'Juniors' and the treatment of new members going forward

[Gareth]

FINAL UPDATE - JUNIOR TITLE DOES NOT EXIST HERE! WOOHOO! :D

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Older stuff:
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Just wanted to draw attention to this post by Finale Fireworker before new registrations begin:

I would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone here to be kind to Juniors.

Right now, everyone is a member and everyone shares an origin story. We're really tight knit. But thousands of members from the old forum are still trapped outside and they will have to go through the channels as Juniors. People new to this forum may have been with us for years. Do not let the membership status dissuade you from a warm welcome.

Furthermore, the clapback and downtalk to Juniors on the old forum was often ugly and inappropriate. We were all new members once and every one of us became loyal participants of this community. If we treat immigrants to REF with venom they will be less likely to grow and settle with us permanently. They are not guests in our home, they are new neighbors. Be happy to see them.

There is no reason to hold prejudice against new members. Don't make snide comments like "why is it always the juniors?" or "membership status checks out." There are bound to be trolls and people who join us insincerely, but remember that most people with a Junior tag really wants to be here.

I hope everyone remembers this. This community has a long way to go and will benefit from a huge influx of registrants. If we dogpile and mock Juniors for their faux pas and humiliate them before they can get acclimated, we're no better than where we came from. This is a way we can immediately improve upon our predecessor forum. Moderation will take care of the morons, but we all must take care of the Juniors.

Click to shrink...

I think this is totally correct, and I would go further by suggesting as a community starting fresh that we should perhaps break from tradition, ditch the 'Junior' title due to the baggage attached to it from the old forum and for the fact that it sounds kinda patronizing anyway, and instead use a new title - like 'New Member', 'Newcomer', 'Resettler' or something else if anyone has any ideas? [that's if you are going to keep a title]

Please share your thoughts, thanks! :)

Update: also been suggested below that we could scrap visible titles for new members completely, which isn't a bad idea at all. I SUPPORT THIS!

Update 2 - admin post:

Just to chime in here. 'Juniors' won't be labeled as such. Everyone is considered a 'Member' visibly. There will be some posting restrictions, but as far as a visible way to distinguish one from another, that won't be the case. It was something that pretty much all of the moderation team felt was the right way to go.

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Perfect! That's great to hear! Thanks!

 

[LanceX2]

Absolutely. If someone is breaking rules nust report them and let mods handle it. We can be better

 

[John Dunbar]

we shall feed on them and grow strong

 

[ErazorRain]

Absolutely agree. We we're all the "new guy/gal" somewhere and therefore should treat everyone with equal respect!

 

[Aiii]

Just treat every member the same. If they make good, funny, or otherwise informative posts, they'll be just fine. I doubt many people even notice they're talking to a Junior unless someone makes a terrible post and you actually bother to check.

 

[EarthPainting]

I agree completely, and the idea of avoiding the term "Junior" is probably a good idea.

 

[The Real Abed]

I kind of miss the old "running of the Juniors" you would see from time to time on the old place. Usually around E3 time.

Resettler is a good name. Clever girl.

 

[Hollywood Duo]

Junior Member is a fine title. It shouldn't be used to disparage someone's opinion though.

 

[TangoAlphaLima]

Just wanted to draw attention to this post by Finale Fireworker before new registrations begin:


I think this is totally correct, and I would go further by suggesting as a community starting fresh that we should perhaps break from tradition, ditch the 'Junior' title due to the baggage attached to it from the old forum and for the fact that it sounds kinda patronizing anyway, and instead use a new title - like 'New Member', 'Newcomer', 'Resettler' or something else if anyone has any ideas?

Please share your thoughts, thanks! :)

Click to shrink...

Refugee.

 

[Pimienta]

Never understood the junior talkdown. Like everyone was a junior at some point.

 

[dark_prinny]

I strongly agree with this.

 

[rjinaz]

Cross Posting:

Second this. Junior is just asking for some people to make a snide comment. How about we go Trek and call new people Ensign? Who could make fun of an Ensign for being an Ensign?

Anyway, the people that put this forum together are amazing, good people. We got something special here.

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But really, there are many different options better than Junior, it comes across as belittling.

 

[psychowave]

Tbh the snarky comments about juniors never made any sense to me. I never thought juniors made particularly bad contributions to the old forum, at least not at a noticeably higher rate than members.

 

[Snagret]

I like the idea of ditching the "Junior" moniker for something a bit less inherently condescending.

 

[chuseph14]

I always preferred newb to n00b

 

[gdt]

I'm just asking questions though

 

[Sgt. Demblant]

Yep, junior shaming sucks. Plus plenty of new juniors will be old friends. I think the system has merit, as long as people are respectful. But I must say everyone was very nice to me when I was a junior for like three years (didn't post much at first) on the old site.

 

[Alligatorjandro]

We should have like an adopt a junior program.

 

[Sectorseven]

Out of respect for the new forum, I'm hanging up my paddle.

 

[John Dunbar]

I like the idea of ditching the "Junior" moniker for something a bit less inherently condescending.

Click to shrink...

i propose "scrub"

 

[Deleted member 8644]

Tbh the snarky comments about juniors never made any sense to me. I never thought juniors made particularly bad contributions to the old forum, at least not at a noticeably higher rate than members.

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Junior, especially lately, was often used for some people that came into off topic to troll under the just asking question guise, 99% of those guys were trolls acting in bad faith. I haven't seen any junior down-talking towards people that were arguing their points properly.

 

[UtterlyPerplexed]

No objections from me at all. While it's true on the old site that a lot of posters with very questionable hot takes on particular topics were in fact juniors, perhaps taking the form of an alt account, there was still no reason why this kneejerk reaction of "lol, it's always the juniors" was allowed and applied. Just like there's little reason to admonish someone over their post count or posts per day. The truth is, a lot of people are just more comfortable with lurking and reading, and it's counter-productive to the desire to make the environment more welcoming and comfortable for them to open up and contribute when they're quickly belittled based on their membership status.

 

[Transistor]

I agree completely. We need to welcome them with open arms.

I would also love to give a big shout to Finale Fireworker since he led me to the Discord during the downtime last weekend. I was having a major cloud of doom lingering over me thinking our community was going to be scattered without anywhere to go.

 

[YamchasRevenge]

Kinda like high school. Never understood the whole 'hate the freshman' thing. Who the hell cares?

We're all here for one reason: to talk about this dumb hobby we love.

 

[Deleted member 9237]

I agree with the OP, it's not a positive thing for the community, but tbh I never thought the hazing was particularly bad. Maybe I have weird standards from other communities.

 

[Beans]

Yeah it will be good to show support to the new gang and not scare people off with snide comments.

 

[beelzebozo]

I'm just asking questions though

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juniors will now be called "inquisitors"

 

[Soph]

- Applicant
- Aspirant
- Prospect
- Entrant

Are all better than "junior" which has the added connotation of lesser inherent in the word.

 

[psychowave]

Junior, especially lately, was often used for some people that came into off topic to troll under the just asking question guise, 99% of those guys were trolls acting in bad faith. I haven't seen any junior down-talking towards people that were arguing their points properly.

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I'm pretty sure I saw that kind of behavior from members too, but I guess I might not have been paying attention. In any case, it's silly and cheap. If someone makes a terrible argument then make fun of that argument, not the fact that the person's a junior.

 

[BlackGoku03]

Kinda like high school. Never understood the whole 'hate the freshman' thing. Who the hell cares?

We're all here for one reason: to talk about this dumb hobby we love.

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And other hobbies! And to interact with our communities.

This place is the best thing we never knew we needed.

 

[Tigress]

Just wanted to draw attention to this post by Finale Fireworker before new registrations begin:


I think this is totally correct, and I would go further by suggesting as a community starting fresh that we should perhaps break from tradition, ditch the 'Junior' title due to the baggage attached to it from the old forum and for the fact that it sounds kinda patronizing anyway, and instead use a new title - like 'New Member', 'Newcomer', 'Resettler' or something else if anyone has any ideas?

Please share your thoughts, thanks! :)

Click to shrink...

If you give them any seperate label it's not going to matter... people will still patronize those who are new members or newcomers or resettlers.

At the same time, I like the fact that people have to start out with less permissions. It does make them if they really care about being on the forum try to stay civil/within the rules and get used to behaving like that on the forum. I also thought it was useful (though too long) to not be able to post at all on GAF for a bit so people are forced to lurk and get a feel of the forum before they start posting at all. It also meant that you put more value on actually getting on and if you aren't there specifically to troll you'll probably be more careful about how you post.

 

[Gramsci]

100% agreed.

Contentious topic but I'm not sure if the "Junior Member" status should even be displayed publicly. I can vibe to just trying to treat everyone equally fair & respectful, and let the Mods & the community at large keep an eye on it just fine though.

 

[Deleted member 6582]

Juniors don't need labels. The only real difference they can't make threads but it's not like anyone needs to know that. Plus let's be real, everyone is a junior, even the mods and admins.

 

[Deleted member 5028]

Also remember that even though we're not labeled juniors we basically _are_. We're owed nothing here and can be bumped down, kicked out if we break the rules. Let's be better humans indeed.

 

[Whales]

Yeah, the junior hate on the old forum was just weird. As if you didn't start out as a junior too... lol

 

[Finale Fireworker]

I would definitely support new terminology. I am all for starting fresh. I think that's a great idea.

 

[Linkura]

Glad Finale Fireworker migrated here and is still making great posts. I agree 100%. I don't think even labeling them as Juniors next to their posts is necessary at all.

 

[killatopak]

yeah especially when a lot of people missed the registration in the past few days.

 

[shinkie]

Agree 100%

 

[ilium]

I never felt that the negative attitude against juniors was because they are new. It may have been part of that for some, but after the obvious trend of junior accounts suddenly springing to life and "just asking questions" in political threads, many developed a sceptical reading of junior contributions, especially in the threads in questions.

I agree that it sucks and we have to stop doing it, but I can understand how people lost their patience over time.

 

[Azoor]

I agree with him, we should work hard to me this community better and learn from past mistakes.

 

[xxracerxx]

Could just use the term 'Associate' until they reach Member status.

 

[Deleted member 5549]

how about fresh member?

 

[Rentahamster]

Virgin shaming is not cool. I mean, junior shaming.

 

[turmoil7]

+1 to no junior shaming

 

[Deleted member 9207]

How about "contestant"? And they don't move up until they have a faceoff with 10 other contestants and only the one with more posts wins and gets promoted. The rest are sent to Junior status.

Spoiler

I'm joking but we should really think about something that is not a Junior status

 

[EssBeeVee]

junior status and member acting elitist treating them like they weren't anything special. we shouldn't treat juniors any different considering at the moment its old members who didn't get early access to signup are now starting fresh. juniors are still members just with some posting restriction.

 

[Uno Venova]

This isn't a big deal.

First, with a paid email it's safe to say most signees are grown, and can take a slight jab or joke at their member status, second, if a member actually based his whole argument at a well reasoned post from a junior as "lol shut up junior" he would be shit on from other members anyway, because we're smart enough to know most juniors have great posts too.

Unfortunately that stigma will always be there because Neogaf had a lot of juniors that would post without reading the rules and generally acting like a dumb ass.

 

[Radec]

Should have just dropped the "Junior" label though.

But I agree.

 

[Deleted member 135]

How about we change the title from Junior Member to New Member ?