Official policy for handling problematic language?

[Elodieunderglass]

Hello Adelene,

Thank you for bringing this to our attention! I'm going to unpack your suggestion for clarity.

1.) Katepreach is absolutely right; the correct way to alert the moderators and admins to your discomfort within a thread is to report the thread as it happens. It's the easiest and fastest way to get the attention of the mods, since it flags the entire thread but will link us to the exact post. We take all reports very seriously and consider them carefully; please use the report button at any time! It does not electrocute you or the poster you are reporting, it is anonymous to board users, and it draws our specific attention to the issue. Note that you may report a mod, admin, or user in the same way.

2.) In this particular post, we are happy to place the word under a trigger warning. This is the usual response to a report on a problematic word or phrase - it is placed under a trigger warning with a friendly public explanation why, allowing users to make their own decisions about what content to view. The FOCA team works to make this forum a safe place for users to speak, but it is not a safe space where we protect users from all possible triggers.

3.) We will not ban wholesale the use of a word* - instead, we encourage TW use and use of synonyms. Defining what is problematic language, and what we're okay with and not okay with on this board, is always going to be a work-in-progress. We welcome everyone's feelings on this; deciding which words for the community to use is a work in progress, and one that we absolutely welcome your input on.

* Slurs are not acceptable on this board, but words with problematic connotations and insinuations - ableist terms, sex-shaming concepts, minority-reclaimed words, etc - are not disallowed outright. We ask that they be placed behind a labeled trigger warning such that users may decide if they are ready to see them.

4.) It is absolutely ok to politely ask someone to not say a specific word, when the conversation is still happening.
We will back you up on this.

It is perfectly ok to suggest that a discussion of the word be moved to a more appropriate forum. The community will have valuable thoughts to add to the discussion.

If you do not wish to discuss a word in this way, due to anger or triggers or lack of energy or "this is just a
vague problematic feeling" - use the report button!

5.) In line with (4), we are very much against making threads to call people out. In the future, the best way to handle your discomfort with a word, post, poster, or attitude is to bring it up in the conversation or to make a report.


6.) It may be helpful for you, and everyone, to understand how the FOCA mod and admin team work together. Upon receiving reports, reading forum discussions, or seeing suggestions, we discuss the topic privately amongst ourselves and make the best decision to move the board forward. We are a team of many valued voices, and, as TheRJ says, we have careers and lives outside this board! This response, for example, is composed from the carefully considered feelings of roughly eight busy volunteers - while it certainly isn't the last word on the subject, and we do welcome discussion, it takes a while to get here. The fact that your topic took some time to discuss is a reflection of how important it was for us to unpack it and work together to clarify our policy, not a reflection of it being unimportant to us.

Thank you very much for opening this discussion. And thank you, Katepreach, for your help as well.


Best,
Elodie