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Staffing Confessions

aliasdismay
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he's suppose to be DEAD
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I have re-written this post, like, three times now because I'm trying to figure out how to phrase this in a way that makes sense and also doesn't let my intense saltiness about the matter soil the whole thing.

It's been coming to light recently that there've been incidents on my last couple of sites where discussions happening outside of the server (where I could not see it), but evidently close enough to it that it still managed to get back to the victims of such discussions... well, got back to the victims, which at best drove decent people out of what should've been a safe space for them, or at worst has killed their faith in RP communities to this day. And that bothers me. Immensely. The fact that it happened at all, of course, goes without saying; but the utter helplessness of knowing that maybe I could've done something if I'd known. I don't want this to ever happen again on another site. And I know there's no way to stop friends from venting small grievances in DMs - heck, a little vent can be helpful sometimes to get the frustration out so you can see things a little more objectively afterward - but I want some way to crack down on this 'witch hunting behind staff's back', or whatever you'd call it. It's not welcome in my spaces. Period. Out, out, out.



(i typed this all up before your second confession and ive put too many braincells into it to redo it)

i'm someone who is guilty of this behavior. there's no point trying to act like i'm not or like i haven't let it incite me into bullying people or treating them poorly. i've also been at the receiving end, in which i knew people, who i thought were friends, would spread gossip about me. which is why i think this is such an important post and honestly, probably deserves its own topic.

i think this behavior starts off harmless, or at least not with ill intentions. it starts as what is intended to be venting, but quickly turns into mockery and gossip at other members expense. even worse is when staff get in on it - the fact you're even aware of this being an issue is big, leap.

going back to it being venting, i read something recently that helped me distinguish between venting and, well, trashing someone. i copied it to save because knowing what is healthy venting and isn't is something i have a hard time with, and i don't know if others understand the difference either.

to quote, from reddit:

"being an asshole" is the idea that needs exploration. That's assigning blame. They = asshole. If someone else said you were being an asshole, you would feel attacked. Healthy venting should be more like: this person did this specific thing, and afterwards I felt a specific way.


venting can be healthy, and it shouldn't be expected for members to always be okay with each other or to just want to roll with every punch. sometimes, issues are frustrating, but not enough to bring to staff or the opposing party.

so having said that... i don't know how to stop - or rather, discourage - this problem from members, because it's not a clear cut thing and it's not like you can just say "please don't be mean behind people's backs" and expect them to listen. either people don't recognize the behavior, people don't care, or they think they're justified.

the best case 'fixes' i can think of are recognizing what members are most likely to be engaging in this behavior - but that's also not really a solution.

i'm sorry this isn't actually a helpful post offering suggestions but i'm glad to see this topic being addressed.

and please don't look at yourself as having failed your members or let people down. it's not your fault that members engage in this type of behavior. this isn't the best analogy, but it's about like blaming yourself as a teacher when a kid outside of class is getting beat up and you don't even realize it's happening because it's not even on campus.
last edit on Feb 3, 2021 2:35:59 GMT by fossa
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when you have that one odd person slide into the server, and you're trying to distinguish how to take them, because their sentence structure, syntax, borderline-creepy friendliness, and unnecessarily long description of their character concept seem like red flags, and they even have everyone else kind of quiet in the discord -- but, they haven't actually broken any rules or over-stepped any boundaries.

like do you wait and see what kind of app they post? or wait for them to actually cross a line? Is it okay to kick someone or ask them to leave your site if they give off a weird vibe? I don't want to be discrimatory. But, like you have a weird feeling about them, you know?


last edit on Feb 3, 2021 3:01:56 GMT by Deleted
frog on the floor
aliasfreiheit, microwaved burrito
pronounsany
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pharaoh leap
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i've been having some pretty dark thoughts.
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i'm sorry this isn't actually a helpful post offering suggestions but i'm glad to see this topic being addressed.

Quoting this bit to prevent a wall, but please don't apologize, this was very helpful! For one, in order to work to problem solve stuff like this, you need to establish how the problem itself works to best address it - and the quote about differentiating between healthy and unhealthy venting you brought up is invaluable. Thank you. <3

If there's enough interest in this topic, I can certainly move it to its own thread so we don't clog up the Staffing Confessions. I was just having a hard enough trying to wrangle my thoughts into coherent sentences that I didn't even think about starting a separate discussion, sdlkjfhdfjhs.

For now, my confessional toll fee: I like running sites, but I don't like maintaining sites. World building, even if it's stupid and quick, is a lot of fun, and the act of setting up a board is really relaxing to me. But HOT DARN if I don't get sick of face claims in, like, three days. HOT DARN. If I could find some way to automate all of the transactions and claims and whozimawhatzits, I'd be in heckin' business, boys.
Tidal Wave
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I've got a hurricane in my head, I can't feel a thing, but it's better than dead
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For now, my confessional toll fee: I like running sites, but I don't like maintaining sites. World building, even if it's stupid and quick, is a lot of fun, and the act of setting up a board is really relaxing to me. But HOT DARN if I don't get sick of face claims in, like, three days. HOT DARN. If I could find some way to automate all of the transactions and claims and whozimawhatzits, I'd be in heckin' business, boys.



That's what staff is for hahaha. I have a really hard time reading through bios and doing all the grunt work so to speak, so I often get one or two staff members to do that kinds of stuff for me. I don't really mind doing that kind of work for other people though. On sites I run, I do plot things, set up events, take care of most of the aesthetic kind of work. Other people take care of keeping all the directories updated and link backs and reviewing bios. Having staff really helps a lot, then I don't feel like I'm doing everything by myself.

phantom of the black parade
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what do you want to know? my height, hobbies, quirks, the color of my underwear?
pharaoh leap Avatar
For now, my confessional toll fee: I like running sites, but I don't like maintaining sites. World building, even if it's stupid and quick, is a lot of fun, and the act of setting up a board is really relaxing to me. But HOT DARN if I don't get sick of face claims in, like, three days. HOT DARN. If I could find some way to automate all of the transactions and claims and whozimawhatzits, I'd be in heckin' business, boys.


as i've gotten older and lost a lot of my energy, honestly, i've found that i basically like brainstorming world-building stuff + systems and doing the "debugging" for them, but i get really tired out when i'm having to do all the write-ups for that kind of stuff. and while i absolutely love doing a lot of the stupid little maintenance stuff like updating claims and handling shop transactions and giving out pixel awards, i honestly get so exhausted handling apps within a month or two (mostly because i end up so exhausted by the more tedious pending notices that it takes the mickey out of me) and in general dealing with drama.

tl;dr i'm a quality-assurance tester and a systems maintenance staffer at heart, but unfortunately for me, this is not the path that i have chosen to walk or the one that shiva has permitted me to in order to have nice things, so instead, i must suffer
last edit on Feb 3, 2021 17:38:28 GMT by Kuroya

Tidal Wave
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I've got a hurricane in my head, I can't feel a thing, but it's better than dead
My staffing confession of the day: You ever just want to gush about plot stuff and brainstorm it with your members to see what their reactions are? But then you realize if you do that, events you want to hold will like... not be mysterious. Like what if the hype gets totally lost because you say too much? I hate holding back information from my members, but at the same time, I want things to be a surprise. It's like Christmas time when you get too excited to give people presents and don't want to wait for the day they can open them.

pronounsShe/Her
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honestly when u end up working with other staff members that you just don't really like

feels too much like awkward co-workers like irl and that's just awful LMAO

like you just don't vibe with them as a whole and it just ends up sucking your muse for the site that you actually want to enjoy :(
aliasnightbloom, bloom
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peach
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so it goes.
I know people come and go in the RP scene but after being a staffer again after so many years, I am starting to get real sad when I realize people dip out of the Discord and don't say anything. ;w; Not taking it personally (since I've done it myself) but it just is a weird feeling when they were chatting just a few hours ago and now they're nowhere to be seen.

Ah, such is the life of a forum! ;o;
Rodent King
aliasditz
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where fears and lies melt away.
Lately I've had the urge to reopen my Pokemon site Anarchy Rising. Maybe I'm just feeling nostalgic for the good ole days. I dunno.

Still got the slightly worked on forum from 2018 when I was gonna do a v3. It's just gathering dust.
last edit on Feb 8, 2021 9:37:11 GMT by Mouse
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honestly when u end up working with other staff members that you just don't really like

feels too much like awkward co-workers like irl and that's just awful LMAO

like you just don't vibe with them as a whole and it just ends up sucking your muse for the site that you actually want to enjoy :(


Mad relate. There’s been times when I’ve had to walk away from a site because fellow staffers made me just depressed and anxious to deal with.
phantom of the black parade
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what do you want to know? my height, hobbies, quirks, the color of my underwear?
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I know people come and go in the RP scene but after being a staffer again after so many years, I am starting to get real sad when I realize people dip out of the Discord and don't say anything. ;w; Not taking it personally (since I've done it myself) but it just is a weird feeling when they were chatting just a few hours ago and now they're nowhere to be seen.

Ah, such is the life of a forum! ;o;


sometimes i almost wish i would have a reason why they left (from the perspective of "man if there's a common problem for why people are leaving, i wish i could know so i could try to fix it") but. then i contemplate the sheer amount of anxiety i would have in response to that and know that it's for the best that i don't.

now i just wish that when people dip out of the site, they would take the five minutes beforehand to tell someone they're leaving before they do. i'm not gonna be mad and i don't even need a reason for why. i just want the chance to be able to clear the claims out + reopen things up (like want ads) before the next activity check, y'know?
last edit on Feb 8, 2021 19:38:04 GMT by Kuroya

Tidal Wave
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I've got a hurricane in my head, I can't feel a thing, but it's better than dead
I also would wonder what is the reason that people leave or just lose interest. I can't blame them from doing so, but I think if there was an 'exit survey' option it would be so dang helpful.

The opposite is also true though, the why did you join and what made you stay is just as equally important. Getting members is hard Q.Q

Feline Overlord
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I have been try-harding my welcoming game. If someone joins, I want them to feel welcomed, so I work hard on that! Even if they don't stay, everyone deserves a nice, warm and happy welcome. ^-^