Administrator Note: Regarding Classic Trolling/Drama Scenario

[MsJacquiiC]

The following is a comment I made to Bariatric Girl's blog post Toxic Trauma Drama at the WLS Ranch. Actually Yvonne presented an interesting scenario in the blog post ((click the link above to view the post in it's entirety...)) but just to paraphrase - the blog post was questioning the presence of drama within online WLS support communities such as The Journey.

The scenario she presented was a little bit of an argument that I'm sure we've all seen at the various forums we belong to... It's a classic trolling/drama scenario:

Alice: I like orange and I can't see why anyone would like red...I mean what are you thinking? Betty: Well I like orange too but if you like red, you're nuts. Cheryl: I like red, orange sucks and you can go to hell Betty: Cheryl, you're a freakin' bitch! Dawn: Betty you're freakin' bitch because I've liked red longer than anyone so you don't know crap! Alice: Don't call my friend Betty a bitch and your surgery type sucks too. Cheryl: You're fat and I'm at goal Betty: I can lose weight but you can't fix ugly

Kinda funny right --- Well - I was inspired to post a bit about my own personal administrative style and what I hope our own WLS Journey Community Forums:

You hit on a good point though - because on so many forums there is all that drama that you just wanna scream "SAVE ALL OF THAT FOR YOUR MAMA - HELP ME SUCCEED IN MY JOURNEY ALREADY!" Yes - even on WLS support forums, which kinda blows my mind. In fact - I think The Journey opened for registrations just in time as a favorite forum of mine seems to have attracted some drama queens and drama kings who will swear on their mothers' graves that they are not drama queens and drama kings. I assure you they are! I myself started JPiC Forum For Writers because I could not stand the abundance of drama at the poetry forum I was Assistant Admin at... People criticizing each other over the overuse of the word "and" and a stray misplaced comma - kinda took all the fun out of the place. It lost it's purpose. I mean the whole point of being part of such a community was to share our passions with like-minded people! I was 100% completely over it = I'm an official No Drama Mama, so I set about to do my own thing -- A few smilies I customized for JPiC: AND I think the point did not go unnoticed when I started making exquisite use of them tehehehe I can lead by example and do the best I can to keep my eye on the prize. This is the concept I try to keep at the fore of my administrative style. That and humor - I do love a good belly laugh... At anyrate - The prize here at The Journey Community Forums is stated in the logo taglines: Sharing. Supporting. Smiling. Shaping ourselves into healthier people. One cannot necessarily remain supportive and smiling whilst dealing with uninhibited drama. Using the example presented in your blog - My approach towards moderation would be to say "Who cares? Orange or red - the only difference is a little splash of yellow. Get over yourselves people and be supportive OR take it elsewhere. Thread closed!" We do not censor posts here - but I will not allow unnecessary, petty, dramatic, anti-social bickering. I nip it directly in the bud. Quickly. And will eventually demand the same of our Moderating Team, when and if the time comes that we require moderators... The Journey is all about creating an ambiance of support and helping each other make successful use out of our WLS tool. So hopefully you will not see any of that pettiness here at The Journey, as we strive to become the #1 WLS Support Community on the net. Jacquii.