Board Thread:New Rules and Promotion/@comment-5590118-20160124194330

I have been a member of the Khan Academy wiki for a little over a week so far. I was initially introduced to your community a-la drama. This means that someone was expressing their personal distaste for someone/something on the wiki and I meandered on over here to investigate. In doing so I have come face to face with quite a few issues that I think need to be resolved as soon as possible before they get worse.

One of these major issues is general paranoia and can actually be found in one of the new rule proposals over kicking away users. This community is definitely paranoid about being watched so much so that the users and mods demand that people marked away be forced out of chat after a certain amount of time. From an outside perspective this is just utterly ridiculous and it is something that shouldn't even be an issue. If you are afraid of what you say being recorded then simply don't divulge things that you wouldn't want shared. If you have something that you want to say without people spreading it then please utilize private messages.

Another issue is the obsession with kicking and banning period. An issue I see a lot in that mods and admins use kick/bans in place of words way more than they should. And, in some cases, they use their words when a kick/ban would be much more appropriate. Abusing your rights and your position is a sure fire way to cause all out drama on chat and there is simply no place for it within a well functioning community. The core job of a moderator is to keep chat flowing, not start arguments with users, not push their views and opinions onto users, and not to rule over them. Moderators and Admins are first and foremost users and this is something that they need to keep in mind.

This being said, users also need to learn when it is and is not appropriate to voice their complaints. If you have an issue with something a moderator has done then please contact them via private messages to talk it out and resolve it with them. Remember, Moderators and Admins are users too and all users need to treat each other with respect.

And lastly, your rules. As I see it your rules are vague while some are specific and week by week you add more and more to them. This is going to end up in a huge mess of unenforceable rules and a feeling of discontent within the community. It is crucial that you keep in mind the fact that rules are not ever supposed to be all encompassing. Rules are meant to be general guidelines that users and moderators use to keep the chat happy and flowing.

All of this being said I have a suggestion for a complete rewrite of the chat rules.

For users:
 * 1) Be constructive: Do not do things that will disrupt the flow of chat. This includes but is not limited to: over using emoticons, capital letters, ASCII art, posting very long lines or links (please use goo.gl), and strings of random characters/numbers.
 * 2) Be polite: Do not argue or insult others in chat. Treat everyone with respect and do not use foul language.
 * 3) Be helpful: If someone comes in asking for help with something greet them and lend a hand if you can. By doing this you create a welcoming atmosphere that makes newer and returning users more comfortable.
 * 4) Have fun: Make sure that you have a bit of fun in chat. Keep things engaging and interesting and do not be afraid to ask questions!
 * 5) Listen to the moderators: Always make sure to follow the instructions of the moderators as it is their job to keep the chat friendly. If you feel heated or upset take a step back from the computer and take some time to cool off and do something you like.

For moderators:
 * 1) Be welcoming: Always make sure to greet new users and direct them to the chat guidelines. In doing this you help to create a warm and welcoming community that is fully aware of how the chat works.
 * 2) Be kind: Your kindness goes a long way to making the chat a more open and friendly place, remember to always be kind to users.
 * 3) Be cool: Do not let yourself get mad or upset at users. Remember, everyone makes mistakes and everyone gets upset from time to time. If you need to don't be afraid to step back and cool down as well.
 * 4) Be professional: Being professional means knowing when to give users a warning when they are misbehaving, when to kick a user, and when to ban a user and for how long. It also means knowing that talking it out is often times more effective than kicking a user and always better than banning them. Bans are always reserved for the last resort and should be used sparingly. 