ESB:Mindset comments

I would like to explain a bit more regarding AW10's proposal because I believe it's the most important discussion in the history of ESB and should not be read and considered lightly. Since early 2014, almost 2 years ago, we have had various forms of--whatever you want to call it--drama, controversy, infighting, etc. with an influx of negativity and the development of a bad reputation. I believe this is something--perhaps the only thing--we all can agree upon. ESB isn't as civil was it one was in 2013 and prior. AW10 has made some great observations and put them into a plan. Many of us have acknowledged the problems and are looking for a solution. I am going to highlight some important points of AW10's proposal.

1. Discussion system
 * At the present time, the discussion system that AW10 is using (in which there is a concern stage followed by a voting stage) is not an official system. There will be a separate proposal in the future to change this. There has been more positive feedback on this new discussion system, as well as many users acknowledging that the discussion system we have had in place for years is not the most effective.

2. Changing policy mindset
 * Ever since the beginning of ESB, a situation will come up, and we will create rules to prevent something from happening. Remember, the drama/controversy/infighting has been rampant and on and off since January 2014. Take a look at the policy page revision from August 21, 2013 by clicking here. We had a small, simple set of rules. Ever since then, for the most part, we have created policies in response to controversy that have forced the community to abide by them. Oftentimes, the rules we put in place are flawed and tweaked multiple times. Remember all those discussions on policy changes we had throughout 2014? Obviously, our approach to adopting rules is not working and this needs to change. By this, I mean we need adapt rules to the community.

3. Personas
 * The idea of personas, in case anyone is wondering about them is to basically acknowledge that there are different groups of people on ESB, whether it is active people, semi-active people, or lurkers. We need to be aware of these (and so defining such would allow us to understand and be on the same page). Basically what a problem is, when we create a policy in the past, we are looking to the entire group as a whole. In other words, we have passed policies that hurt certain groups of users and/or readers. Clearly defining which types of groups contribute/read ESB is important in making decisions.

4. New policy format
 * One of the main things about the new policy format is actually defining user roles. In the 8 years ESB has existed, roles are either loosely defined or not defined at all. This can give some clarification and also present to other users that ESB is not a place of strict rules and authoritarianism. We want to stress that each user has a role to play to make ESB work well, accomplish our goals, and create harmony in the community.

5. Current policies
 * This proposal is not here to eliminate our current policies. It is to establish a new approach to future policies and their respective discussions. We will of course go back and assess the current policies to see how we can reform them to this new mindset and move the community in a more forward, more harmonious future.