How you can help the community.

Inspired by @Venom_Snake

Staff member or no, you're able to help the community more than you think. Sometimes it's really unclear if we're able to prove ourselves "worth while" to the community, but to be honest, there is more to this community than just building your identity and farming likes.

The idea behind creating this community was to connect people from all around the world and establish a center for entertainment. However, this community has evolved to more of a race to see who can have more likes, followers, and popularity. The whole intention of actually socializing and making new friends is almost obsolete.

While we can never win against attention seekers, we can always do our best to abolish it where we see it. There is always room for improvement, and you can help regardless of your rank.

1. Respect toward each other.​

It should be common sense that we should respect one another, but surprisingly, that isn't the case here. Sometimes we may have conflict between one another, albeit political views, religion, race, personality, or prejudice.

While we are free to choose who we wish to like and socialize with, we have to respect the fact that we are in no place to judge another member. We should also note that no matter how different someone is, they are human and deserve fair respect.

2. Reach out to new members.​

The intentions of this community are more of a race to popularity rather than actual socialization. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with this, it is fairly easy to tell that most of the posts on these forums could be sarcastic, purely for the sole purpose of farming likes, or just to grab attention in general. Very rarely is a post written to inspire, to interact with, or to reach out to someone.

I'm not asking you to have hugs and kisses for every new member you spot, but honestly, it must be quite a struggle to feel insignificant in a vast community as this. If you see a player struggling with their identity or socialization on this server, help them out! Show them the guidelines of the community, how they can help, and inspire them to do good!

A player is more likely to have a positive reaction to an esteemed member who is forgiving and positive rather than an unforgiving and demeaning member.

Think before you post. When a new member is causing drama, obviously unaware of the guidelines, think before posting. Speaking out against them and belittling them for their drama may farm you likes, but is it worth it? Instead of bashing down the new member, tell them that what they're doing is wrong. Let them know they made a mistake, and that they can move on from it. Sometimes this can go a long way between a new member's decision between remaining with the community or leaving. Don't kill your enemy. Make them your friend.

3. Keep a watchful eye to protect this community.​

A server will always have people that break rules. Every report that you post, and every player you report that is doing wrong helps the community. It rights wrongs, and it keeps the games fresh and clear from any players who will ruin the experience for others. Reporting people is in no way a bad thing. You are not a snitch, and you have done nothing wrong by simply helping this community!

The staff of this community cannot be perfect, and they cannot be the only people to handle bad behavior when it shows. Be the helping hand, and report bad behavior where ever you see it!

4. Inspire​

Inspiration will always benefit someone. When a member is unsure about themselves, don't be so quick to turn a deaf ear to them. While they may not be your problem, sometimes small words than lead to big changes. The fact of knowing that some people support a member can really go a long way to building a better community.

There is no harm done in greeting a new member. There is no harm done in saying a simple "Hello!" in reply when a member says the same. There is no harm in showing members right from wrong, and there is no harm in showing someone that they are more important than they think.

5. Form a better mentality​

We all want to be the best we could possibly be, but sometimes our social life ends up forming a "gang mentality." While there is no harm done in having friends and groups, we should all be willing to reach out to new people.

If you were new to a community, you would obviously want to be accepted and welcomed. You would want to socialize with others and form friendships with other people. Instead of ignoring someone simply because they don't have a rank, make them feel welcome. Let them know that there is nothing wrong with being yourself.

In conclusion, whether you have a staff rank or not does not matter. Whether you have thousands of likes received or not doesn't matter. It's really who decides to step out from the crowd and decides to help this community rather than use it as a place to boost their reputation.

We cannot force you to change how you post, but we can only show you the difference between a community of socialization and interaction, and a community of rivalry to see who can receive the most popularity, likes, followers, and attention. We cannot force you to make any decision, but whether you have this community's best interest at heart or not is up to you.

Thanks for reading, have a great day/night, and stay positive.

-Sirius

 

You know, last time I saw one of these threads, I did not think that I could respect you any more.
I was wrong.

Moreover, I agree with everything you just said, and there is really nothing I can really say except a big-ass thank you!
Obviously I was kidding, I need to go into a bit more context. I personally think it is really sad when someone makes a really sarcastic thread about Pepe, it gets all the attention, but when someone creates a meaningful thread like this one for example, nobody seems to care. As of the time of me posting this, this thread by itself has 32 views, which says a lot.
New members are the very core of this community as a whole, because without them, we'll do I even have to explain that? No, I do not. (Sorry if this turning into a mini-rant, but I have points to make about this. I will try to be as positive as possible though!)
I agree with what you said about accepting new members, but people fail to see that they count just as much as they do.
Just because you have 1,000+ likes does not mean that you are better than them somehow.

Also, I could say so many things about people who value themselves over others in real life, as well as here.
Narcissism is the new trend of the twentieth century! Humbug!
There is no way to force anyone to make this decisions as you and I have, but people need to step out of their own little worlds and see that they are not the center of attention.
Like it or not, that new member who made that extremely hilarious post on that thread got more likes then the person with 5,000+ likes did. That is not related to the topic, and I will not act like that was, but it was still worth mentioning.
This forum has a curse on it when it comes to how people see themselves as the "Big Leader" of the forum.
While it is true, as previously stated, that we cannot force members to do any of this, it won't stop me from trying to lead them in the right direction as you are doing.
People need to realize that making the right decisions is better than making the right decisions in the eyes of the world (in this case forum).

I will end with a positive note here, thank you for everything you are doing here, and I apappreciate you taking inspiration from me also, it means a lot and shows me someone actually cares just like I do.
I have a lot of friends here also that feel the same as I do, but are silent about it.
They know their name.
But back on topic, you are doing everything in your power to help, and I will join you every step of the way!
I may make a thread about this topic later, and I will tag you once I finish it.
Thanks again for everything!

 

I really like this thread, thank you for posting it.

 

This is a great thread! A lot of people on this server are blind to these sort of topics and it's good you made a thread to grab their attention.

 

You should include this on your info page ^-^

 

Now that I think about it, that's a great idea!

Sure thing man ;)

 

This is really helpful! Thank you for posting this.

 

I absolute adore this thread. It is very, very helpful to new, and old community members. This thread covers things like endurance, and encouragement, and I love that. What I love about this thread a-lot, is that it is coming from someone that everyone understands, and someone who loves and appreciates the community.

You mentioned the topic "Inspire" and, I couldn't agree enough with this. Especially coming from you, I am not surprised this is one topic brought up, because honestly you are such an inspirational person.
Thank you so much for posting this thread, I, and surely many, many other people appreciate it!

 

Well said & appreciated, Sirius. Though, not everyone will abide by this thread or barely any of the things listed.
Yet again, the more people that make a thread about this topic, eventually, the 5 things listed will eventually spread. :)

 

Thank you all!

We all have a spark inside of us that we hide. Sometimes we just need someone to fan the flame. Once that has been done, it will spread like a fire, and that is what we need. We need more players to open themselves up and recognize that we are here to be ourselves and be one big, happy community. Problems will always be there, but who says we can't bring them to be minimal? :)