Moderation is Key

Day 839, 10:24 • Published in USA USA • by Talvari

I enjoy the chats here on eRepublik. On my down time, I enjoy chatting with people, bantering back and forth, good-natured joking, and a lot of the time, helping out less-experienced players. The chats really are an invaluable resource that have helped many newbies off to a great start.

Lately, though, I am getting quite disgusted with the amount of trolling (to those of you that don’t know, a troll is basically someone who goes into a chat, a thread, whatever, with the sole purpose of causing drama) going on.

As I said before, good natured joking and what not are all fine and dandy. Even the occasional cursing or perverse joke does not offend me, and after a long day, sometimes its nice to hop on the chats and just screw around.

It is, however, NOT okay for the amount of racism and sexual harassment that goes on. Yes, I am a female, and yes, I do have my own picture as my avvy, so maybe that does invite a little bit of trouble. I expect a little teasing here or there, or maybe a good-natured pun or tease or flirt. But full out sexual harassment is unacceptable. I cannot count how many times I have been told to put my mouth on a certain part of the anatomy and suck, or that I am an ugly ‘woman of the night’.

I have even had my fiancee, and even more disgusting, my seven-month-old daughter, dissed and put down. One guy even offered to do sexual acts ON my daughter.

And don’t even get me started on the overt racism!

I admit, I am guilty of feeding the troll. It is a bad habit to get into, but it’s a way to let off steam. That and some of these people are so abusive and infuriating that its impossible to ignore them.

And before someone suggests it, yes, I am aware that there is a block feature. But then you only get one side of the conversation, and not everyone is intelligent enough to block trolls, so you get bits and pieces like “oh, you leave talvari alone.” Wouldn’t you wonder what the heck was being said, too?

And, “why don’t you just leave?” Because why should I? I have a right to be in the chat, talking to online friends. Why should I be the one bullied out when I have done no wrongs?

I am seriously stressing that I *DO NOT* get offended easily. I have a lot of male friends on here and I joke around with the best of them. If something is ever done, like, say, have a moderator put into the chats, I would hate for all banter and joking to be ruined. eRepublik is a great way to meet people around the world and talk with them. I just don’t think we should have to put up with blatant abuse.

A moderator would have to be set up delicately. Someone who is an older player and has no complaints against them, or who can at least provide several people who will speak for them. We would need moderators who are responsible and who would not abuse their power. Several rules could be implemented… For one, a person must be given two chances to stop what they are doing before they are kicked. For another… at least (this number of) people must complain about the same person for them to be kicked. For a third… A simple chat log could be kept to see who acted inappropriately.

I am tired of trying to talk to online friends and being harassed. I am tired of people using disgusting sexual innuendoes on me. I am tired of defending people, and I am tired of people telling me ‘just ignore it” or “just leave”.