Splinterland has an excellent community

For the longest of times, I have known that one element that makes Splinterlands different from other web3 games is its community. I strongly believe that. This is the reason I am here. To me this is like my family. I will protect this family at all costs and to the best of my ability. So we need to have this discussion.

The trouble is this is like my family. If you have a large family you might be able to appreciate that not all element of the family suits you perfectly, and certain behavior by certain family member is often hurtful. They are still your family and you support them, but they shouldn't get a free pass. If they do, then relationship gets difficult to manage and ice accumulates. What we should do instead, is support each other. It is okay not to agree, and it is okay to have a different perspective, but it is not okay to be hurtful.

Source
This Dino cartoon above is the right approach we should be seeking towards our friends.

Everyone is a Gangsta behind a keyboard!

Social networks are meant to be spaces for connection, community, and shared experiences. However, hurtful language and disrespect can create a toxic environment that alienates users and undermines the platform's purpose. When users feel unsafe or unwelcome, they are less likely to engage with the community and more likely to spread negativity. It is easier to be hurtful behind a keyboard. I am certain a lot of things people say about me can't say that on my face :)

Hurtful language and disrespect can take many forms, including:

Personal attacks:

Targeting individuals based on their appearance, identity, or beliefs.

Hate speech:

Promoting discrimination or violence against a particular group.

Flaming:

Engaging in hostile or aggressive behavior in online discussions.

These behaviors can have a devastating impact on individuals, leading to emotional distress, social isolation, and even physical harm. They can also damage the reputation of the social network and deter new users from joining.

No need to be too formal about it. Yes, we know about these rules. Our SL discord has even more detailed rules about these things and beyond. Yet, we created a monster called "mav-chat". It almost destroyed our community until recently, when we finally shut it down. How did it helped?

• got rid of old-entitlement, people who were 'somebody' but now nothing but a dead weight
• perma ban a few dreadful bad actors
• created new special discord channels based on current stake and ownership of the game

We all can see the benefits now, but remember how hard some of the community members fought against it?

Creating a More Positive and Inclusive Online Community

To address the problem of hurtful language and disrespect on social networks, platforms can implement a number of strategies. Here I always stress this point: Yes, free speech is good, but that doesn't mean you can say whatever you want. If it is your blog, yes you can, but please understand there are consequences of your actions.

Stronger moderation policies:

Enforcing clear rules against hate speech, harassment, and other forms of abuse.

Improved reporting tools:

Making it easy for users to report offensive content.

Educational resources:

Providing information about online etiquette and the consequences of harmful behavior.

Community guidelines:

Developing clear guidelines for respectful online interactions.

Again, none of this is new, and we already do this at SL Discord, thanks to Hive account@royaleagle. However, SL discord is not the only place we interact, so I think conciousness must be personal and just moderation is not enough. Here is a thing, since a lot of us are deeply involved with this game and we all want this game to be successful, sometimes the emotions run high! Although we are all grown (mostly) men, we forget who are we talking to and who is on the other side of keyboard. It is important to understand, that all our actions have concequences.

I don't know how many of you remember the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in detail, but the first chapter of that book is some of my favorite: The Other Minister. At the end of that chapter the Muggle Prime Minister asked the two wizards regarding solution to all the choas that is happening:

“But for heaven's sake — you're wizards! You can do magic! Surely you can sort out — well — anything!”

Scrimgeour turned slowly on the spot and exchanged an incredulous look with Fudge, who really did manage a smile this time as he said kindly,

“The trouble is, the other side can do magic too, Prime Minister."