As some of you will know, in recent times we have had problems with some members making insulting comments about characters, pairings, "rival" shipping fandoms, and individual fans. Because of the recent events in the Naruto manga, emotions and tensions have been running high between all the shipping fandoms.
Everyone feels like they have to "protect" the pairing(s) they love, and this has led to increased amounts of bashing on all Naruto-related websites. Even here, on Heaven & Earth.
So, the other Admins, Mods, and I would like to make our stance very clear on this issue:
What we are doing:
We will not ban talk about other pairings and their fandoms. However, anyone who decides to bash any characters, pairings, fandoms or fans will face very strict action from the Admins and Mods - a warning and a high chance of being banned from the topic that the bashing comment was posted in.
We have a new tool that allows us to ban individual members from a topic, if we feel that they are trolling and/or bashing. The Topic Ban is in addition to the normal disciplinary process, and it is entirely up to the mods if/when it will be used, and whether it is temporary or permanent.
For example, if someone decided to make repeated bashing comments in a chapter discussion thread, we would warn them AND ban them from that chapter thread. That would serve as a warning not to do it again in the next chapter thread.
Persistent bashing would still lead to forum bans, as per the normal disciplinary process.
Why we have decided this:
Nobody likes having their favourite pairings/characters/series insulted and mocked. So, why should we do it to others? Bashing is just a vicious circle without end, and it does not make anyone look good. Without exception, bashing just lowers the tone, and it makes our website look bad to others.
There are better ways to spend your time as well. Instead of getting into arguments, just enjoy your favourite characters/pairings/series! Play some games, read some stories, enjoy fanart, have interesting discussions.
How to avoid bashing:
Think before you post. If you were a fan of the very thing you want to bash, how would you feel about it? You don't like having your favourite things bashed, so why should you bash their favourite things? We're all just fans and we simply chose our fandoms just because we enjoy them.
There are many ways to comment and have productive debates about things without bashing. For example:
"This theory doesn't make sense to me, because... (manga evidence & viewpoint)" - that's fine.
"lol, they're just delusional." - that's not fine, and will lead to a warning.
If you see anything that is seen as bashing, please help steer the conversation away from that, and/or send a report to the mods!
Thank you for reading.