It has been over two years since IU started the Reflections community and while I wish it was more active, I think that overall it is going pretty well. What I wanted was to have a place where people felt comfortable to post about maybe the more personal aspects of their life, where they can reflect on their experience, whether recent or far in the past, and pull it apart and perhaps discover something about themselves in the process. Reflections can cover many topics of course, and I use the community for many of my posts, from those about my family, my employment situation, and especially for my philosophical meanderings.
First, let's look at the limited numbers I have available to work with.
Subscription to the community is modest at almost 2,500, but there are over 200 active users who are posting or commenting in the community this week, and they have created almost 700 interactions. That doesn't sound like a huge amount, but this is just within this particular community, so it is pretty good. The pending rewards sit at over 700 across all the posts in the community, which is again pretty good. And, no, they aren't all my rewards. And the last one isn't a statistic per se, but indicates the language of the community.
English.
Which is what I want to talk about today, because while I want it to be a place for everyone, there are rules and whether you agree with them or not, since it is my community, they are what I want them to be. And, they aren't very difficult to follow, and they aren't excessively strict. Not only that, I have perhaps been too lackadaisical in moderating the community and ensuring people are sticking to the rules.
Hence this post.
Let's overview the rules.
Rules
- No Plagiarism
- No Reposts
- Keep it in English (mostly)
- No Spamming
- Answer comments
- Engage with others
- Put in some effort
- No AI content (it is plagiarism)
- Don't be a dick
While the last one is the most important rule, I am going to have to start moderating and enforcing a couple of the others, but also make some amendments, as times have changed. The first one I will speak about is AI content.
No AI content
When I created the community, AI images weren't up and running at the time, so this was in relation to text only. However, now with AI images flooding the internet, I have to account for that too. So, while I would much prefer to see people use their own images in their posts, even if they aren't the best quality or perfectly suited to the content, I get that some want to use AI-generated images. If you do use AI images, please mention it. If you use images other than your own, please attribute.
Rule change:
No AI content (it is plagiarism)No AI-generated text
AI-generated images must be clearly marked
In English
Again, this is my community and I want it to be in English. I had the "mostly" there so that some people can throw the odd bit of their mother tongue in or whatever, but that is not what is happening. I don't like "dual language" posts because they aren't a good way to communicate clearly. they are messy in my opinion and far, far too many of them look like they are all using the same template to create from. This makes them visually boring, no matter what the content is. Build a style for yourself.
Too many communities are filled with dual-language posts following that similar template, which means that all of the communities look the same, no matter what their topic is. I like uniformity at the individual level where people have a style they develop that is their own, but I dislike cut and paste styles, with nothing personal in them. They look like they are all coming from the same person, or small group of people.
Perhaps they are?
So, from now on I am going to be moderating as I curate and the posts that don't meet the language rules, will be muted in the community. I will probably leave a comment the first time, similar to what I have done on a few today, but after that, it will be a mute. This is because there are rules and if people aren't following them, then they are breaking the non-negotiable rule of Don't be a Dick.
Rule change:
Keep it in English (mostly)Keep it in English
I hate rules
I like it when people put in effort and create something personal, helping others overcome (perhaps unknowingly) their own challenges. I like it when people share their perspectives from around the world. I like it when people discuss together openly, honestly, and respectfully -even when they disagree. Perhaps, especially when they disagree. I like personality and I like personal, which is why I dislike AI-generated content, because that isn't anyone's, no matter what is said. I like it when people think about what they are communicating, and how they are communicating it, including the styles they use.
Yet, I also like a certain amount of order.
People probably rarely if ever visit my full blog roll, but if you did and scrolled, you will find that for quite a few years now, all the cover images are the same size. They are all 16x10. Also, you will see that the titles are all relatively short and don't go over one line. This is because I while you aren't there, I am - and I like to have a space that is neat and clean and mine. It is part of my experience here, part of my presentation, and part of my overall communication. It isn't just one article after the other, it is a stream of my own creativity that I put out into the world. It is very personal, but also made public.
The images are mine, the text is mine, the thoughts are mine, and the experiences I reflect upon are mine. It is a form of art for me, even though many of the topics might not seem to live within the realms of art.
So while I hate rules imposed on me, I don't mind making up my own rules for myself, and the spaces that are mine. The Reflections community page is a space that is mine. People are welcome to visit, but just like when people take their shoes off when they come into my family's home, there are rules in my digital home too. I can't force anyone to follow them, but I can mute them in the channel.
Thank you
So far, I have received positive responses to the short message about in English only, so I thank you for that. What I do recommend for anyone posting in a community channel though, is to first read the rules of the channel and stick to them. This means that a cross-post also has to stick to the rules of the channel. Sure, mistakes happen, but always try to respect the individual community guidelines, because people do put effort into keeping their spaces tidy.
Communities are great, but I hope they are used as more than just places to dump a post in the hope for votes. I get tired of that kind of behaviour, in the same way I get tired of low-effort comments looking for a vote, because they know I reward comments on my own articles. The funny thing is, if people just put in a little more effort, engaged a bit more with a wider range of people, they would actually get consistent support, and feel far better about what they are creating here. Most won't do that though - the few that do, will be here for a long time.
The community rules have been updated.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]