears. I just don't like feeling like I'm under a microscope even if Ihave nothing to hide. I know it's not popular to say, but I know I'm not just talking for myself here.

Traffic has seemed way down since the comm struggle session and I worry mods underestimate the chilling effect that unapologetic, undemocratic, heavy-handed moderation has an an ultimately delicate community.

to our efforts to reduce racism and misogyny on the site

Of the hexbear users that were banned for an upvote on the reactionary comment, four had she/her pronouns, three had they/them pronouns, three had he/him pronouns, and two had any/no pronouns. Now before someone misinterprets my comment, I'm not saying that women and non-binary people cannot be sexist or racist, I'm just saying that our renewed efforts to combat this undesirable behaviour appear to be hurting those we aim to protect. Maybe we need to re-evaluate our strategies given this reality, and the events of the past week(s). Using the same methods we used in the past to combat undesirable behaviour (in regards to voting bans) are not working and just causing more tension between the userbase and moderators/administrators.

Every proposal will also be mirrored into a pinned post on the hexbear community. Any other ideas for helping to integrate the two spaces are welcome to be commented here or messaged to me directly.

Could a matrix room be embedded as a "live ticker" or "live chat" on that post?

Idk if this is the proper channel, but I posted a request for a “mark as read” option in Lemmy which you can upvote if you are someone who uses upvotes this way. (I think it’s odd but I get it)

If marginalized comrades continue to speak about aspects of this site that make them uncomfortable, then we have more brainworms to remove and work to be done. I don't expect that process to ever fully end, either, until Imperialism and Capitalism have been abolished worldwide and land-back, decolonialism, and national liberation have taken the forefront. That's all I really have to say about this subject, and all I will say.

to our efforts to reduce racism and misogyny on the site

I'll say it again and again. The Code of Conduct states:

We are committed to providing a friendly, safe and welcoming environment for all, regardless of gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, personal appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, age, religion, nationality, or other similar characteristic.

Do better. These struggle sessions, and the admin response, have weakened my confidence that you truly care to uphold this.

For instance, in this current struggle session, the admin team (Alaskaball's statement that carries a disclaimer that it is their view alone doesn't count) has failed to acknowledge how this action has made our users feel less safe. Many comrades called out how disabled/neurodivergent users can be disproportionately impacted and your response doesn't even come with an apology, let alone enough to reassure me that using the upbear button, perhaps in conjunction with a poorly phrased comment, isn't going to get me in this kind of situation — I have a hard enough time as it is ensuring that I've phrased comments acceptably and clearly (although feedback when I have erred in doing so is useful) or put posts in the right comm, etc.

For instance, Yukiko doesn't feel safe upvoting comments anymore, and the response to her comment about how the interaction between this and her ADHD makes her feel less safe is to remove it for being "hostile", instead of acknowledging the underlying concern. How is that commitment to welcoming regardless of disability?

P.S. If you feel like removing this comment, just permaban me. I would sorely miss the community, but in that case, I would know I'm not welcome.

I'd just like to say I love all my hexbears. I hate seeing what has been going on lately because this place is the only good thing on the internet. I hope we are able to emerge from these struggle sessions stronger and better but I'm having a hard time holding on to my bloomerism.

Fuck it close all the comms and embrace Megathreadism! Nothing bad ever happens in a Megathread. (this is a joke... mostly)

But we like the struggle sessions, they're a key element of hexbearism thought.

In addition, comments or posts removed for racist or misogyny will also be accompanied by escalating temporary bans. Upvotes will not be the single reason for a ban, however they may be used in conjunction with other posts/comments/upvotes. Consider this post the warning, however, mods are encouraged to reach out to hexbear users before a long duration ban.

Good. Me getting slapped for what I've said twice now was nonsense. My fighting for trans and minority folks should've clued you folks in to the fact that maybe, just maybe, I didn't read the whole fucking post. Hells, you, Carcosa, have had experience with my bitchiness in the past for me fighting for my trans comrades, so it was kinda bonkers to get banned for that reason.

Seriously glad you're attempting to shed these issues. Cause like, the site's slowly dying and accelerating it through nonsense actions is just going to kill it much quicker than its expiration date.

That being said, I'm not removing my uBlock rule for the fucking upbear button. I'm not chancing that shit again.

I'd also like to remind any mods that do not have element that the majority of the discussion that occurs on issues of the day occurs in Element. I know its a pain in the ass to fiddle around with the tech to get on there, but if I could somehow manage to do it I know you can too!

Whether you maintain a client on a phone app or in a desktop tab (the superior option because that's what I do lol), ensuring that you both stay up to date with what's going on behind the scenes and also lending your voice to the discussion is desired but still optional of course.

On the topic of Hexbear Proposals, I'd like to say that the goal of the project in my opinion is that it works similar to the little experiment I ran in the news mega in allowing users join the table of deliberations and discussion in collectively shaping the direction we'd like to see the site move towards. Keep in mind this is still very much a work in progress and not in any way shape or form a finished idea! So I'd like to ask anyone that decides to participate in the democratic posting trenches or simply sit on the sidelines and throw quippy one-liners to please grant us your patience and understanding as any unintended issues pop up.

That said I genuinely hope this helps us bring more stability to the site and helps us collectively move in a better direction.

Final note: just emphasizing the reminder to all you pretty little geometric ursines, please remember to be mindful of what you're posting! Make sure to add CWs and NSFWs to topics that need it! Remember to help remind each other if one of the posters forget to include a CW for anything, and if you'd rather not leave a reply doing so then please remember that the report button is there for your use to alert a mod that a poster is being forgetful. (Also please make sure to be descriptive when you write a report. Writing "sus" or leaving an emoji can leave us confused at times. So help us help you!)

I'm not reading all that. But cool thanks

Edit: I read all that and thank you. I think adding more dedicated mods from our trusted userbase will only increase the type of inclusivity we want and further the goals of hexbear.

first

I would like to look into becoming a moderator, do i send the application through element or here?