Elephant in the Mud

Well the Elephant got bogged down in committee. Although officially the vote on CommComm was 4 to 3 in favor of it, I decided that with such support, it probably couldn't go to the AMC. The "no" votes were based on criticism of a section implying that the CO could overturn an RVC's moderation decision or based on a vague "it's not ready yet." Despite my repeated requests, there were no concrete wording suggestions offered.

After talking to some AMC ExComm members, I went ahead and presented it to the AMC as a whole as a potential motion to gauge support and get input. After some discussion, I presented an amended section covering rescission of administrator decisions.

I do not like my amended section, but better to compromise on this point in order to get the overall policy update through. I still think it's going to bite the AMC in the ass at some point.

Here are some illustrative scenarios (note- Ralph and Dave are based on actual former RVCs I’ve served with):

Scenario 1
Gilda is a cantankerous member of Region 11, and has a history of being a bit of a troll online, though usually clever enough to stay one millimeter back from crossing the line. Ralph is the RVC for Region 11. He was elected on a platform of “All AMC members are power-hungry idiots who want to squash free speech.” Ralph is close friends with Gilda.

In the Region 11 community, Gilda gets into a conflict with Rosa. At one point, Gilda posts “Oh come on, @Rosa, everyone should know the REAL reason you are such a fan of tacos at events. You’d better lick those juices carefully--one of these times, you may find yourself choking on a razor blade.”

Other members complain to Ralph that Gilda’s post was outing Rosa as a lesbian and making a veiled threat. Ralph decides to let it stay, either because he’s oblivious, because he’s buddies with Gilda, because of that awkward result when he tried to “flirt” with Rosa back in an Asilomar hot tub, or because of his strong belief in being completely hands-off as an administrator.

In this instance, when members shift the complaints upwards to the Comm Officer, it is entirely possible that the CO, after talking to plenty of people, will determine that the Minimum Standards were violated (Gilda revealed confidential personal information about Rosa’s sexual orientation and made an implied threat of violence). The CO goes back to Ralph, who refuses to take the post down or sanction Gilda in any way.

In this scenario, the CO should rescind Ralph’s decision to let Gilda’s taunt to Rosa stand and take action—Gilda’s actions were against the governing documents of AML.


Scenario 2
Gilda and Rosa get into an online tussle. Rosa posts something about Gilda being a member of MidState Mensa, which is widely known as a hotbed of anti-microchip fanatics. Gilda complains that Rosa violated the Minimum Standards by outing her as a member of that particular Local Group. Ralph takes the post down and suspends Rosa from posting for a month because she posted confidential information.

Rosa complains to the CO, who looks into it and determines that which LG a member belongs to is NOT confidential information and Ralph’s decision, based on Rosa violating the Minimum Standards, was incorrect. The CO contacts Ralph, who simply responds with “butt out.” In this scenario, depending on many factors, the CO should consider rescinding Ralph’s decision and reinstate Rosa.

Scenario 3
Region 12’s RVC, Dave, is a nice guy but very quiet. So quiet, in fact, that he doesn’t participate in AMC discussions, has excuses for not attending AMC meetings, never visits his Groups, and hasn’t sent his editors an RVC column all year. Basically, he’s gone AWOL. He never appointed an assistant or moderators for his Mensa Connect community. The whole situation is weird and the AMC has started to look into maybe replacing him, but that process is long and arduous.

In the Region 12 Mensa Connect community, a couple members dust it up pretty obnoxiously. Members complain, but the RVC doesn’t answer, so the concerns get kicked up to the CO. In this scenario, the CO should probably rescind Dave’s “decision” to ignore his responsibility to tend to his community.

If I were Communications Officer…

(I'm not.)

Major areas needing attention:

• Facebook presence and functioning of that community so that it benefits Mensa as a whole. This includes finding a solution to the bullying without squashing the free spirit of the members who participate.

• Updating and enhancing communication methods between Local Groups and their members.

• Managing the vast amounts of information in a way that members can access it easily and effectively.

I know that data does not always support assumptions, as in the case of “large groups need less money because they spend less on newsletters due to economy of scale.” I want real objective facts and data first; those should determine the options and most effective choices.

Unlike many, I do not assume that my intuition and observations regarding these issues is the one and only correct view. I won’t even assume that the two or three solutions floating around are the best ones. I would start at the very beginning--by working with a committee to determine what exactly we need to know in in order to make the best policy decisions. And I’d want to use the PDQ to find at least one member with a background in marketing research survey construction, so we don’t just ask questions that lead respondents to answers we want.

For example, I want to know who uses the Facebook group and AML forums. What kinds of members are they? Why do they participate in that way, and what needs do those online venues meet that SIGs and in-person get-togethers do not meet? What kinds of members do NOT use those venues, and why? And by “kind” of member, I don't mean just age; I want to know about the sets of personality types and information-consumption habits of those who gravitate to or away from online communities.

I would arrange to interview (not just survey) members representing all ages about how they really get and manage information regarding Mensa participation options.

I want to know what actually motivates and enables volunteers at the LG level to create and maintain communication vehicles. Clearly it wasn’t the annual awards and based on research I did many years ago, it wasn't funding.

I want to know what sorts of members use what sorts of nationally-generated data/guides/archives/materials. Why do they use them? How do they most comfortably gather and consume what they need and want?

Old Forums Moderation Process

This is a blast from the past— the organization and moderation processes for the AML Online Community circa 2007.

ORGANIZATION

Administration of American Mensa’s Forums is organized in a tiered structure as follows:

·      The Communications Officer and the staff Internet Services Manager are responsible for ensuring that the Forums fulfill the purposes stated above.

·      The Communications Committee is responsible for developing and reviewing the guidelines and policies for AML’s Internet Services.

·      The Communications subcommittee on community issues (Com³) acts as the evaluative body for issues arising on AML’s Forums. Appointed by the Communications Officer, Com³ is responsible for maintaining the sense of camaraderie, moderating or facilitating other appointed moderators, and advising the Communications Officer and the Internet Services Manager. Com³ will review complaints and may recommend corrective action for violations of the Forum Guidelines.

·      Moderators are appointed by the Communications Officer. They are responsible for the overall flow of discussion on the Forums, for resolving minor disputes, and for ensuring a congenial atmosphere. They may move, rename, edit or delete messages to keep message threads and subjects consistent and to keep topics within the scope of this service. They may declare off-topic discussion threads to be locked and warn subscribers regarding inappropriate rhetoric.

MODERATION

Mensans have many strongly held opinions, and there will be disagreements from time to time on the Forums, some of which may get quite heated. It is important that all participants remember that this is not a war zone and disagreements are not battles to be won.  If you are experiencing a difficult interaction with another member and are unable to resolve the issue yourself, please notify the moderator(s).

If a member violates the intent of this service, these guidelines, or the American Mensa’s Minimum Standards for Internet Services, he or she will be subject to any or all of the following actions:

Informal Intervention

A moderator may participate in the discussion thread, asking participants to tone down and self-edit their posts.

Take it to Private Messages

A moderator may request that participants move the conversation to private messages.

Ignore User

Members are under no obligation to read posts they consider negative or abusive. Additionally, members don't have to like everyone or agree with anyone. Members do have to get along at least within the extent of the Forum Guidelines. Sometimes this may entail ignoring and distancing oneself from other participants or discussions. A moderator may request that participants disengage from unpleasant and hostile situations by simply ignoring each other. Like shunning in medieval times, “ignoring” can be a powerful social tool.

Moderator Intervention

A moderator may warn one or more participants that certain posts are not acceptable. The moderator will note the offensive behavior, and after receiving such a warning, participants should conduct themselves more appropriately. A moderator may also edit or delete posts or “lock” topics.

Interim Suspension

If a poster’s online behavior is alarmingly out of line, the Communications Officer or Internet Services Manager will suspend that member from the Forums until Com³ has a chance to review the situation and determine the wisest long-term course of action.

Formal Warning

If a participant continues to violate the Forum Guidelines, despite moderator intervention, a formal warning will be given. Following a formal warning, participants will be monitored for compliance with Forum Guidelines.

30-day Suspension

If a participant continues to disrupt the social atmosphere of the Forums, Com³ will review the situation and may suspend Forum access for 30 days. A formal written letter explaining the specific rationale for the suspension will be sent.

90-day Suspension

If, after a 30-day suspension, a participant resumes inappropriate posting, Com³ will review the situation and may decide to suspend Forum access for 90 days. A formal written letter explaining the specific rationale for the suspension will be sent.

Longterm Suspension

If, after a 90-day suspension, a participant resumes previously identified inappropriate activity, Com³ will review the situation and may decide to suspend Forum access indefinitely. A formal written letter explaining the specific rationale for the suspension will be sent.

Other actions deemed appropriate

While these actions cover most instances of intervention, it may not cover all situations. Consequently, other actions may be taken to ensure these Forums are not disrupted or abused.

Any decision to suspend a member from the AML Forums will be reviewed by the Communications Officer, Internet Services Manager, and Com³ before implementation. If suspension for 30 or more days is recommended, the participant(s) will be requested to share their views and explanations.

APPEAL

Members may appeal to the AMC Communications Officer concerns regarding moderator interventions. The Communications Officer will consult with the moderator(s) involved, the Internet Services Manager, Com³, the Communications Committee, and/or the AMC Chairman in review of any appeal.

Thoughts on FaceBook Meltdown 2014

Every Mensa group, be it geographical, Special interest, or online, has it share of Revolting Ralphs who grope boobs, stick their fingers in the chip dip, and troll for infamy. We pride ourselves on tolerating and welcoming and accommodating everyone, including the Revolting ones. That's fine for people like me, who have been around enough to know for sure that there are more well-socialized members than Revolting ones. Knowing that enables me to shrug off the dickheads and move on to enjoy cold beer with people I like.

BUT... new members do not have my experience. They run into revolting Ralph too soon and they are quick to turn away. The result, over time, is more gray haired folks, fewer energetic new ones, and general stagnation. 

I think the uber Mensa leaders need to decide if Mensa in general is a club for people who cannot and will not fit in anywhere else... or if it is something a little more inviting than an insane asylum. 

And if the latter, then we need to find our collective balls and turn away the Revolting ones, regardless of their poo-flinging and howling, and concentrate on being kind and welcoming to the members who ARE the sort of people we joined in order to find.

I am Now Just a Forum Civilian

Letting go of the Communications Officer role means I no longer see all the "Moderator-Only" threads. It feels really strange, after 5 and a half years to be a civilian on the forums.

Social Media vs Online Communities

I've said for quite some time that each electronic communication and connection medium should be used differently. Here is a nice article about some differences.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Personal Forum Milestone

My 1,000th post.

Why I Blog

Recently, Lee Berkovits,
Candidate for Chairman of American Mensa, wrote about me:

“…frankly, why she 
blogs about what happens in Mensa - instead of posting it to the forums or 
discussion groups - is beyond me. Do we really need MORE avenues of 
communication, when so many good ones are available already?”

Wow. A Communications Officer daring to use additional venues for communication?! Outrageous!

Why do I blog? Several reasons:

• Sometimes I write looooong essays— too long for the AML forums, and certainly too long for micro blogging venues, like Twitter.

• Millions of people blog or have personal Web sites for sharing their views with whomever wishes to read them. In Mensa, for example, I know that Dick Amyx ,Sander Rubin, John Recht, Dan Tobias, and Jared Levine all have had Web presences, some for many years. Heck, even Lee himself has a Web site now, so apparently the forums and discussion groups are not meeting all of his communication needs.

• If I were to use the official forums for my essays, I’d be accused of taking advantage of a medium I oversee in order to further my own slanted views, especially in light of no other AMC members doing so.

• My blog site costs Mensa nothing. I suspect that if I used up so much space on the AML forums, I’d be taken to task for spending members’ money for my own advancement.

• There are no appropriate official elists for generic discussion of Mensa issues.

• Using official venues limits what I can write. Like any other Mensan, sometimes I prefer to express myself without worrying about political correctness and oversight.

• There are times when I wish to express myself as just Robin, regular member, and not as “Robin Crawford, Communications Officer” writing ex cathedra. That is harder to do on official forums.

• If I were to use unofficial discussion groups, such as the Yahoo groups Lee is fond of, I would be limiting my audience to only subscribers of those lists, and there are many involved members who do not care for the climate of those groups and would never read what I write.

• Long emails are not generally read thoroughly.

• Email is too ephemeral for some of what I care to write. A blog has a bit more of a static publication feel to it, and new visitors can easily find and read old posts.

I have been sharing information and opinions for years. Quarterly reports, year-end articles in the Bulletin, participation on various official and unofficial elists and discussion groups, Twitter, Facebook, forums, and here. Not every member sees everything, but limiting myself to only one or two of those media would decrease, not increase the flow of information. When I have something significant to share, I do cross-post it, or at least a link—in many venues.

 It comes down to this—there are many ways to communication, and each has different advantages and disadvantages. A good communicator knows how and when to use them all. Yes, Lee, Mensa needs more communication.

Moderating Comments and Posts

Leah recently shared a link with me regarding managing comments on blogs. What lept out at me was this section of the post, which, although written specifically about blog comments, so clearly explains why the AML Forums are moderated:

     ... In regards to tone/style, a comment that is hateful, condescending, or insulting in tone is rather problematic. In regards to content, hateful, obscene, racist, sexist or other such material would also potentially be problematic…
     First, they can easily drive away other readers who are not interested in reading such things. To use an analogy, allowing such comments to remain is like allowing rowdy, violent and hateful customers to remain in a typical store. Even if they are customers, they will tend to drive away well behaved customers who just want to shop. Likewise, allowing such comments can drive away those who are interested in the blog’s topics but not in being insulted or treated with contempt. The basic idea is that any value added by such comments will be outweighed by the value lost when others are driven away.
     Second, such comments can be damaging to a blog’s reputation and the experience it offers. To use an analogy, a business that wishes to appear professional works hard to maintain that appearance (and reality). Allowing such comments on a site is a bit like allowing people to urinate on the business floor, harass other customers, and so forth. As such, it seems sensible to delete such comments. This is because any value gained from such comments will be outweighed by the damage done to the blog.

Sustaining an Online Community

Thanks, Leah, for this interesting article about sustaining online communities: How to Manage a Sustainable Online Community . Food for thought, certainly, and makes me feel better about not feeling too worried when grumblers complain that we only seem to have ~100 active posters. Triva note: the author is the founder of the company that makes the software AML is using for its online Community.

It’s NOT about the Children, Dammit!

I get so tired of members ranting about the auto filters used in the AML forums.

They claim that the filters are in place because we stick-in-the-mud, risk-adverse, control-freaks want to protect the underage members from seeing certain naughty words… who are we to dictate what words kids can see… kids these days already know and use those words anyway… it’s the parents’ responsibilities, not Mensa’s… Robin is foisting her personal conservative sensibilities on members and treating adults like children and wah wah wah…..

Sigh.

It’s not about protecting children or old ladies with smelling salts. I am a parent of kids who do read the forums, and I very strongly believe that it is up to me, not Mensa, to judge what they should read and not read.

It’s about creating a community from which new members will not recoil in surprise when they discover that the intellectual society they joined is no different than a junior high school bus. The words in the auto-filter were chosen because they are words or phrases that shut down discourse, stifle safe expression of opposing views, and generally turn any conversation to a broiling emotional mudpit.

The list comprises: assfucker, asshole, cunt,  fucker, and twat.

There are a few other terms and phrases that have been used in demeaning and offensive ways, and we decided that such insults are not conducive to improving the Mensa experience for anyone. These are:

“Howard” (with quotes-- as if he is not a real person)

hired help 

Mensa Masters

That’s it. Note that the list doesn’t include fuck. Or shit. Or even motherfucker. Dick, pussy, bitch, and poopyhead are all unfiltered.

We do ask that posts outside of Firehouse be kept moderately PG in language choices, but I’ve also instructed the moderators not to get their panties in a bunch if someone slips an “I had a shitty day” into a paragraph. 

As for my kids, our policy is that when they encounter a word they don’t know, I will explain it to them. “Jizz” was an interesting topic of conversation I had with my daughter not too long ago.

Now you know. And if you cannot manage to express your thoughts and views to other Mensans without those eight terms, well…

Recent Forum Dust-up

Summing up from my side:

The Islanders publicly declared that they were coming over to the AML Community and going to raise a ruckus and see how long it takes to get the mods’ panties in a bunch.

Then they disrupted the Forum Addiction thread by dozens of pages. The mods decided to keep an eye, but as long as they didn’t cross the TOS line, to do nothing. Sara, Robert, and Judy were snotty, as usual, and James fell for the baiting, as usual.

Then they howled and demanded that the mods should move the tangent and put it in FH. The mods dug their heels in, saying that they shouldn’t kowtow to the schoolyard bullies who are intentionally causing trouble just for their own jollies, as they had earlier declared was their intention.

A power struggle ensued, with both sides being stubborn and unwilling to compromise—over something really really stupid—a bunch of pithy, off-topic posts in the FA thread.

At first I said, oh fuck it, move the thread for the babies. But then Terri, a very sane and wise person, pointed out that the FA thread had veered off topic many times before, and if we’re now going to clean it up, we could clean it all up, or else we really are just being puppets dancing to the brats’ taunts and jeers.

I tried to find a middle ground—starting a new thread for the wild conversation to continue in FH and not forcing the mods to do the tedious editing of 20 some odd pages. My goal was to not back the mods and slap the Islanders, and to not undermine the mods by overriding what they want in order to please the Islanders—who started the trouble in the first place. Everyone gets some of what they want, and everyone gets to save some face.

Within 4 minutes of this compromise, Sara pissed in the soup. She claims she was just trying to help, but oh puhlease…. When someone declares war, initiates a battle, and shoots at every opportunity, why on earth would her offer of “help” be seen as a genuine attempt at kindness? Did she really think I was going to take the time to train her as a mod on how to work the technology for doing the surgery—to clean up the mess she and her gang of bullies created?

Mensans hate the notion of anyone, anywhere making rules and having authority. Well, suck it up, people, you can’t have anarchy with 54,000 geniuses.  Too many Mensans are just plain nasty. I take the brunt of the hatred because I have the title. I keep my eye on the big picture, which is doing what is necessary to make the overall community comply with the standards and vision set by the Communications Committee and the AMC. And they don’t want Mensa to pay for a community overrun by a small group of bitches and bullies.

As for my treatment on the Island—ugh. So much for being welcomed. I certainly got to see their true colors, that’s for sure. They may think of themselves as a " fun and playful lot with a full load of brains and reasoning power," but what I see are  horrid, mean, vindictive, perseverating, self-important, highschoolers! Not the sort of people I want in my life, thank you very much.

Chat Room Issues

Why is it so difficult for people to look at the gestalt atmosphere of a community and see the general bitchiness? And how do I define and implement rules to fix it?

The Great Forum Storm of '09

I finished my giant set of replies regarding the Online Community storms. I won't paste all seven pages of text here, so if you'd like to learn more, I suggest you go to:

http://www.community.us.mensa.org/forums/t/15521.aspx

Forums Terms of Service

The moderators are working to rein in the toxic members and get the overall spirit of camaraderie back in the AML Online Community. So obviously, we're had lots of discussion about the TOS and how to interpret and apply it.

In a perfect world, it would be short and sweet and clear:

Don't be a dick.

I wonder what would happen if I really wrote that into the formal TOS document?

Just something to notice

There are 38 members currently (well, as of my posting this) logged into the AML Online Community. When was the last time your local group had that many members gather for a weekday lunch?

food for thought....

Online Civility

One of the issues that members bring to me more and more frequently is concern about online incivility. While there are enforceable terms of service on the AML-hosted elists and forums, the Internet communities run by Local Groups, SIGs, and individual members are not subject to the same oversight.

Any services hosted on AML-owned servers must adhere to the five Minimum Standards for AML Internet Communication Services:

1) Internet Communication Services must comply with all relevant federal laws, plus applicable local and state laws, including regulations regarding copyrights, obscenity, marketing scams, etc.

2) Users may not improperly post or distribute any confidential information or information that would infringe upon the proprietary, privacy, or personal rights of others.

3) Use of the Mensa name and logo must adhere to the current standard for Name and Logo Use.

4) The following disclaimer must be prominent for members agreeing to use these Internet Communication Services. In the case of elists or newsgroups, this disclaimer should be posted at least quarterly:

American Mensa, Ltd. accepts no responsibility for the opinions and information posted via its Internet Communications Services by its members or guests. Additionally, American Mensa is not liable for damages resulting from information transmitted via these Services or from any interruption or failure of these Services.

5) Opinions and information posted via chat, discussion boards or elists remain the property of the poster. Content from national or regional Web sites remains the property of the national organization and content from group Web sites remains the property of the pertinent group, unless otherwise noted.

(ASIE 2005-080)

Other than those standards, each Local Group or SIG using AML services may create its own policies regarding acceptable interactions and consequences. Any elists, Yahoo groups, Facebook groups, blogs, or other social networking tools organized by Groups or individual members are out of AML jurisdiction.

And still, members come to me and demand that "National" step in and deal with obnoxious members on these unofficial venues. While I suspect this is a topic that we all need to mull over as Mensa becomes a conglomeration of all sorts of smaller communities, physical and virtual, currently there is nothing "National" can or should do to intervene when there's a dust-up on a non-AML service.

HOWEVER....the law goes where Mensa does not, and it might behoove members to remember that. For example, I, myself, have a frequent visitor to this blog who attempts to post rude and crude comments. Now, I realize that this fellow, Tom, is merely lashing out at me because he was suspended from the AML forums due to his excessive aggressive behavior and refusal to adhere to the TOS. Regardless, there is no reason why a member should be allowed to stalk and harass a volunteer officer.

Fortunately, it turns out that he lives in Washington state, which has a fairly broad cyberstalking statute. Washington, unlike many states, separates out cyberstalking into its own statutory section. In addition to covering situations of harassment and intimidation, the statute says that, “A person is guilty of cyberstalking if he or she, with intent to…embarrass any other person…makes an electronic communication to such other person or a third party…using any lewd…words, images, or language…anonymously or repeated whether or not conversation occurs.” By including situations of embarrassment and those involving lewd language, even those many anonymously, individuals who bully others online can be punished. (WASH REV. CODE § 9.61.260 (2008).)

So, my point is that while AML may not always be able to step in and "make members behave civilly," there is no reason why any Mensan should have to put up with vicious treatment from other members. If Mensa can't help, then in most states, the police can.