So this is my take on the current events. The previous thread was locked without explanation so I am posting here for the community to see.
Enjoy!
Okey Dokey...So...
Let me construct some context to start with. In 2010, I joined Dream Views. For a couple years, I had average activity. Every once in a while I would join chat but not much. Near the beginning of 2012, I decided to get more involved in lucid dreaming, so I began frequenting the site more often. I signed up for a General Lucid dreaming class, signed up for the DVA class, frequented chat, and began posting more. After a while of being a part of the DVA class, Ophelia invited me to be an apprentice which I happily accepted. During my time as a DVA apprentice, my Dream Views activity kept growing. I began going to chat on a near daily basis. For about a year, I have been actively involved in DVA, and in chat. My main focus in chat has always been the lucid dreaming channel. This is because above all, my focus has been to share the knowledge and experience I have gained with others. This brings us to the near present. At the beginning of October, I was asked to become part of staff. I chose to be a Dream Guide. While becoming a mod was an option, like I said before, sharing knowledge and experience has always been my primary focus. For about one month, I have been acting as Dream Guide, and my activity on DV has continued to grow. This brings us to the present time and the present events.
Ok...
So I was planning on writing a carefully worded post on this in order to produce some kind of meaningful result, but that is not going to happen. A few days ago after reviewing everything that I could see, I wrote down some notes that essentially represent the reality of the situation from my viewpoint.
Before that however, I want to acknowledge a few things. Firstly, that our staff structure is woefully inadequate to handle disputes of these kinds. At the present time, we have two admins handling the situation and it seems they are both agreed on the particulars of the conflict. This is a problem in two ways.
1. Only two admins controlling the entire community with a singular vision on the culpability of those accused of wrongdoing and the actions that would result in resolution has the potential to be dangerous to say the least. In other words, there is no balance among administration. There is no voice representing both sides, and bringing people together to form a middle ground.
2. When this situation occurs and develops, these two admins no matter who they are, will most likely feel isolated. This isolation will result in feeling threatened, and cause defensive behavior. All of this is entirely counter productive to reasonable dialogue and conflict resolution.
Now. To my notes!
Former Staff Intentions
Staff has left that apparently did not want to leave but felt compelled. They remain part of the community which shows their intentions. Those being a desire to participate, commune, and teach new comers. However, for whatever reason they do not feel that is ably facilitated within the confines of staff positions.
"This is Normal"
There have been mass staff exoduses in the past and the reason seems to escape any who I ask. It just 'seems to happen' according to current staff. I have even been told that it happens at the same time every year although that seems hard to believe. [after some research, it seems that there have been multiple mass staff exits within the last few years at unpredictable points in the year] My inclination is to think that when a person leaves, that causes others to self reflect on their participation in staff and depending on the circumstances they leave as well. It probably happens in groups because some have been considering the possibility for some time even if unconsciously.
The Site Owner
There are complaints about the level of involvement by Alex, the owner of the forum. The reason for this in my estimation is that staff continually sites command from above as reason for their actions. They cannot change because policy is enacted from above. This has led to further complaints about the nature of the website itself. Staff is not paid for services rendered. However, Alex does receive payment as well as alleged investors. These payments no doubt are dependent on site traffic. There have been massive amounts of change with and without Alex’s direct involvement. My guess is that he is notified of planned changes and gives a stamp of approval or not. [Understandably the site owner is heavily involved in making the rules. This does not however imply that he has total control. This implication shows that a culture of dictation is simply assumed and questioning said culture is useless]
SornaChat
In 2012 some members of dream views started a chat server. The purpose was to chat. Now in 2013, this chat has become a focal point for conflict. The reason being that many people who have formerly been staff were previously associated with that chat server or its members. This has led current leadership to infer responsibility for the schism in staff upon these members and their chat server. Even so far as saying they are poaching new members and advertising a competing website. A consequence of this exodus from DV IRC has been that traffic has fallen drastically. New members come to chat only to find it silent with upwards of thirty idlers. [On any given day, it is hard to predict how the traffic will fluctuate. For about a month, DV traffic dropped considerably. It is currently on the rise again, ironically because those former members have increased their activity. It is clear to me that IRC depends on a core of users that frequent the chat. Otherwise, when newcomers arrive, they are greeted with silence and leave. That core user base has taken DV years to establish, so disposing of these former members would be a huge loss to the community.]
Staff Conflict
There are no official guidelines for dealing with staff disputes, complaints, etc. There are no clear guidelines for demotion of staff. Most decisions are made in house among upper level administration. This is in large part the cause for the displeasure of several staff members and users over the demotion of Killing. There still has been no official or unofficial explanation of why Killing was let go. [There have been explanations, but none that reference her wrongdoing. It is just said that she was abusive without siting any referencing material.]Admins attempted to quell any unrest, however their efforts were only effective for those who have remained ignorant of the reality on the ground.
Staff Confidentiality
The secrecy of staff at the current juncture: There has been a large outcry over the secrecy of the decisions made by staff. Even other staff members were not made aware of decisions affecting them. This is a sensitive topic because a certain level of secrecy and confidentiality is expected when dealing with staff obligations. There are justifiable reasons to keep most staff communications within the structure of the staff community. On the other hand, there is very little effort made to promote transparency among staff. Users may voice their problems in the form of feedback on a user forum. There is no avenue for formal complaints that are required to be reviewed by staff. This makes it very simple for staff to simply ignore any user complaints.
Lets Step Back For A Moment
A more general perspective would seem to present the conclusion that most of these issues have been below the surface most of forums existence. There has never been a major outcry of complaints enough to warrant reform however, making this instance a glaring example of the inconsistencies and inadequacies of this forum’s policies. There was in the past a “revolt” among members allegedly because there were some members who wanted the forums to become private and not allow anymore new members. This was swiftly quashed and there were reforms established to improve the user experience in the forum. [The reform in previous situations does not apply to current events except to provide a larger context of community grievances.]
In Conclusion
The continual turnover of staff is not an occurrence of regularity due to natural inclinations. It is the fact that certain conditions within the command structure make it nearly impossible to reconcile disputes among staff. There is very little incentive to be honest and open. The reason being is that the power is concentrated directly at the top. There is no democratic process. Staff is consulted; however there is no protocol for staff selection. There is no protocol for staff termination. These deficiencies have become painfully apparent in the fallout proceeding Killing’s demotion.
It does appear many of the members simply want to avoid any major conflict citing only their major problems with staff decisions. [Some more flamboyant members have lacked restraint in the situation and have decided to become aggressive toward current DV administration. This is not being condoned. It should also be noted that aggressions began in earnest following the demotion of Killing.]My view is that this is a systemic problem that if unaddressed will lead to the deflation of dream views altogether. The forum is full of professional grade lucid dreaming material. Staff is not being paid to do jobs that are professional quality. Much of the information presented in the forums cannot be found in lucid dreaming literature. The raw experience being drawn upon in this community makes it an essential asset to the international lucid dreaming community.
I thank you for taking the time to read my opinions and hope that this can result in better communication among staff, thereby producing improved relations with the community.