Thank you for taking the time to clear things up, @ratique. As someone relatively new to this forum, I was getting uneasy because I've seen my share of toxic people abusing systems or getting close to admins and mods so they would, often unknowingly, play into their hands. It seems that this isn't the case here, and I truly appreciate that you addressed the possibilities and worries nonetheless. 
I find the politics and drama on this forum very funny. You've got most people here working on comics for little or no money and yet so many issues become LIFE AND DEATH.
Reminds me of the famous quote: Academic politics are so vicious precisely because the stakes are so small.
Psychological science supports that observation. ^^ The smaller the tangible rewards are for holding certain viewpoints, the harder the mind works to make itself BELIEVE that they are correct.
casually pokes head in
Btw I think there was something about the number of flags required to hide a post being an issue (2, right?)
Is that even a parameter that mods can change or is it baked into the forum software? Just curious is all
Also round of applause for this thread actually being really civil and respectful considering the subject. Despite all the concerns, you've gotta admit that it's hard to find places on the Internet where this can happen 
disappears
That can be changed by the administrators, so only the Tapas team. The number of flags had originally been reduced when we were flooded with spam posts a few years ago, allowing the community to quickly remove the bad threads. If we need to raise it again, we can ask the tapas team to do so. Currently I don't believe it's necessary.
No problem. We try to stay as neutral as possible and make decisions as fair as we can. There is always someone who will be unhappy, that's just part of it.
Community mods can also be removed if we (nowadays: me) act out of line. You would simply contact Michael Son with a complaint against me.
Edit: BTW, I'm still on vacation, so don't @ me, bro. (I'm joking, @ me all you like, I just wanted to use that sentence. But I won't take care of your flags for the remainder of the week, that's on the other Mods.)
For me it's all about freedom of speech, which is not a small issue.
I don't really care about people who don't like me or the petty bullying I'm subjected to; I'm more worried about it as a possible symptom of some bigger problem.
I care about big principles for the whole community.
But I actually admit it's a bit idiotic, as it would be better if I was focusing on my own (future) forum project (nothing related to comics) instead of complaining about other forums that I'm on.
But it's actually related: I see all forums with the eyes of someone who's interested as a user and as a mod (or admin), looking at what I can learn. Sometimes I feel a bit outdated thinking forums are for exchanging opinions 
lol so @ratique already hopped on to mention it, but ya, i haven't been a mod here for like 2+ years hahaha
that being said, to confirm some things because i did used to be a mod here AND i've moderated much larger communities such as Zelda Universe as an administrator level mod
we absolutely do not get paid to moderate forums (though that would be a dream come true haha), the only thing mods can really do is make sure attitudes within their designated forums follow the guidelines, however that doesn't mean we're allowed to dictate what opinions should be had. if someone has a disagreement with someone else, that's fine, just so long as both people are civil in the discussion and it doesn't turn into any sort of hate speech or insults, etc. and that's ONLY within the forums, discord is a chat app, there's literally no way to make sure people don't talk trash when it's not on a moderator's designated platform.
and ya, there's ALWAYS gonna be some outburst of salt every now and then, that's just how the internet works. all the moderators can do is make sure those outbursts are contained and moderated for the sake of the community guidelines, but it would be foolish to expect everyone to have the same opinions all the time, even if some of those opinions are toxic.
and as ratique said, most people don't have the time or energy to want to organize psychological warfare on the Internet, we've all got better things to do lol those who don't are usually trolls who are very obviously trolls and if you ever run into those, flag them or report them to your moderator to look over and deal with. as long as y'all remember that moderators aren't robots who can be online 24/7 and they definitely aren't paid to do what they do lol
and ya, it "sounds silly until you're in the middle of it" but even in the middle of it it's like, silly Internet BS most of the time. i've had people harass me, i've had people take issue with my opinions, but at the end of the day, it's the Internet, it's an open platform where people can converse, so you can't expect everyone to get along all the time - just as you shouldn't put too much weight into what people say if you disagree with them, life will go on regardless and other forum platforms exist if you get tired of the one you're on. as someone who uses reddit and prefers it for most online communities these days, there are good places to be, bad places to be, and trying to change every attitude in every place is just noooot worth it. just turn your phone/computer off for a bit, don't feed into any troll BS (because EVERYONE can smell it from a mile away) and have fun. that's what we're all here for, anyway, to chill and have fun and talk about webcomics.
For some reason this seems to be some sort of default dismissal of the fact...MULTIPLE people have told this forum it happened. While I'm sure nobody is expecting a scorched earth reaction, it's no longer valid to dismiss it with a hand wave.
The same applies to all those who show up with "testimonials" of how they've never seen it on Discord. Are you on ALL the Discords ALL of the time? Of course not, so just STOP with that silliness. It's not a valid response to people reporting it happening.
You don't think I'll believe some groups of forum members are taking it upon themselves to "police" the board as they see fit?!? It's EXACTLY what I warned about when it happened to me...and what's being discussed in terms of others chasing away people they don't see as "positive" enough for the board.
I don't expect the mods, or former mods, to become hardened vigilantes in response to these events but I would hope they'd take a strong stance on it than shoulder shrugging.
Judging from personal experience, somehow "vague" thread titles required a harder response and administrative action than forum bullying....that's just sad.
That is an assumption on your end. There may be multiple members on the forum that can attest that bullying behavior is taken very seriously, with quick response and usually very drastic punishment for those involved.
In this specific thread, from what I could see, the information given has been very vague. No names were mentioned, including victims or perpetrators. I'm not aware who is the target and who is getting ready to throw out punches. Nor have I seen the conversations that happened and can't make a good judgement on how bad the situation is.
So in other words, you are expecting me to react to something that to me, at this point in time, is little more to hearsay. Likely true, yes - but still hearsay.
Will we act when a user is attacked? Yes.
Will we try to prevent an attack from happening? Yes - you can contact me personally if you have information regarding potential upcoming issues, and I will keep an eye on what's going on.
Will we track forum users on other platforms to police them? No. We don't have the right nor the bandwidth to do so.
For the sake of privacy, I won't discuss accusations against specific users on a public platform. If you have issues or concerns regarding specific people, feel targeted or have damning off-forum information with receipts, please feel free to send them to me or staff. We will review and decide how to best react or prepare.
(Btw: I'm back from Vacay)
In all honesty I thought this thread was done and dusted an little more could be gained from it. I don't speak for anyone else but I would be happy to bring this to a close now.
I'm expecting a definitive statement that clarifies that shifting terms to vague nonsense like calling individuals "rot" or "negative" is equally as much bullying as using specific slurs. So far, all that's been said is differing viewpoints are respected but it's not exactly the response these actions merit. Instead, these new buzzwords are just empowerment to create deniability for new types of bullying. It's wrong and should be directly addressed.
I don't expect you, or anyone else, to time travel and address past issues ...mine or anyone else's.
But how about a strongly worded statement that individuals on the forums are not empowered to judge who should, or should not be, allowed to be active here based on their individual biases?
I may have missed something, but in no way was it made clear that somebody has been called "Rot". The title of this thread didn't get brought up in the OP post, so I didn't consider it to be more than a title. So you are asking me to read into a thread and know information that I can't know about.
Also, I am no politician. I'm not a believer in fancy words and statements. Instead, clear action and quick response often speaks louder than 1000 words. (I'm feeling very melodramatic today, so allow me my cheesy writing)
The forum rules are clear and Marius was so kind to quote it to us. Be polite and treat each other with respect and tolerance.
You, Marius and myself are in the same age range and I did not find it necessary to reply to Marius that "bullying bad" and "people should be nice". That is a basic assumption that even our youngest forum members grasp very quickly.
While I believe that our forum rules already include this point, sure:
The tapas forum is an open, inclusive forum for readers, writers and artists. We welcome all different mindsets and opinions, as long as they are discussed respectfully.
Hate speech, bullying and trolling in both public threads and private messages are highly discouraged and will lead to immediate banning.
Well, I'm going to jump into the fray because I like me some rot. (And probably have too much time on my hands this morning.)
I think @skicoak is trying to bring up a point that is getting missed. While some bullying or prejudices get strongly policed, some don't. I've seen almost no sexism, racism or other ism on the forum--which is great. Thank you, in that regard, for creating a space where it's not toxic. (Read Yahoo comments to see just how messed up people can be.)
However, there is a tendency by a minority on the forum to belittle or make unwelcome people who might be more cynical or less positive or more clear-eyed or just go against the grain--or have an ironic sense of humor that people take the wrong way.
Every once in a while "group think" emerges and the intent is to silence or marginalize dissenting voices. It's a bit more subtle to pick up on--but it is there. Perhaps Tapas should have a policy statement that addresses this aspect of forum interaction. Different viewpoints are not only tolerated but are welcome, even edgy and cranky ones.
Let me clarify...
As Ratique states, They have mechanisms to handle individuals that break forum rules...so if the "rot" were breaking rules ON the forums, they'd be handled...right?
Nobody would be using a vague term like "rot" to describe someone or their actions unless the point was specifically to be vague...to have deniability. To be able to group people in bulk and then side step the allegation if challenged on it.
There's a reason why the OP isn't naming names while threatening to take their ball and go home if we don't all play the way the OP wants...it's because the vagueness allows everyone to jump in and vaguely define the "rot" on their own terms. Reread the thread... It's filled with posts of people complaining about their own vague impressions of who/what is "rot" on this forum.
All of which is quantifiably not about about actual forum infractions.
It's a internet version of The Burn Book but at least Regina George and The Plastics had the gumption to use real names and not code words like "rot".
Ding ding! Ring the bell, we have a winner!
