User blog:Flutterbutter/Disgust

Recently it has come to my attention that there is a divide on this wiki. A divide between the staff and the user base. A divide that has broken the trust between these two groups. But who should we blame? How can this be fixed? Should it be fixed? Those are questions (along with many more) I myself have been thinking about these past couple of days and here are the conclusions I have come to.

For starters, this wiki, as a democracy, should force its staff members to work hard and look to the user base for its power for this wiki should (in a way) be based around the principles that a government should be "of the people, for the people and by the people". This means that we the userbase should make up the staff, they should work to benefit us and we should be the ones to decide whether they remain or fall from power. Unfortunately, this no longer seems to be the case.

Our wiki no longer has users "chosen" by the people. They are chosen by our overwhelming staff who, if you dare stand in their way, will torment you and criticize you w/o giving you a chance to speak up and defend yourself. They will tarnish your name and either forcibly or socially drive you from the site. You, the user, have a simple choice. Agree or become a martyr.

This also goes for who actually becomes staff. Only people those staff members find "acceptable" will be allowed into the position. Again, even if they're not the right fit, you have one choice. Agree or become a martyr.

And the staff that are all members of (primarily) one clique are no longer necessarily working in our favor. Nor should they have to. You see, they have all the power they want. They can get away with doing something. Anything. And you - no we, cannot stop them.

We cannot stop them because we are not organized. We do not have our own private channels to discuss this on. We do not have the same views and we are not one clique. This is why dissenting would make an individual or small group martyrs. The staff would have it out for them. The staff are biased.

I know this idea of a "biased staff" has been thrown around a lot in recent years and I myself was never one to fully disagree. However, this statement stands more true than ever. The staff are literally trash talking the user base they're supposed to be serving and if it comes down to a situation between a user and a fellow staff member, who will they be likely to side with? The person just a few days ago they were shit talking in a staff server or the person they were shit talking to? I think the answer is obvious.

I think it's even more disgusting that staff members rationalize and justify all of this by saying, "There is no point in pointing out one user in a pool of sins". Basically what this can be translated to is, "Well, if lots of people are doing it, you can't just point a finger at one of us". This user isn't wrong. I don't think we should point a finger at just one user. I think we should hold all of them accountable for their actions. Honestly, I think all the users involved w/ some of these scandals should be demoted and possibly banned for their actions. And how many people are doing it? Have they stopped?

According to one staff member, "multiple other users who applied for staff now or are staff still continue to do this". Why should this upset you? Because it means that, even after several incidents have become well known, the staff have not stopped doing it. They have not learned. In fact, they have, in a round about way, blamed he user for these unfortunate events. They have implanted a new "rule" that says you cannot shit talk the staff.

Personally, I think that's fine and dandy when staff our doing their jobs. However, the post that triggered it was someone who was upset about finding out several staff members shit talked them. They were upset at being bullied in the shadows. And I think, if a staff member bullies you (a staff member), you should be allowed to talk shit. You should be allowed to rant. You should be allowed to be upset. This is someone who is supposed to represent you, not turn their backs on you and this is something I feel we as a community need to go back and reevaluate. I think we need to look at who we've put in power and decide who we keep in power.

Thank you for reading. :)