We have a case by case basis review on what is appropriate in the shoutbox. It was two seconds away from name calling (specifically moving into gamergate territory) and although it didn't get to name calling of people in the shoutbox in particular there were names ("fucking lena dunham" for example) that I felt was leading the SB down a road that it didn't need to go down.

The SB is not for serious debate, we have a forum for that. It's the first thing new users see on the site, and is meant as a place to participate in quick conversation.

I'm sorry if it made you uneasy but I'll be continuing to make choices like that when I see the shoutbox heading in a potentially problematic direction (which I admit I did not help in this case).

Because the topic at hand was also the problem, not just your (or anyones) views. I'm not going to silence people who have an opinion that is different than mine, but I also made the choice that this wasn't an appropriate conversation for the shoutbox at large.

Again: This is the first thing that people see when they join the site. The shoutbox is a default widget. People come in there looking for help in their first five minutes of being on the site and that is easily drowned out by people weighing the points of the draft and if feminism is actually a thing.

I (and the team) will continue to make these kinds of choices. In the future I'll post a link to the debate forum and say move the conversation there first - unfortunately we say "change the subject" a lot in there and people feel they need to get the last word before actually moving on.

I'd have banned the whole shoutbox.

[edit]

And, there wasn't rule breaking going on here. The shoutbox needed to have a few seconds (it was down for two minutes) to move on to a different conversation.

I was actually involved in the conversation on the side of feminism. I appreciate the feedback but the topic needed to be dropped. It actually start moving in another direction (the draft / war) when I closed it.

No. We want our users to reach out to their community at first, OTHER users, before thinking they need to resort to filing a ticket and asking staff for things that are very easily found elsewhere. This is why we have the forums AND the shoutbox available. Of course, the shoutbox is also going to be used for chat, just like the forums are, but the point is that it appears as a welcoming and friendly place for ALL users to chat, ask questions, and help each other. I end up watching the shoutbox for 8-9 hours per day, and the VAST majority of the time, that's what it is. There are still plenty of new users who pop in to ask questions amongst the regular chatters who spend lots of time there. Those times that it skews from that is when it usually needs a "time out" so people can redirect, change the subject, and move the more serious topics into the Debate forum.

I will make sure in the future I'm more clear when I'm closing the shoutbox, that this was not a discussion for the shoutbox. It was heated and getting more heated.

We're going to continue to make these kind of choices when the shoutbox is having a discussion that better belongs in the debate forum, and that has been a policy for a really long time. If every user in the shoutbox is participating, it's easier to shut down the shoutbox.

Please make sure your posts are focused on the topic, and are not attacking other users. Thank you!

This is the second staff reminder to please respond to the topic and not make any personal attacks.

Any continued off-topic posts will result in a 3-day forum ban.