The State Of The Community (From an outsider)
Let me preface this by saying that this is all based on information I could gather on my own from the Discord and the various blogs involved. I will do my best to be as accurate as possible but since nobody involved in the situation came to explain, I'm quite limited. Thank you to the two of you (Aside from my main contact) that approached me to tell me what was going on, even though you were both distant from what was happening. I wholeheartedly appreciate you.
Let's get started, shall we?
The Server
This will address both the previous state of the server, the current state, and the demands presented in order to reform the server.
Firstly, the previous state. It's abundantly clear that none of you involved in the management of that server 1) know how to run a server with a mixed age range, 2) Have enough emotional control to not abuse moderator positions, and 3) Know what to include and not to include in a server in order to provide a healthy environment. This is not calling you out, this is a statement of fact because this community is mostly children. Yes, yes, some of you are close to 18. But I'm fucking 25. You're children to me.
The current state. Though the NSFW channels seem to be removed (Which they shouldn't have even existed in the first place without proper age verification and a moderator group of adults), there's still aspects present that should NOT be in a healthy server. Let's break it down. The Trigger Channel. Though I understand that it might be seen as necessary for you to make sure that people don't misstep, you do realize that people can use those against you, right? You should NEVER discuss your triggers publicly. The sheer amount of Vent/Mental Health chats. Look. It's clear that you're all trying to take responsibility for each other and that's nice and all, but none of you have boundaries. These types of discussions are fine to have with friends, it's important to have a supportive net of friends, but you should NEVER have a vent chat unless it is in private. These discussions you're all having in there are things that should be brought up to medical professionals. Some of you should be going to HOSPITALS. The fact that there were NSFW chats at all. This is a community of mostly children. I know nothing can stop you kids from exploring on your own, but there should never be a place where adults and children can go at the same time that has sexual connotation. I know y'all might not think this is serious but you kids can get adults into trouble, or end up in compromising situations yourselves. I pray nobody's groomed or grooming any of you.
Now the demands, reviewed by someone that worked as a professional Twitch/Discord moderator for a few years. Things I understand why you want to change it: The sheer amount of moderators. Too many cooks spoil the stew. By having so many people with that much power, you cause confusion and disarray. Limit your moderation team to 1 moderator per like, 20-30 members, with a good spread of time zone variance. Transparency of moderator decisions. Sorta. This should always be a given. Any rule changes and major events should be publicized, but things like rule violations, bans, and things as such should stay in the background. You are not entitled to every piece of information. No-nonsense moderator applications. Being a moderator is something to be taken seriously. You're ensuring the safety of your peers, not making a secret club. Things I do not understand: Public moderator applications. This isn't necessary. Sharing applications with the moderation team is all well and good, but it's not a public affair. You aren't voted on like parliament or the senate. "Collectivized" server ownership. A server should be made up of one trusted owner and a team of moderators. This isn't a government, it's a leisure activity. A big server I'm in has one moderator per 50 members. YOURS has at LEAST one for every FUCKING EIGHT. That's oversaturation. Any further collectivization and you may as well just make everyone a moderator. Server owner rotates between moderators. This isn't going to work. I promise you with all my little rotten heart that this isn't going to work. You're either going to give up or someone is going to just... Not give up the server owner position. You do realize that can happen, right? That they can just not give up the Server Owner role? What happens then? Did you have a contingency plan? Opt-in Mental Health channels. It's better than just leaving them free and open, but having them at ALL is still not good. Like I brought up before.
Phew, and that's all just the SERVER.
The Tumblr Community
As some of you may know, I was one of the handful of founding blogs in this project.
It has gotten way out of hand.
We have lost the spirit of what we started as, and as a result we have become a very toxic, disorganized community built on the backs of people who cannot support it.
People are being exiled from the community left and right for reasons I cannot figure out but am certain are petty in spirit. You're all great kids, but you're ruthless. You're going to cannibalize this community someday. I pray it happens soon, so you can all get over the grief that much sooner. I pray it rips off like a bandage, quick and efficient, a grand hoorah that leaves this place etched in the annals of Tumblr history. But we all know it won't. You'll all slowly cannibalize the community, ousting any member that stands up against whatever in group is most popular at the time, and you'll slowly decline in number until it's just a handful of you all bickering with yourselves about what went wrong. You'll look back and wonder what happened to change this community so much and there won't be anything to pinpoint because it's not just one event that caused its downfall. It's dozens.
If you know what's best for you, you'll leave on your own terms before that day comes.
Go touch grass. Stay in school, go to college, follow your dreams, and go to fucking therapy. All of you.
I promise you, as someone who was once in your shoes; young and stupid with a big RP blog and a lot of moxie, I know how this ends. Godspeed Tem-ily, you beautiful Undertale blog.
Final thoughts
I'll give a summary of Glitches' and Bugs' storyline tonight or tomorrow or something. Feel free to send me asks through the day, maybe tomorrow. but after that I'm gonna abandon the blog for good.
As an adult of my age, I shouldn't have even stayed when I realized how young some of you were. This is me rectifying that mistake. Any adults are free to hit me up, but i don't wanna deal with y'all being so young compared to me. It's just not right for us to interact.
Goodbye and good luck.
Glitches.
