gwdfi rant / my problem with the rules.

Instructions

okay guys. we all know that gwdfi is not at its peak. far from it. comment closures are happening wayyy to often, and the spam isn't helping. but is it really our fault? the spam is relentless. dare I say the rule that we can't talk about spammers is not helping. I see where this is coming from, talking about them is just giving them the attention that they need. that makes sense, and the rule comes from a place of common sense, you'd think. first of all, lets say there are about, oh, I don't know, 200 gwdfiers who are most active, would you say? and the occasional wandering griffpatcher, or gaehivian whenever their comments get closed. don't you think it would be really, really difficult to get all those people to follow a rule? a rule that, in the long run, doesn't really even make sense. we are children. I'd say about, idk, 11-17 age range, so still a child. children of course want to voice their opinion and discomfort with a situation, who wouldn't, even adults?? trying to get more than 200 children to not talk about a situation that is a very unfortunate and frequent occurrence on the scratch community makes no sense? why cant we all find common ground in complaining, or even just discussing the issues in the scratch community without getting in trouble? without getting a point taken away? that's so bogus. again, i see where the idea behind this rule is coming from, I can see how it would make sense to some people. in any real world situation, ignoring someone is sometimes one of the easier ways to make them stop. see now, notice my use of the word "sometimes." it doesn't always work. if I get picked on at school, its usually by the same people, its never bad, its usually getting barked at, "emo" jokes, yk the type. And of course I just ignore them, what else would I do? ignoring them is the best way to go about it. however, thats in real life, interacting with real people that I know. this is different. online, people are different. meaner, nicer, some are true to themselves online. but interacting online is very different that interacting in person. it takes away from the humanity of it, which makes it a little harder to ignore other people (or just one particular individual at separate points in time) online. its not like pixels on a screen will affront a person who has an ego small enough, or a boredom large enough to cause harm and hindrance to an online group of children will not be stopped by people merely ignoring them. that just won't do it, i'm sorry to say it. there really isn't a way of stopping this, just wait until they get bored. ignoring them hasn't been helping, clearly, and prohibiting people from talking about it without getting punished is wrong. also, collective punishment is totally unfair. why should a community be punished because 10 people couldn't follow a rule? also, this rule is contradictory. when spammers spam, they do it just for fun, or to cause displeasure to the people for their own amusement, which is messed up. but we aren't allowed to talk about it, but then the comments get closed anyways, that is therefore acknowledging their existence as it is, am I wrong? also, even if the comments aren't closed for spam but is just on a regular timeout, its mostly closed for spam discussion, if ive noticed. people are already without gwdfi for long hours of the day. I'd say every other day comments are closed for an hour, just for spam alone. and then they're closed for another hour, the next day? gwdfi is supposed to be a place where people can go for support and friendship, but if its closed for hours at a time, it makes it really difficult to rely on gwdfi. also, when people, I feel the need to remind you, c h i l d r e n, are happy or exctied they may lash out, like if you're feeling carefree you may be careless too, and when gwdfi is finally open and you talk to your friends, its exciting, and the rules may not be the first thing on peoples minds, you know? I think either the troll rule needs to be changed, dare I say even the timeout system. collective punishment scarcely ever works, I hate to say it. its not improving. I've been here for a while now, maybe 2021? and it is at its worst, I'm sorry to say it. I don't have a solid idea for an alternative yet, but I'll let y'all know when I do. anyways. thanks for reading all that