I echo your sentiment.

Additionally, I feel like this is just going to fuel those off-site anonymous post groups that I'm not going to name or link to. Which is sad. Emboldens the actual problematic users and gives them an excuse to start fights elsewhere and the casual user suffers for it.

Plus, it makes us look bad to potential users who may have considered trying out Subeta but might not if they get the impression that Subetans are being driven off-site to express their opinions/feedback/etc. Or they'll just see the worst of the bunch going at each other anonymously, lmao.

Let the civil discourse stay, please. Because in my opinion, there are more serious problems to jump on instead of...whatever this was.

I understand why you closed it because you acted in case it were to be heated, but having a few different ideas in a thread isn't a bad thing?

Sorry.I think I mentioned the autopricer. Instead of closing a topic, say "Hey @ (user). Let's make a different thread to focus on that issue. Let's stay with the OP's theme!" or "I made a thread for that issue. Let's stay on track with the OP!"

I'm not upset. Just giving some feedback!

Oh man!! I know those sites you're talking about. Those were vicious. I wish that people could vent in a different way instead of attacking each other, but I know that will never happen.

I feel everyone was being civil in the last thread. We did get an apology from Galaxia and I accepted it :) They acted out of caution.

Subeta Savior?

Tumblr Savior isn't produced by tumblr but it has made being on tumblr 5000% more enjoyable.

Someone could code something similar for Subeta.

If you blacklist code words, it allows you to not see those posts unless you click on them.

Yeah that's exactly what I was thinking. Even if subeta doesn't do something official maybe a user could offer us something along those lines.

Even outside of that one specific thread (the block feature thread), I agree in general that many topics are locked way too fast and it has a sort of strange overtone to it? It's very "There is no war in Ba Sing Se" if ya'll get the reference.

Echoing everyone else and just here to show support.

I thought it was strange that thread got locked when everyone on it was being civil and on-topic. o_o?

I wrote and rewrote this comment multiple times due to not wanting my post to offend anyone and cause this thread to be locked. Just the fact that i had do so already shows that the way the site handles negative feedback needs to be worked on.

I am disappointed with the way the initial thread was handled. Despite (and perhaps especially) due to nothing terribly controversial being said. Everyone was having a civilised discussion in regards to the flaws in blocking system and what features could be made to improve it. Which i believe is perfectly within the scope of suggestions and feedback.

Preemptively locking the thread because it ‘may’ get derailed makes me feel like we are a group of rowdy schoolchildren who cannot be trusted to remain civil, instead of a group of adults discussing flaws in the system and how it has affected us. I understand that there have been threads in the past that were locked for similar reasons- deservedly so. But we cant simply lock any thread that has the potential to be controversial.

I truly understand that it is difficult to receive negative feedback. I am sure any of us who worked in customer facing roles before feel the same. Finding feedback difficult to accept is okay but locking threads because of it is not. Shutting down voices will simply stir up more negative feelings and lead to more incendiary comments. Nobody expects changes to happen overnight, we know staff are trying their best. Closing the thread just seems to put across the message that ‘we do not care about your feedback unless its the one we want to hear’ so is it any wonder that users are upset?

I am sorry if this sounds harsh, and I am grateful for the decision to reopen the original thread. And i do hope that every effort can be made going forward to facilitate discussion and encourage the sharing of opinions rather than closing threads outright.

On my end as well i do understand the exhaustion of only receiving negative feedback. I will try my best going forward to express my support and approval on things i feel that the staff/site do get right (and theres a lot) because i think it is important that you guys know the good feedback as well.

Echoing what said. That's not the way proactivity works and it was obvious in the way it backfired into more feelings of angst. Then again, people feel the need to walk on eggshells b/c if they speak in such a way that staff may deem it as "too harsh or negative", it may cause threads to be locked or get temp forum banned without warning.

I've seen an overwhelming response of gratitude towards whatever staff is left - moreso than in most customer service industries. The small amount of negativity comes from frustration at situations like this where the users are completely shut down without reason or getting no response at all, which I've seen in MANY threads.

When it comes to real money being involved, the level of frustration gets even higher when it feels like we're not being listened to or thrown to the wayside. Numerous users have expressed the desire to stop funneling money into the site b/c of these exact issues discussed in this thread and the other one, so the importance of certain parts of the site being fixed over others definitely needs to be discussed, as well as work around options until it can be completed.

Bottom line is, let people vent their frustrations. It wasn't devolving into chaos in any way. A lot of times, just being able to get it off your chest in a civil manner is enough to feel satiated, if not just temporarily.

I will never understand why staff is so opposed to people discussing a few things in one topic. That's a very normal way for humans to interact and discuss things. It's absolutely not normal for people to have completely sterile discussions strictly about one topic only and shut down the conversation if the topic evolves or changes.

There are many reasons the forums are so dead and lifeless. I feel like this is a big one. We're not even allowed to talk to one another like normal people. We have to walk on eggshells and be afraid of getting too "off topic", even when the topics are directly related. It's so exhausting.

put it perfectly. Preempting something that might not happen isn't the best. It's better to let the inevitability of something happening and stifling that, than stifling everything because of a potential inevitability. Every rule has its exception and trying to employ "an ounce of prevention vs a pound of cure" on a social media site just ends up stifling everything.

Having been a moderator for a large gaming discord, its best to watch stuff and only intervene when you are entirely sure that something that will go south, and have a warning/strike log that can be put on specific users, so that you don't shut down the entire conversation because one user doesn't take mod advice. That's not fair on the general populace just trying to get their point across. One bad apple, and all that.

Isn't there verbal warnings you can issue? And if that doesnt remove the problematic aspect, it can go into an official warning?

There is always going to be some sort of contention when it comes to feedback or even just peer to peer talking, as something that is acceptable to one person isn't for another. As a moderator I need to mentally detach myself from situations and watch from a completely neutral standpoint, as censoring and blocking just makes things look bad from the sites perspective.

Just remember you are the 'face' of subeta, and with that comes tremendous responsibility and all of your actions are seen and scrutinized. Although, its best not to jump the gun or else folk will not respect your actions, it's a difficult place to be.

yet despite all of this, I am nervous to voice this opinion, lest I step on anyones toes, or come across as rude or aggressive. I get nervous voicing anything on this site.

To respond to the wider issue of threads being locked - this is my main consideration whenever I think of making a new thread. Most times, I just don't.

I've been a user on Subeta for over 16.5 years; I won't say that I've maintained the same level of activeness as others, but I always find myself coming back depending on what's going on in my life and what I have time for. At my lowest-level of activity, I still checked the forums because I like seeing what folks are talking about.

That said, in recent years, users have been more well-behaved than I can ever remember. The forums used to be somewhat toxic places (and lbr "toxic" on Subeta is nothing compared to what Gaia forums were like, or social media wholesale). I feel like generally, users are more mature (maybe the average age has gone up) in their conversations on the forums. I don't really see users making totally unhinged or unreasonable complaints--in general, people are pretty good about explicating negative feedback or disagreements.

That wasn't what it was like in the past, when threads sometimes devolved into dogpiling and getting way off-topic. I feel like forum mods might have a "once bitten, twice shy" approach to threads at the slightest hint of disagreement/negative feedback, which doesn't seem necessary anymore? Like, issue verbal warnings/remove posts when appropriate, but locking threads that have just barely dipped their toes into "controversy" doesn't facilitate communication or community.

I'll emphasize that I'm only talking about the forums that I've got access to, and not necessarily forum group threads or Discord servers. I'm certain there's Drama™ happening elsewhere and offsite, but since this is about the locking of forum threads, that's what I'm addressing in my comment.

I was also thinking that maybe sometimes staff want people to remain as on-topic as possible for the ease of gathering and discussing feedback, which, while fair, could be better addressed if the forum search were working LOL

I think the age of the userbase has gone up....

I've seen posts/profile of people 30 years old or older here.

Agreed. I am a regular user of the site, I am 34 (mature enough to handle a discussion) and I still avoid interacting because of the issues listed in this thread.

Like, I've sat for 25 minutes with this comment typed. I just kept it in another tab without pressing "Post". A comment as innocuous as this one gives me anxiety on a site I love. It's a shame.

Edit: Is the blocking thread locked? It doesn't look locked. Maybe I'm missing something here!

it was, but then after this thread went it up it was unlocked.

Oh thank you for clarifying!