Engaging With Your Community In The Face Of Injustice
By: Kevin, Darktagger
Tags: BlackLivesMatter, Gamedev, Community, Games, Community Engagement

Over the last week, we’ve seen an eruption of protests, sparked by the murder for George Floyd and the continued systematic injustice in the United States. Communities in the U.S. and across the globe are experiencing a wave of emotions: pain, suffering, anger, confusion. I could continue down the list, but I think you get it.

As a Black man myself, I am trying to wrangle my emotions, given the circumstances. This is a severely complex issue and one that will not be solved overnight. So as a community manager, I think it’s safe to assume there are members within communities who share the same struggle. And this got me thinking, “how can one navigate fostering a positive environment while still acknowledging the current events unfolding in our country?”

I’d like to explore some thoughts I’ve had to help others come up with ways to address the pain their communities may be experiencing right now. In part because as community managers, it is our job to maintain the balance in our communities. My hope is this serves as a framework for both community managers and content creators to foster constructive interaction with their communities during this time.

Note: I am a community manager from the non-profit sector with nearly six year of experience on the field. I am using this experience and translating it to my love and observation of the games industry, for which I have been a participant in as a consumer for 21 years.

Moderation

Moderation is key to any successful community. While all communities have rules, they are not always followed. No Discord or Reddit page is immune from trolls, bigots and ignorance. Without moderation, trolls and the like run rampant, often taking other community members down in the process.

In this heightened state of pain, this rings true and with more venom than usual. As a result, moderation teams are trying as hard as possible to keep the peace while still aiding in growing a positive experience for users. Having a conversation with all moderators to make sure they are all on the same page on the protocol for handling toxic situations for the desired end result is imperative. I note the word “protocol” specifically, because the job of a mod is not to try and change the mind of the toxic person. It is to get them to disengage or expel them from the community if civil discourse cannot be had.

This conversation should also clarify the comfort level mods have in taking on these more aggressive situations. While most mods often reflect the values of their community, this isn’t always the case, and that’s okay. Giving people the ability to note their concerns may yield a new practice or perspective to how the community moderation protocol works,strengthening the defense so everyone is on the same page.

Dedicated Space

Our communities should be places where members and fans come to talk about their favorite games and the culture around them. They should also be places where, when people need a safe space to talk about their concerns or ask questions, they have the forum to do so without sacrificing the former. This is where the balance I noted earlier comes in.

There should be dedicated spaces within communities to make sure members have the agency to constructively talk about problems or answer questions, especially now in the wake of the protests and riots occurring across the United States. While the method CMs take to engage these conversations will depend on the size and structure of your community, there are some simple examples to open up these spaces.

In your forums or Reddit pages, have a dedicated thread for conversations around George Floyd and the protests. Make sure it’s clearly marked. Reinforce guidelines for forum usage and make sure to highlight the higher moderation of the thread.

Dedicate a separate discord channel for conversations around challenging topics and tackling problems (i.e. the importance around advocacy around police brutality, or an open forum to talk about mental health during troubling times). Again, reinforce community guidelines, clearly mark the channel, and note the higher moderation of the channel.

Have community leaders be vocal through your various platforms. Share their content. (More on this later.)

Set aside a time to have group conversations with community members. Blocking off a set time can ensure you have enough time to have a well-meaning and civil conversation, while giving those who do not want to engage in the content the heads up to leave.

These methods allow community managers to offer safe haven for their impacted community members while also giving community members the freedom to express themselves in a constructive manner.

Community Leaders

Ultimately, the biggest impact we as community managers can share are the stories and experiences of our communities. Normally this would be done through sharing thoughts around the games and stories they enjoy from the games they play. But community members also have thoughts and perspectives on social issues as well. We see this play in real time during month long historical appreciation months like Black History Month and Pride Month.

We have started to see companies and organizations putting up posts of solidarity. But the posts are not enough. Meaningful and active recognition of their efforts to show solidarity will prove those posts to not be hollow. And one step forward in that recognition is to empower and give a voice to your community members and leaders to highlight their experiences. Community managers or their organizations should seek out stories from their community leaders and ask permission to share them.

We saw this in full force on #BlackoutTuesday, when many companies, organizations, and larger content creators took a day of solidarity to amplify voices within the Black community. Seeing groups like Kinda Funny dedicate a week of guest appearances for prominent and rising Black voices in the game community is incredible to see. We even saw larger scale outlets like IGN and GameSpot promote Spawn on Me frontman, Kahlief Adams and his latest podcast episode titled, A Lesson in Blackness. The episode is an honest and raw conversation with several Black content creators about blackness in their everyday life and games space. Please give it a listen if you haven’t.

Conversely, community leaders should feel empowered to share their stories without fear of losing credibility or business. Your stories are impactful and powerful. They transcend the noise of the vocal minority.

The most recent display of this that I truly admire was from Twitch Streamer, Benjamin “Dr. Lupo” Lupo. In an end of stream monologue, Dr. Lupo notes his anger and frustration for the murder of George Floyd with the ending note of “love each other. We’re from the same fucking planet.”

Dr. Lupo uses his platform to raise up his dissatisfaction with how black men and women are dying for the mere notion of them being black. I encourage all to view Dr. Lupo’s monologue, shared by Twitter user, RissaRosay.

Resources

In being a place of balance for a community, CMs need to recognize they cannot solve all of the existing problems of the world. They can merely give a section of reprieve or safe space to vent. The community space is no substitute for expert information or seeking advice from a licensed professional. Kitfox Games’ Victoria Tran noted this best in a past article on gameindustry.biz referencing the roles of community managers.

Tran states, “But we are not: Medical, economic, or policy professionals Therapists Superhuman positivity machines””

That being said, offering materials is a good way to provide information and context without assuming the role of a licensed expert. In the case of injustice, I have seen non-people of color ask, “what can I do to education myself on some of the issues presented?” I have seen many good threads in response, and many include resources rather than direct information. Some examples of resource examples are:

Donation links to verified relief and aid organizations

Books with topics around white privilege, history of protesting, the civil rights movement, etc.

YouTube videos from experts in racial inequality

Online talks with social justice experts and lawyers

Content creators focused on various social advocacy reform

Resources can run the gamut, and can really help a struggling community gain understanding and education. But please make sure to do your due diligence in checking the materials before sharing, and consider adding content warnings if particularly difficult or graphic information or images are shared within that resource. That last thing anyone wants is for something intended to provide comfort and understanding to backfire and cause unintended harm.

Fortify Your House

As I stated before, I don’t have all of the answers. However, these are a few observations I’ve made from some of the ongoing conversations pertaining to being an ally, coupled with my experience as a community manager and my love of the games industry. I’ll leave you with a quote from Rapper and Social Activist, Killer Mike.

On May 29th during a press conference discussing the rising riots and violence attributed to it, Killer Mike had this to say, “It is your duty not to burn your own house down for anger with the enemy. It is your duty to fortify your own house so that you may be a house of refuge in times of organization…”

I believe in these difficult and painful times, as community managers and content creators, we have a responsibility to fortify our houses and become that house of refuge many are seeking. There is anger and pain coursing through our country and some may slip into our communities. I hope some of my thoughts can help your communities feel refuge while keeping them strong and focused on what makes them great.