In reaction to this post some clarification on SocialHub’s …
Well-being process
Any flag by any single member will see the forum software automatically hide the post and notify forum staff about the flag. The forum software shows the msg “This post was flagged by the community and is temporarily hidden” to regular members in the meantime.
But just starting… there is no community consensus yet. But point is: any individual forum member has the right to flag, regardless of race.
The procedure that now follows is of forum staff to review both the post and the flag and make a decision whether the flag is justified, and what follow-up action needs to be taken. Both the poster and the flagger. Outcome is either the post is restored or deleted. And possible further action is taken:
- For new members and clear digression of rules → the moderator can handle and may even delete the member account (e.g. a spambot).
- For regular members and minor digressions → use forum moderation features, may invite poster and flagger into chat thread.
- For regular members and serious digression and/or conflicts → escalate and start a well-being procedure, hand over to well-being team.
The last bullet refers to the Well-being process. This forum has a Well-Being category that is managed by the @well-being team.
Their task is to handle the serious issues and conflicts, by starting a well-being discussion thread in the Well-Being category, and moving affected posts or threads to that category as well. This category is accessible from trust level 2 “Member” one reaches after being active on the forum for a while.
On the well-being thread everyone involved is encouraged to discuss and solve the conflict. Every other regular member of the forum may chime in. The well-being team ensures that the discussion is civil and polite.
Then, if the discussion cannot find a resolution, it is up to the well-being team to confer among themselves and make decisions on measures to be taken. The outcome is published on the well-being thread, where it can be scrutinized and challenged if the community as a whole deems that necessary.
Community health
I mentioned things like forum “moderators” and “well-being team” and it is only with a fine and diverse group of people in these positions that “community health” can be properly addressed. Without decent well-being & safety processes in place a forum cannot call itself a “community”, it’s Just-a-forum™.
This thread started with a call for people to step up and volunteer in various roles. We made these calls in the past to lackluster results. Anyone who values SocialHub and FEP Process should take into account that the value comes from active participation. Without that… uncertain futures.