Moderator Discussion - Adherence to the Code of Conduct

root · May 21, 2018, 3:33am

This is a place for users to talk about moderation policy. Please adhere to the Code of Conduct.

zcash/zcash/blob/master/code_of_conduct.md

# Contributor Code of Conduct

As contributors and maintainers of this project, and in the interest of
fostering an open and welcoming community, we pledge to respect all people who
contribute through reporting issues, posting feature requests, updating
documentation, submitting pull requests or patches, and other activities.

We are committed to making participation in this project a harassment-free
experience for everyone, regardless of level of experience, gender, gender
identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, personal appearance,
body size, race, ethnicity, age, religion, or nationality.

Examples of unacceptable behavior by participants include:

* The use of sexualized language or imagery
* The use of language or imagery that originates with, or has been
  adopted as a symbol or "dog-whistle" for, any of: right-wing extremism,
  anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, white supremacism, eugenics, homophobia, or
  transphobia (whether or not the use by itself falls into those categories)
* Personal attacks

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root · May 21, 2018, 4:09am

I created this topic to bring the following to light:

There are a small number of vocal users here that have not been following the code of conduct. Several of them have received warnings and have been silenced after ignoring those warnings.

The definition of moderation is:

n.	The state or quality of being moderate; avoidance of extremes
n.	An instance of moderating: bringing something away from extremes, especially in a beneficial way
n.	The process of moderating a discussion

As a volunteer moderator, I want this place to be open for every opinion, especially the ones I disagree with. I want to be persuaded to believe what you believe with sound arguments and facts. When things get personal, when the dialogue stops and the personal attacks begin, nobody is the wiser and no new knowledge is gained. People are less likely to be persuaded after you attack them. It only increases toxicity and inhibits the exchange of ideas.

Zcash is an incredibly promising technology with an incredibly bright future. I want this forum to be a fitting place to discuss everything Zcash and I want everyone to be included in that discussion.

Tonic1080 · May 21, 2018, 4:56am

So are you implying that you are not one such person? As a moderator you should know not to engage and antagonize such conversations. I fully believe that some people in the community have been a little abrasive with their comments lately but they have good reason for their feeling on recent topics (but not excusing their behavior).

However, As a moderator it’s part of your responsibility not to get personally involved in those conversations directly and basically escalating the problem. You represent Zcash Co here and it looks bad when a moderator is down flinging mud with the rest.

root · May 21, 2018, 5:08am

I’m a volunteer to make sure all members adhere to the code of conduct whether I agree with them or not. I gave very straightforward and honest warnings for users breaking the CoC.

Further, like many other Zcash devotees here, I’m a Zcash miner since day 1. Becoming a moderator to keep the peace doesn’t mean I can’t add to the discussion or give my thoughts.

Once again, I don’t represent the Zcash company or the Zcash foundation. I’m not paid to moderate. I’m just a community member that has agreed to help as long as I’m asked to help. Please stop repeating this falsehood.

Further, if you read my contributions to that thread, there was no antagonizing or mud flinging. I haven’t edited anything written - it’s all there and I stand by my ideas as a user on this forum.

I understand the GPU/ASIC debate is an important topic. Can we agree to be more civil?

Tonic1080 · May 21, 2018, 5:26am

This horse has already been beat to death.
As a volunteer, the company can be liable for your actions as if you were an employee. This means you are at the very least a limited representative of the company. Your opinion or statements to the contrary don’t make any difference.
Google it if you want (“I read it on the internets. It MUST be true!”).

Your actions are a reflection on the organization whether you think they are or not. Please consider that as you continue contributing to the discussions.

Also…banning people from the forum who were opposing you in a direct and active discussion is a serious violation of common ethics. If that discussion escalated to the point of discipline, then you cannot ignore that you are an active participant in its escalation.

boxalex · May 21, 2018, 9:55am

I think the volunteer moderators here do a good job, trying their best to stop whatever useless agression towards whomever.

Lately too much bad emotions, behaviour, attacking and offending is on the board, i think something we all see and can agree too. Currently their job isn’t easy in anyway.

I think a volunteer moderator should have his own opinion as well, no matter if it actually is a different one even from the ZcashCO or Zcash Foundations one. I mean they are not robots to have no opinion.

Everybody here should have the freedom to post topic related, no matter if they are the CEO, Foundation member, dev, moderator, guest, visitor, whomever, as long as it’s on the topic and follows the forum etiquette. There should be 0 censorship on who should post, how much to post and when and about what to post.

boxalex · May 21, 2018, 10:10am

Just another example here how way to far things got here, just got a message on my bitcointalk account:

Enjoy
« Sent to: boxalex on: Today at 12:42:58 »
Reply with quoteQuote ReplyReply Remove this messageDelete
Enjoy your non fettered posts on Zcash Forum while it lasts. ProwdClown will be back soon to rebut your Pro-ASIC stance.

paige · May 21, 2018, 10:55am

I’ve added a note to the Code of Conduct that volunteer moderators do not represent the Zcash Company and do not impose any liability on the company with their statements. If you think a moderator is acting out of line, bring it up to me directly.

So far, the only post hiding on the forum I’ve seen is for violations of the Code of Conduct and only member silencing is for repeated violations.

chucky732 · May 21, 2018, 4:46pm

Thank you paige…

sonya · May 21, 2018, 5:17pm

I’ve been brought on as a moderator recently. This thread is a good place for me to explain my perspective. Recommended background reading: http://www.plausiblydeniable.com/opinion/gsf.html

It’s important for there to be free-for-alls like 4chan on the internet. It is also crucial for there to be other options. This particular Zcash forum is oriented toward signal over noise and productive collaboration, which means that it fundamentally cannot be a free-for-all. (As far as I can tell, the subreddit is more hands-off.)

Active moderation does not mean squashing dissent. But it does mean having high standards for how we talk to each other.

My tendency is to insist on civility and good faith. Being a jerk — and yes, it’s subjective to some extent — is not acceptable. You are welcome to criticize the Zcash Company, the Zcash Foundation, or even the volunteer moderators, but it must be done politely. Question ideas and proposals, but don’t attack people. Here is a well-phrased critical comment, for example: Whats more important to you? Sapling or ASIC Fork - #50 by RamisDag

Our job as moderators is to protect the community and its ability to function healthily. Transparency is good because it helps people decide where they want to be, and that’s something we’ll continue to work on. To that end, I commend @root for creating this discussion.

Thanks for reading this long comment

phakov · May 21, 2018, 5:19pm

Here’s how I look at internet forums and moderation: Forums belong to their operators/hosts. Users agree to be bound to TOS to use these forums. Users have no say in moderation decisions. They have no right to “free speech” since they agree to be given the privilege of restricted speech by the Host at the first instance of use.

These idealistic notions of fairness and all that overlook the reality that this is their sandbox and their ball. The make the rules and we can either play their way or we can go away. Surely there’s a balance to moderation decisions, and no professional organization wants to be overly heavy handed, but if they are, such is life. We agree to the TOS and that’s our Social Contract. There’s no reason to object to enforcement since we agree to subjective enforcement once we walk through the door.

phakov · May 21, 2018, 5:25pm

As a side note: This ASIC issue has sparked a polarizing debate and only serves to weaken any “Community Harmony”. I believe the ZCash Co/Foundation could have and should have dealt with issue much better. They should learn from this example to teach them of the pressing and clear need for professional community management and corporate messaging and communications. A “schism” (quoting @zooko) did not have to become a foregone conclusion because of the Rise of ASICs.

(breaking out as a separate post since likes came in before this edit was complete)

dbfusion · May 21, 2018, 5:49pm

I agree with you about it could have been handeled better, I don’t see much polarizing as much as i see trolling . Most of the community speaks their mind in well mannered way .
But I am sure you and the mods have noticed it .
Just very few accounts got created two weeks ago and they keep constant troll, personal, unrealated , word twisting , distracting tacticts in their posts .
Exactly similar to info war propaganda tactics used during latest western world elections and other worlds news events in the comments sections of news websites .
It is coordinated and should have been seen by the mods and they should be more vigilant in blocking such posts from derailing the conversation.

One can easily see that one account posted 230 posts on one topic in two weeks while it took you for example a year to post 500.

This kind of unusual activities should be monitored . The root moderator himself posted 500 posts in two years .

Peoples act by reasons and motivations . I fail to see personally any motivation for me to join one forum and constantly post there to direct the conversation in a certain direction with long dauhnting posts and some posts with manioulative tactics for two weeks constantly taking at least 8 hours a day of work unless either I am paid to do that , or I have a big intrest in the outcome of this work.
I tend to belive in the first .

sonya · May 21, 2018, 5:55pm

Yes, we could have been more proactive. As far as I know (again, I’m pretty new to the team) this is the first time the forum has had so much contentious activity, so we’re learning how to respond and steward the community in times of stress.

phakov · May 21, 2018, 6:02pm

I understand that ZCash folks are new, and ZCash is going through its “Entrepreneurial Honeymoon”, but the need for professional executives and directors is always there from day one. Billions of dollars are on the line. Professional operations are expected from the first “ZECond” the ZCash Co came into existence

root · May 21, 2018, 6:17pm

@phakov As a newly appointed moderator I’m also reviewing the way I’ve handled things here to try and learn what I can do improve. E.g., Is there an ideal response to Code of Conduct violations that doesn’t escalate the situation when emotions are high, while also sending a clear message about the rules? This is an ongoing process and it’s not easy for anyone.

One other problem is deciphering new and enthusiastic users from new accounts created for malicious intentions. Each case is unique and it can be hard to tell the difference (see @sonya’s plausibly deniable link). We’re doing our best here and hopefully our best will get better.

boxalex · May 21, 2018, 6:58pm

I’am pretty sure that each day more people will join the forum that bought an Z9 and mostly join the discussion. Just normally as the shipping of the Z9 is below 30 days now, mostly even possible it gets shipped way sooner. (announcement on the product page).

while this of course is actually not for everybodies taste here, as i noticed myself when i joined the forum, it’s just a normal thing to happen and the Moderators or whole Zcash team should that have in mind, as well as the older community. I don’t think that hostility and nonstop offending is helpfull in whatever matter.

zooko · May 22, 2018, 2:19pm

I’m so grateful to @root and @sonya for joining in and helping make this a good place to share and to learn.

praesul · May 22, 2018, 7:51pm

Agree 100%. Root is not impartial in the application of the “rules”.

praesul · May 22, 2018, 7:56pm

This is because the company leader expressed a position that was counter to the position that the company put forward from the earliest days of this project. It is no surprise that this angered a large part of the community. Then, the moderators here began banning and censoring those voices. What did you guys think would happen?