stellaloella says:
To clear the air a little on this hot button issue, I thought I’d give you a HUGE amount of information today.
Ideally, we’d love it if everyone could adhere to the rules of engagement we’ve laid out for the Forums: http://www.etsy.com/forums_guidelines.php (also outlined in the DOs & DON’Ts of Ety).
Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. We’re all human, we all make mistakes or let our tempers get out of control once in a while. But what good are rules if there are no consequences for breaking them? There’s a three step process involved in dealing with these matters. Here it is, laid out in full.
STEP 1: the lock
When a rule is broken on the Forum, the thread is locked as soon as possible. This is to stop the momentum of the violation. Threads are almost always ended by giving a reason for the lock. (In general, threads are not deleted. Deletion is a rare event that only happens in extreme cases.) In most cases, we let it end there since most broken rules are pretty minor or unintentional.
STEP 2: the letter
If a violation is abusive, or directly involved another member (such as insulting someone or fighting between members), then we issue a warning letter. The warning letter is standardized and explains how and where the rule was broken. If no further rule-breaking behavior occurs, then no further action is needed.
When there is a public dispute between two people, we’ll ask in the warning letter that the two parties involved cease all contact with the other person for a while: not posting in the same threads, no convos to each other, no purchases from each other. This is a temporary thing, to let emotions cool off.
We try our best to work with people and sort things out peacefully and respectfully at this stage. We don’t like having to take further measures, but sometimes it is necessary.
STEP 3: the mute
If, after receiving a warning letter, the member persists in their rule-breaking behavior, then we will mute their forum privileges temporarily. This is a group decision by several members of the staff. We take into account the severity of the violation, the member’s community history and the other parties involved. It is *not* an action lightly taken.
We instituted the Forum mute as a step between warning and all-out banning someone from Etsy (which previously was the only other option). Banning people from Etsy is contradictory to our mission of helping people make a living making things. But allowing abusive fighting on the Forums is not in line with our goal of building a friendly, supportive network of crafters and artists worldwide. Muting offers us a compromise between these two extremes.
Muting is meant to be a cooling off period for the user (especially if they were engaged in a fight or abusive behavior toward another member). It can last anywhere from a few days to indefinitely (which is very rare). We are always open to discussing the muting privately with the individual via email.
When one is muted from the Forums, their ability to post is suspended and their avatar is grayed-out in the Forums. They can still read the Forums, send Convos, buy & sell on Etsy, use the Treasury and all other site features. We made a conscious decision to only limit the site feature that was abused.
Avatars are grayed-out as a precautionary measure. This is not meant to “shun” anyone, just prevent them from using their avatar as an alternative to posting in the forums. Imagine if the muting was due to an on-going fight between MemberA and MemberB — MemberA could change their avatar to be an insult toward MemberB, thereby continuing the abuse for which they were muted. Graying it out prevents that. The altered avatar only appears in the Forums, not in shops or elsewhere on Etsy.
If once a muting has been lifted, the abusive behavior returns, we consider further action, such as re-muting or possibly banning the account. This is dependent on the severity of the bad behavior and its impact on the community. It’s extremely rare.
And that’s how it works.
Please note that each case is unique, and so this is a generalization of the process. Communication between members and staff may take things in a slightly different direction (ie. an apology, an explanation, hate mail to Etsy Support).
Keep in mind that warning letters and muting are private matters between Etsy’s staff and the user(s) involved. For confidentiality reasons, we will not discuss specific cases with anyone other than the individual(s) involved.
(I know this was really long. Thanks for making it to the end; the info is important.)
Posted at 4:14 pm, June 19 2007 EST
