Bringing Harmony Back To Unity

Ok, it's pretty easy to notice some real disharmony boiling over at Unity lately, and it's been on the increase since the big update. Without going too deeply into explaining the reasons, I just want to admit that we do have a problem and it has to be fixed. This community is called "Unity" for a reason, and it was designed and launched in good faith and with a noble intent. BoonEx Members and BoonExers are devoting large chunks of their lives to Unity, and we have to make this experience pleasant, collaborative (in any way that job can be done).

So, after reviewing a few of the latest "rumbles" we came to the decision that it is time to give Unity a well-deserved injection of kindness...

Step by step by step

Step 1. Training.

I was talking to my gardener the other day about a plant that doesn't grow right. The green bugger wants to expand to the roof and I had 3 ways to address the problem: hedge, remove and train. Hedging is only temporary, may upset the plant and doesn't play nice with our travel schedule, removing is brutal and pointless, so we have to "train". This is exactly what Unity needs to embrace as the main moderation strategy. Yes, I can see that some admins/moderators sometimes tend to use their virtual scissors too early or without proper pre/post-treatment. I do see some posts and comments being hidden aggressively and this doesn't seem to solve anything. Members get confused or even annoyed, while we all want them to spend their precious time happily sharing ideas and tips.

I can also see some cases when certain troublemakers need a smack, too, and I understand the current mood of power-bearing members/BoonExers only too well. Still, Unity is not a boxing ring, and we're now going to opt for the policy of TRAINING this community to thrive in harmony. Instead of deleting controversial posts, we'll engage in conversation and persistently apply Unity Rules to each conversation. Conversations may end up being deleted, but only when participants get their answers. Bare-bone spam and middle-fingering will get booted instantly, but anything meaningful will have an ear.

This will take more time at the beginning, but should bring us nothing less than good karma in the long term.

Step 2. Intervention.

(Deeeeeeeeeep breath) For some time, I will shift myself from gardening (and some other small things) to Unity and will administer any final decision that is made.  In doing so, I will probably have to take on some unpleasant responsibility, but hopefully, we'll raise the spirit soon enough here and will allow Moderators and their tools to work more effectively. So, if something bad happens and you can't get me to fix this, chances are that we are not going to fix it!

Step 3. Change we can believe in.

If you care, then you have an opinion, or an idea, or a suggestion. So, I'm calling for suggestions that may improve Unity and BoonEx in any way. There's one note though - the broad and romantic, "create a super Manual and provide great support to everyone," kind-of-suggestions always go nowhere. If we want "change we can believe in" we need short, specific, easy-to-implement, bite-size changes. Please, take some time, think, do simple calculations, and share your ideas. We are ready to commit some time to fine-tune Unity and need your input.

Wrap up

After looking into the most recent "situations," I think that the actions of some members, moderators and admins are well justified. This doesn't necessarily mean that they couldn't have handled it in a better, more constructive manner. So, I will unhide some content and we'll work on it.

Recently appointed Agents are now being overloaded, naturally, and this takes it's emotional toll on everyone. Still, the idea seems to work, and with some improvement and "run-in" it will make us happy.

I'm sure you get a full plate of stress everyday in your life. Unity shouldn't turn into a home of whimpering and retaliation. We are Uniting People, building open-source software, creating communities, sharing and connecting.

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p.s.

Let's all save some time -

if you have something to say in comments - please, keep it short and to the point;

if your comment assumes/requires further discussion - please, post here;

if the words you have to say are too personal (here, I mean any person, not just you), please sent a short email;

p.p.s

I will spend more time reading PMs here at Unity and moderating content, but I urge you to load me in critical situations only - then things will improve. Otherwise - you waste your time and bury me in heaps of clutter. Also note that I have trained myself to read only the first 200 symbols of any message. Please put your main thrust up front to help speed things along.