Discussion about an inappropriate joke

Good idea. The user is not known for inappropriate behaviour, we can’t even rule out the possibility of a computer-left-on-at-desk prank or whatever. @tiwane Let’s move this train of threads (that I have just perpetuated) in the suggested way and return this thread to its pure wholesomeness!

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Yes, I agree. The object of harassment should not be harassed. However, if sexual harassment in the form of inappropriate jokes is something that is happening on iNaturalist, I very much DO have a right to know about that AND to know what moderators and/or other iNaturalist staff are doing about it. Every member of this community has that right. I originally responded to someone who was reluctant to post a profile photo and then ran into the nebulous “Was there harassment or wasn’t there?” situation. Now that it is clear to me that the staff has tried to track that down and gotten nowhere, I am satisfied, but I don’t regret a second of the time it took to come to that rather nebulous level of clarity.

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Thanks @tiwane

PS can’t delete my original comment - which was a response to exonie.
I did not ‘start this topic’

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I moved this to a new thread and to a more appropriate category as it was derailing the original discussion. If you see something wrong or inappropriate, please flag it and/or message @forum_moderators. Discussing it in the thread makes for a confusing conversation and this one also led to a lot of public speculation. I know it came out of concern and care so I understand, but it’s also best to not give something like that more oxygen. While I don’t know what the motivation was here, I can tell you that as a teenager I enjoyed trolling AOL chatrooms (that was a long time ago…) and any sort of stir or commotion I could create motivated me to do it more.

From the Forum Guidelines:

Moderators have special authority; they are responsible for this forum. But so are you. With your help, moderators can be community facilitators, not just janitors or police.

When you see bad behavior, don’t reply. It encourages the bad behavior by acknowledging it, consumes your energy, and wastes everyone’s time. Just flag it. If enough flags accrue, action will be taken, either automatically or by moderator intervention.

Again, as far as I can tell there was never a user with the name that was referred to in the original post, it was a joke. The joke was hidden and the poster was messaged by me.

I’ve set this topic to close in 24 hours.

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Well since this is away from harm now I’d just like to clarify that I wasn’t tracking people down or harassing anyone. I’m not entirely sure why my posts were flagged since I just pointed out that this was possibly a poor joke that was misunderstood. Sorry if it upset anyone, that wasn’t my intention at all.

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To be honest, I don’t know if I’m being oversensitive here, but the premise of the original thread bothered me a bit even without the botched attempt at humor.

I do not have a problem with discussing in a general way how we interact with profile pictures and what purpose they serve. But specifically calling out particular users on the basis of their profile photo – even when this is meant in a positive sense – feels uncomfortably like judging people by their (virtual) appearance. With a side of talking about them behind their backs, when it is users who may not even read the forum. Whatever the value of an avatar (for allowing us to quickly recognize other users, or because they make us smile, or feel warm and fuzzy, etc.), it nonetheless doesn’t seem to me that the choice of avatar (whether brilliant or unremarkable) has any bearing on what that person is able to contribute to the community.

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This topic was automatically closed after 24 hours. New replies are no longer allowed.