There is a current meta storm about the banning of commonmass. This diary is not directly concerned with that issue. There were rec listed diaries specifically about it by Timeus and Boise Blue. I expressed my view about the specific issue in those diaries.
Some of the things I learned about in the many comments there raise some broader issues which go beyond one specific situation. I think this might be a good time to open a discussion on them. There were a number of people reporting problems they had experienced as bullying and harassment on Daily Kos and that on occasion that had spilled over into direct contacts in personal space. There were reports of people who no longer participate on DK because of it. One of them is reported to be Nurse Kelly, whom I have long held in great respect and affection. I consider that a real loss. She always struck me as a very strong person, so it seems reasonable to assume that this was more than minor conflict.
Online bullying is a big and pervasive problem. There are many sites on the net where it is more pervasive than it is at Daily Kos. However, it clearly exist here. It is something that the community moderation system as such isn't particularly well designed to deal with. HRs speak to specific content. That picks up some problems but not all of them. There is an available option of reporting problems to the help desk in a confidential moderation thread. That can be accessed by clicking the Help link in the far upper right hand corner of every page. I don't know how many people who were experiencing these kinds of problems with commonmass tried that option.
I think this would be a useful time for the Daily Kos administration to post a refresher on this topic. It is one thing for users to state what they think the policies and procedures are. It is also useful to get a clear official statement.
This all raises a couple of questions that I think are important.
1) What can we do as users to assist people who may be on the receiving end of online bullying?
2) What are wise and prudent practices about establishing offline contact with people that you know on Daily Kos?
Bullies in general tend to pick targets of people that look like they won't fight back and are not likely to have the support of a lot of other people. When it is happening it is often not particularly obvious to people who aren't on the receiving end of it. There is a general human tendency to stay out of what they see as other people's fights. In many situations that is indeed a good policy. However in a place like Daily Kos there are times when some supportive intervention may be called for. It is difficult to concoct a precise formula for determining when it is. However, the feeling that comes from being supported in a stressful situation can be quite powerful. Bullies tend to be cowards at heart and it often doesn't take a great deal to chase them off to look for an easier victim.
I am sure that people who feel that they are being harassed are reluctant to file a complaint with administration for fear that it will get communicated to the harasser and that the problems will only intensify. My view is that it is also likely to send them away and to establish an administrative trail that could lead to necessary corrective action. I'd really be interested in hearing from people who have had personal experience with the matter. I am not the sort of person that bullies are likely to find interesting.
I have established some very good offline friendships with people that I first got to know online, both at Daily Kos and elsewhere. I have met several really lovely people from Daily Kos who live in the same area where I do. I have attended a few planned get togethers and found them pleasant and not at all problematic. However, there are some useful guidelines to follow. I would never give out my personal email address or phone number to somebody unless I felt really comfortable with them. If I were going to meet someone face to face for the first time on a one to one basis I would make sure that it was in a public place.
Until the comments that I read last night I wasn't aware of bullying being a major problem on Daily Kos. One question I am raising here is whether or not it is. If it is are their constructive things that we could do to help people deal with it?