A PSA Against Toxicity

This PSA is really important, we recommend you to read it thoroughly.

As a community, one of our biggest struggles to keep in check is toxicity. In other social platforms, toxicity leads to blocks, which results in you not hearing from that person again, but in Amino, since everyone can interact with anyone and one's comments/posts can be seen by all; we have to make more efforts in order to keep things healthy, as we're all sharing the same community space.

This post is a public service announcement on when and how to flag cases of toxicity. We want people to be aware what is and isn't considered against the rules and flag accordingly so we can have a safer community.

:star:  What is toxicity?  :star:

Toxicity is the characteristic of things that are toxic and poisonous, or in other words, stuff that is extremely unpleasant or malicious. In a community context, toxicity englobes most spiteful acts that one can do against other people: Bullying, harrassment, discrimination, threats, insults, etc.

Of course, those things mentioned are all against the rules, and us from the staff team, want to take measures to keep these acts to a minimum, but for that, we need collective effort.

:star: :star: :star:

Below, you will find ways on how to help

:star:  How to properly flag these cases  :star:

Whenever you find a case in which someone is being toxic, it is highly recommended that you flag said person. It is common for people to flag profiles/chats, but that can actually make it harder for us staff to figure out what that person is actually doing. Instead, flag the exact comments or messages in which the person is being toxic. That'll give us a much easier time dealing with the flag and will result in much higher efficiency on our end.

TL;DR: Flag messages and comments, not people and chats.

:star: :star: :star:

:star:  What is/isn't flaggable?  :star:

Below, I've complied a comprehensive list of what is and isn't considered being toxic enough to be flag-worthy.

Instances in which you SHOULD flag

:star:  Any instance of insults/harrassment/threats/discrimination as stated in the rules.

:star: Any comment or remark that would be considered homophobic/transphobic/genderphobic/racist/ableist/etc. Furry Amino is a safe space for everyone, no one should be attacked or demeaned for who they are.

Even if it isn't inherently offensive, no one wants to see content directed negatively at what they are. It's really annoying and disrespectful.

Note: There are many other kinds of discrimination that are not mentioned in the last point; I just listed a few to get the point across.

:star:  Nazi imagery. We have absolutely no tolerance for nazism or those who sympathize with it, so we'll take appropriate action against such.

:star:  Memes that cross the line in of inappropriate or touchy topics. These include not only NSFW themes, but also memes regarding things such as gun violence, terrorism, as well as discriminatory against any kind of group.

:star:  Uncalled-for comments (specially in featured posts) that make creepy, inappropriate or downright disrespectful remarks; such as "Why is this featured?" or comments that objectify characters displayed in an art piece.

Keep those to yourself

:star:  Lastly, offenses in voice chats can't really be flagged given that there's no evidence behind, but in order to diminish griefing, we do recommend you to lock your voice chats so only people you allow may them and flag any person that seems to be there to troll.

Instances in which you SHOULDN'T flag

:star:  Someone blocking you. Blocking is a feature available to all, and may be used however one sees fit; with the exception of blocking when there's unfinished business (commissions/art trades). In that case, report to staff directly.

:star:  People you don't like. We're all human, and as such, we're bound to find people we don't like. That does not mean that they're breaking the rules or that they should be flagged.

:star:  Being kicked out of a chat. Unless you are being discriminated, chat owners are entitled to not have you in their chats if you are disrupting it.

:star:  People with differing opinions. We are thankful that our community holds people with so many different cultural and social backgrounds, but just because someone disgrees with your views, that doesn't mean they should be flagged.

:star: What about my opinion?  :star:

In Furry Amino, our motto for this topic is "Be tolerant of all, except intolerance". We accept people of all political alignments and spiritual ideologies; but the moment hate and discrimination is expressed, that's when we have to step in. If your beliefs and opinions involve demeaning or demonizing specific groups of people, we recommend you to not express them in here and instead do so elsewhere.

Basically, as long as your opinion isn't hating on anyone, you're more than welcome to express it. Otherwise keep it to yourself.

:star: :star: :star:

:star:  What happens after it gets flagged?  :star:

The flags will come to the leaders, and if the comment/message is against the rules, we'll most likely delete it. From there, we'll evaluate the gravity of the situation and instance a warning or a strike depending on the gravity of the offense. If the flag is unrightful or out of context, it's actually really easy for us to see; so those won't result in punishment.

:star: :star: :star:

If you've made it this far, I want to personally thank you for reading through the entire post. The rest of the staff team and I have been hard at work in order to find new things in order to improve the community, so expect changes, more posts and PSAs in the future. Thank you for your time

Originally posted on 09|01|18 by Valentine

#Toxicity