To the PF community:
I hope everyone is doing well and staying healthy in these unprecedented times (please check out our
statement on the coronavirus if you haven't already). Like many other businesses, the camera industry has also suffered in the past months (e.g., low camera sales figures and more recently, the sale of the Olympus camera division, etc.). Consequently, even though it would seem that Pentax is coping quite well in comparison, we've been observing a steady rise in negative sentiment toward the Pentax brand throughout the community, which in some cases has led to unpleasant confrontations in forum threads and difficult decisions by the moderators.
In line with my mission of Pentax Forums being a friendly and inclusive community for Pentax users, we are going to be taking a series of steps to help minimize these kinds of unpleasantries going forward.
- We are seeking additional moderators across multiple time zones to ensure that fewer issues that require moderator attention slip through the cracks (please visit this thread if interested)
- To the extent possible, we will take a proactive approach to help members avoid issues, rather than directly stepping in to act on problematic post/threads
- We will provide a greater degree of transparency regarding moderator actions in cases where a member disagrees with a decision that was made, even if the decision itself is not reversed
- We will gather additional feedback from the community: please feel free to share your ideas in this thread (the moderators will not comment on specific incidents however), or contact the moderators privately
- Although constructive criticism is welcome and encouraged, we will continue to maintain a firm stance against any form of bullying, trolling, or personal attacks.
To the latter point, I'd like to reiterate this statement that the moderation team posted several months ago:
Quote: In recent weeks and months we have received feedback - primarily from new members, but a few established ones too - regarding unnecessarily harsh, dismissive, rude and/or aggressive responses, especially (but not only) when someone raises concerns, doubts or criticisms of the Pentax brand.
PentaxForums is a brand-specific enthusiast site, and most of us here are Pentax enthusiasts. New members with critical views of the brand have a responsibility to understand the dynamics of the community they're participating in and consider the effect of their posts, and we've updated our Welcome & Forum Rules sticky post to reflect this, with
guidelines for new members. Even so,
all of our members - new
and old - have a responsibility to respect each other's opinions (even when we disagree), remain courteous and friendly at all times, keep an open mind, and avoid jumping to conclusions, making personal comments or name-calling (terms such as "fanboy" or "troll", for example). We each represent these forums whenever we post, and it's incumbent on us to present our community as welcoming, respectful, tolerant and helpful to all.
We might reasonably hope that our most established members in particular would take this responsibility to heart, to ensure the continued popularity and longevity of our community and the brands we all support.
When faced with a post where you feel the only option is to dismiss it or "shoot it down", please consider the wider effects of your response. If rules have been broken, report the post to a moderator using the "yellow triangle" report post feature (not by PM, please) and avoid further involvement in the discussion until a moderating decision has been made. Otherwise, please be mindful of the standards referred to above when responding.
Most of all, please strive to be friendly and respectful at all times. There is never just one way to offer (or counter) an opinion. However ill-conceived or inflammatory a post may seem, responding in kind does nothing to help our community and its reputation.
The moderating team will not hesitate to take appropriate action against members who consistently impact the forum atmosphere in a negative way. Thank you very much for your consideration, and - as always - many thanks for your valued contribution to the forums!
Adam
PentaxForums.com Webmaster (
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