Posters who demonstrate a Pattern of participation in Conflict may be banned from any Elm Forum.
The goal of a Forum is to encourage friendships, mentorships, and collaborations aligned with Elm’s goals.
A Forum is open to participation from anyone with any background, assuming that participation is aligned with the goals of the Forum.
Everyone comes into a discussion with different perspectives and information. Sharing this diversity is a necessary part of communicating in a Forum, and it can be a wonderful thing!
A Conflict is an interaction which distracts or detracts from the Forum goals of encouraging friendships, mentorships, and collaborations aligned with Elm’s goals.
People with the best intentions can find themselves participating in Conflict quite easily online.
A Pattern is when a poster participates in Conflict on multiple occasions.
A Pattern may arise over the course of multiple conversations, separated by weeks or months. A Pattern may also arise within a single conversation.
Participation in Conflict does not require intent. A Pattern of participation in Conflict does not require intent.
There is no appeals process.
Our community managers have limited time and energy. It can be used to:
- Work towards Forum goals by encouraging friendships, mentorships, and collaborations aligned with Elm’s goals.
- Relitigate cases for posters who have demonstrated a Pattern of participation in Conflict.
These two activities compete directly for time and energy. It is possible that a mistake was made, but we have decided to focus on (1) at the expense of (2).
Some posters do not realize they are participating in Conflict. Here are some general notes on that:
- Desiring friendship does not imply that you are encouraging friendship in the Forum.
- Desiring mentorship does not imply that you are encouraging mentorship in the Forum.
- Desiring collaboration does not imply that you are encouraging collaboration aligned with the Elm’s goals in the Forum.