The admin staff has the unappreciated job of maintaining an overall vision for MDStreetScene and for keeping order within a virtual community of people behind their computers. MDStreetScene is a free service that takes time and effort to update and maintain. Given the nature of the internet, there needs to be Rules and Terms set in place to keep the mission and values of the site true. Understandably, this will irritate some users who want to things to run in a way that will allow them to act how they choose. We are unable to please everyone. Please familiarize yourself with the Rules of MDStreetScene. (Click here to read more)
In a perfect world (on the internet) we would be able to run a forum of thousands of members with little to no rules or control. Members, who are adults, would be mature enough to have discussions, and even debates, without name calling and without throwing out random insults and BS banter. But, that’s not the internet world we live in. People type whatever they want on their keyboards without thinking of consequences.
It is easy to run a 50 member forum where most people have met in person and can decipher if someone is just being sarcastic or truly being ignorant. With a community of over 4,000 members, sarcasm and joking can be misconstrued or just downright “bullying” can occur. This is NOT the community we want to run here. From the beginning we’ve run a tight ship and squashed any such actions immediately once they occurred.
As more and more people register at MDSS, we’re finding it important to clearly state our position up front. We want to make it clear that we don’t tolerate grudge debates, call out threads, threats, name calling, arranging street races, or any other kind of discussion (illegal or not) that is has a negative tone.
Share knowledge. Share your ideas. Debate politics. Disagree with each other. Question each other. But do it with tact. Do it without name calling. Do it without being sarcastic and provoking people. Do it with maturity. Know when enough is enough. Leave it be.
You might be saying to yourself “it’s just the internet, who cares? Or “internet serious business”. Say what you will, but the fact is, you’re part of an active community ON the internet. Just like you need rules/laws and enforcement the in all aspects of life, you need rules and enforcement on internet communities.
People will be people and they will say and do whatever they want on the internet thinking it’s free reign. It is not here. We want open discussions and sharing of ideas, opinions, but we want it done with a little tact.
There is no such thing as “free speech”. That term applies to civilians protection from the government punishing them for saying things against the government. (Simplified definition, but you get the point.)
We have to draw the line between desiring an open community and having an “anything goes” attitude. It’s not easy. Honestly. It takes a lot more work than you would imagine to maintain an active forum and website. Some people are going to appreciate the control – some people aren’t.
We can’t please everyone, please understand that we do what is best for the larger community. We welcome your constructive suggestions, ideas, and knowledge to help make MDSS a better place! (Really, we do!)