There's been a lot of talk about "changes" to the FES forums recently and I wanted to clear up any misconceptions. This is a lengthy post, so if you'd like to skip to one specific topic, I'll give you a table of contents:
1) Increased moderation, people feeling persecuted, new-ish policy about profanity
2) Changing forums software to phpBB3
3) How I'm definitely
not going to retire on FES profits
1) Yes, we're tightening up on moderation but we're
not trying to run anyone off of the site. The stricter moderation policy is something that probably should have happened a long time ago, but we never had enough of a moderator staff until now to do it properly. I'm officially re-launching the Society very soon and I'd like the forums to present a positive face for the Society. Not everyone is happy about this but it's necessary. This site is, first and foremost, for the discussion of Flat Earth Theory and the Flat Earth Society. I appreciate that there's plenty of other stuff going on in the forums, but my main focus is making sure the FES functions smoothly and is presented well. Generally "other stuff" and "the main focus of the site" co-exist reasonably well, but they do get into the occasional conflict.
This doesn't mean that we all have to speak as if we're in Sunday school. This site is aimed at an audience of adults and I realise that people do sometimes use profanity as a part of natural speech. But I don't think an "anything goes" atmosphere is appropriate for the site. There has to be a middle-ground between "anything goes" and "nothing goes". We've discussed this in the mods forum at some length and I think the best solution is to ask users to maintain a "PG-13" (or "certificate 15" for you Brits) atmosphere on the forums. This allows everyone to speak in an informal manner but doesn't allow for excessive profanity. If you feel that you can't express your thoughts in a post without saying "fuck" a bunch of times, it's probably time to go take a walk and come back to the forums later when you're a bit calmer.
Now, obviously "PG-13" is a quite a fuzzy standard. Movie companies and the MPAA split hairs over what can and can't go into a PG-13 movie all the time. It's no different on here, unfortunately. This will inevitably create some conflicts for a couple reasons:
- Each user will have a slightly different idea of what is appropriate
- Each moderator will also have a slightly different idea of what is appropriate
The forums staff does its best to apply the rules as fairly and even-handedly as possible but we're not perfect. We can only promise to do the best we can.
There will probably also be some tweaking of the forums structure. Flat Earth D&D and Flat Earth Questions & Clarifications will probably merge, for instance, since they're quite similar in content. Other changes are a bit up-in-the-air at the moment. Shouldn't be anything too major, though. Mostly housekeeping.
2) We're moving to phpBB3 forums software in the very near future. This is primarily to make moderation easier and more effective. It adds things like a warning system which should hopefully avoid anyone getting banned for minor offenses. There are some other
features in phpBB3 that our current software doesn't have but I suppose we'll see those when we switch. It should be an improvement all-around.
3) Some people are worried that the site is "gearing up for commercialization" and that I'm planning to quit my day job and move to a private island with profits from the site. This is definitely not the case. I've been running this site for over 4 years now and it has generated a gross profit of $0.00. I've paid for hosting entirely out of my own pocket. The site has, up until this point, generated a net profit of roughly -$1050.00. If I created this site to make money, I'm clearly going about it the wrong way. This site has never been about money and will never be about money.
Now, there will be some merchandise available in the very near future -- namely t-shirts. These will be sold more-or-less at cost. You can see the breakdown of production and shipping costs in the "FES T-shirts - yay or nay?" thread. I'll talk in a moment about what happens with any incidental profits. Additionally, the Society will be officially opening its doors to new members (wholly independent of forum membership). There will be two types of membership. The first will be completely free and can be obtained by simply sending the Society a postcard with your request to join. Members will receive a certificate via email. The second type will come with a printed, signed certificate, membership card and hand-cast (by me) pewter FES membership coin. There will be a small fee for that second option in order to cover the costs of materials and postage. Again, any incidental profits will be handled as outlined below:
Profits from $0-$20/month will go toward offsetting the hosting costs for this site. Additional profits (in the event that they exist) will go toward either:
* Offsetting the occasional photocopying costs of materials added to the Flat Earth Library on the new site or
* The
Flat Earth Foundation, the charitable wing of the Flat Earth Society, which will donate the remaining funds to charity. Last Christmas, the forums raised about $120 for animal shelters in Chicago and Baltimore. I was very proud of this and it's something I'd like to continue with, probably switching charities each time. Plus it's a good way of creating a very positive public face for the Society.