Subject: Just to briefly use myself as an example:
Author:
Posted on: 2017-04-20 17:07:00 UTC
Do you think people would have been so willing to forgive my meltdown in March if I hadn't been around as long as I had?
That's what I meant by 'tenure'. A sort of immunity to behaviors that wouldn't be acceptable from newer people.
I've been looking back over the Huinesoron Scale of Newbie/Oldbieness and I started wondering how it could be updated over time.
(original here: http://disc.yourwebapps.com/discussion.cgi?id=199610;article=305324;search_term=olderbie)
Here's a copy of the Scale at it conception:
-Originalbie. 2002-August 2003.
-Ancientbie. Aug '03-February 2005.
-Veteran. Feb '05-June 2008.
-Olderbie. Jun '08-May 2012.
-Oldbie. May '12-September 2015.
-Middlebie. Sept '15-September 2016.
-Newbie. Sept '16-February 2017.
Any thoughts?
PS: Personally, I think the Newbie, Middlebie, Oldbie, and Olderbie should be based on time since they joined the PPC.
For example, Newbie could be people from 0-6 months, while Middlebie would be from 6-18 months, etc.
However, I feel like Originalbie, Acientbie, and Vetern(bie) should be stationary (especially because the start and end dates are based around different events [See hs's original post]).
Love to hear your thoughts.
Either of the scales makes me a newbie
The fact that I immediately used it to crown my wife Magnificent Tsarina of the PPC was probably a hint in that direction. ^_^
hS
The Smoot was originally a joke too.
https://youtu.be/-scs_yF59YE
Trying to make it an official timeline would make the hierarchy of the PPC even more blatant. As it is, we've already got a bit of a problem (just my opinion, sorry, but it's what I've seen) where people who've been around long enough have a sort of tenure, and giving them the ability to point at an official calendar and say "I've been here longer than you, that's why XYZ!" won't really help matters.
The way I understand it, tenure means you have a contract that says you can't be fired from your job for a certain period of time. Not sure how that concept applies to a community where we all hang out voluntarily and don't get paid for what we do here. I find the implication that I or anyone else who's been around "long enough" should be up for "firing" from the Board disturbing and a bit hurtful, so if that's not what you meant, please clarify.
~Neshomeh
Do you think people would have been so willing to forgive my meltdown in March if I hadn't been around as long as I had?
That's what I meant by 'tenure'. A sort of immunity to behaviors that wouldn't be acceptable from newer people.
Here in the UK, there has for several years been active pushing of the 'it's okay to talk about mental health issues' message. So yes, I certainly hope that if a newbie had a meltdown of that kind, the PPC would be understanding (once we understood what was going on).
I feel like your 'tenure' comment is portraying things kind of backwards. What you seem to be talking about in this example is not having enough trust in newbies, rather than too much in oldbies. Otherwise we'd have to read it as saying you think you /should/ have been banned, which would be a bit silly...
hS
But it's not.
Fortunately for all of us, we've gotten to see more of you on your good days than on your bad ones, so we know that's the exception, not the rule.
Making a good impression to start with is important. So is reaffirming it over and over again over the weeks, or months, or years. If you build up enough good interactions to outweigh the bad ones by a wide enough margin, then yes, people are going to be more likely to forgive the mistakes. That's just social math. It's a ratio you actively maintain through behavior, though, not a stamp that you get when you've hung around a certain number of years.
It wouldn't be fair to throw out all the good interactions we've had with a person when considering whether we want them around or not. That would be completely arbitrary and basically make good behavior meaningless. That's not a world I want to live in.
~Neshomeh
As a newbie, I love how welcoming the PPC has been to me and I would hate to do anything to ruin that atmosphere.
That said, it might be possible, if reworked with care, for a list like this to instead enhance this welcoming atmosphere.
The easiest (though probably least effective) way to do this is by making sure this list is always preceded and/or proceeded by a disclaimer saying that none of these categories are more important than any other.
That way, if someone tries to use the list to prove that their opinion is more important, you can point them back to the same source they used to counterpoint them.
It is very effective to be refuted by one of your own sources. I probably know this from experience.
However, I wouldn't recommend this method, as it's very easy to just leave off the disclaimer (on purpose or on accident) and newbies might have a hard time calling them out on it.
Another way might be to take each of the sentences and add nice descriptions to them that both act as a disclaimer and as entertainment.
Very rough example: Newbies are replaceme... I mean invaluable additions to the PCC. Even though they have only been here less than 6 months, we value these people's opinions as much as any other PPCer.
While that is only a rough example, I hope you can see how this might work.
If the sentence is enjoyable enough, someone trying to use their status to win an argument might look up the quote just for fun.
Also, with the time frame tied to the disclaimer, it will be harder the leave it off.
So, what do you all think?
Do you think this is a good idea?
Is it a terrible idea?
Do you like the method but don't think it works here?
Or do you just want to talk about our general approach to newer members in general?
Leave a comment. Your opinion is just as valid and wanted as any PPCer.
PS: I would really like to hear people discuss about our approach to newbies. While I believe it is already amazing, there is always ways to make it better.
As a newbie myself, I feel that I have really been welcomed with open arms onto this wonderful community. Seriously, you guys are awesome.
But, we need to explain a few more things on arrival. I know we have the Constitution and the Original Series, but I feel that newbies need to see more examples of stories, especially ones representative of the PPC as it is today. Jay and Acacia were awesome, but that was nearly two decades ago. Stories by board members active today would really help, in my opinion.
As well as this, I suggest a "sponsor" system to help newbies adjust. Each newbie gets a more experienced member's email address, so that their questions can be more easily and quickly answered. Plus, talking to one person is much less daunting than addressing an entire community like ours.
Lastly, a who's who would help a lot with orientation. Just who writes what and their responsibilities here would be great.
The PPC Wiki!
I kid—Iximaz already pointed the wiki out, and I know it's not the be-all, end-all of information. It is impersonal, too. Not the same as having a live person to talk to. I did try to write the main page with newcomers in mind, though, so I'd love any feedback about how well it introduces the PPC and various information. (And, er, do people even look at the main page?) I think it does address where to find more missions and other stories, at least.
As for a who's who, that's harder. There are rather a lot of us, with people coming (yay!) and going (boo!) somewhat frequently. You may encounter some names you recognize in the various FAQs, but many of the people who worked on those have since moved on. You can look up some of us on the wiki, but that will only get you so far, since not all of us have devoted a lot effort to building a user page. (Which is fine! Our home is here, not there.)
I guess the only real solution is for everyone to individually introduce themself a little bit when welcoming a newbie—just a little "hi, I'm Soandso, I write Agents Thus and Such" with maybe a link to your user page, or website, or story hub, or whatever.
Not everybody welcomes every newbie, though. There is no perfect system, I fear.
~Neshomeh
P.S. Hi, I'm Neshomeh. I'm a Permission Giver here. Here's my user page, and here's my PPC website. {= )
You can check out the page on the Wiki here. It's been around for a while but it's never really taken off, which makes me sad.
As for the 'more examples of stories', there's always the Other Prominent Agents tab on the Wiki as well.
Honestly, I think the reason why people don't explain much to newcomers in the PPC is because, well, newbies tend to not stick around. Confession time: I have a welcome speech that I copy and paste (and sometimes slightly alter depending on what the newcomer says they've already read). Going to the trouble of writing out a creative hello just gets discouraging when a newbie vanishes into the internet, never to be seen again. And if a newbie has questions, well, that's what the Wiki is for.