Friday Thoughts 11
This turned out to be a heavier lift for my thoughts today than when I started writing. Almost deserving of its own post(s). Nevertheless, here are today's thoughts!
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Regarding my post yesterday, asking about Bear Blog's potential toxitiy: Sylvia reached out to me by email to reassure me that Bear Blog is not toxic. The trend was newer users to the platform treating it like social media, which CAN be toxic.
Herman recently updated Bear's code of conduct and the very first paragraph shows us the kind of community we should expect:
Bear has a warm, welcoming community. We'd like to keep it that way. While you’re here, we ask that you treat others with kindness and respect.
It also has a very concrete description of the purpose of the Discovery feed (which is the point of contention from some of the recent posts that led to the feeling of toxicity).
The one thing I would like to see from Herman is a more prominent place for the Code of Conduct; I had to click through the Terms & Conditions to find the Code of Conduct. I think it should be in the same navigation line. Or is it possibly prominent when you sign up? I don't know, I signed up a while ago ;)
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Going back to the code of conduct; there's a paragraph about free speech. I'm reminded of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which clearly defines the freedom of expression:
- Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:
(a) freedom of conscience and religion;
(b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication;
(c) freedom of peaceful assembly; and
(d) freedom of association
But the first section also says:
- The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.
In other words, you have the right to freedom of speech, but not to the extent that it can harm others.
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Sad to learn of Patrick Stewart's passing yesterday at the age of 86. It's been a sad week for Star Trek, with Walter Koenig passing a few days earlier.
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In lighter news: Bigfoot is helping predict impacts of climate change | The Narwhal
I don't understand what this means, but it's about Bigfoot and I love Bigfoot.
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I talked myself into upgrading my phone. The decision now is what size to get. This is always the hard part.