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A call for compassion and empathy


frank_d

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Hi there!

This is a post I’ve been meaning to create for a long time now, and something I shared in private with my fellow moderators.

I wanted to write a few words about what the current state of the forum is and where we’d possibly be able to go from here.

So, first of all let me say that I’ve been using the forum the wrong way for the first 3-4 years. It took me a bit of growth as a person and as a professional to be able to shift my POV just enough so I can change my worldview and challenge my core beliefs.

So anything I am going to say now, I wish someone was there to tell myself back when I needed it the most.

Here goes.

Our forum is not perfect. Far from it.

In fact I am now convinced it’s not going to change a whole lot in the near future, even with the upcoming platform overhaul.

This is a place where people from all walks of life, different countries and cultures meet and talk about the one thing they have in common:

Their dreams, hopes and efforts whilst chasing that dream of leading a different life.
A freelancer’s life. No 9-5, no boss, the modern cowboy.

That being said, not everyone’s views, work ethics, opinions will align with everyone else’s.
It is impossible.

I’ve noticed that a vast majority of fellow forum members are quick to judge, and are often pointing their finger at others.

Others who either have done something clearly wrong or may not know what we do.

I’d personally like for that to change moving forward. I’m not advocating for a “friendlier more welcoming place”. I am talking about making a conscious effort to think before we reply.

•“Can I help this person?”
•“Is what I am about to say something I’d like for people to tell myself?”
•“Does this person really want help?”

Sometimes we get caught up in a struggle to be right.
Or we because we were once treated unfairly, harshly, we seek for people who break the rules to be immediately punished for what they did.

For whatever reason, we end up playing a round of “emotional boxing” with people we’ve never met, over the Internet.

That’s not what I want this forum to be about.

As someone who has had some success on this platform, I want to help as many people as possible.

But I have reached the conclusion that not all people want to be helped. Not everyone is ready to view things differently.

And there will always be people who will be here to just try to game the system, cheat, copy others, be online 24/7 and post on the forum because some guru told them that will make them rich.

So what I suggest we do?

As a moderator, I will try my best to lead by example.
I try my best to remain calm no matter what the situation is, and I refrain from judging other members, regardless of what they say.

If I can’t help them, I do not engage, I simply move on.
If they are breaking forum rules, I moderate as needed.

In order for the forum to be elevated, we need everybody’s help.

It starts with us. The moderators and the regulars. (both those that carry that badge, and those who just participate every day on the forum)

We should lead by example.

Let’s try to not flag people’s posts strictly because they don’t know better.
Let’s try to be less dismissive, and try to help each other.

I think that we collectively as a community can elevate the forum, if we all just try to me a bit more empathetic when we read someone’s’ post.

90% of the time I see a “weird” post, or someone asking about something that’s clearly a violation, is because of despair. Fear. Someone’s probably in a really bad place.

We don’t know them, or their story. Nor do we have to.

All I am asking is for us to try to not be so quick to judge.

Let’s lead by example. And hope that others will follow.

I am here to discuss and talk about specific cases if you want with examples.

This is a topic I wanted to write, to inform everyone of where I am at personally and see if we as a collective want to change direction and try to elevate the forum.

This post was initially only shared in the lounge, but after a discussion with the mods team, we decided it should be shared in public.

I am sharing this with everyone, on hopes we can openly discuss about how we can elevate the forum, and therefore maybe spark the change we want to see in the platform as well.

Thank you for reading this. Hopefully this will spark a wonderful discussion.

P.S. Please keep replies relevant. For this particular topic I will heavily moderate the discussion.

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Hi there!

This is a post I’ve been meaning to create for a long time now, and something I shared in private with my fellow moderators.

I wanted to write a few words about what the current state of the forum is and where we’d possibly be able to go from here.

So, first of all let me say that I’ve been using the forum the wrong way for the first 3-4 years. It took me a bit of growth as a person and as a professional to be able to shift my POV just enough so I can change my worldview and challenge my core beliefs.

So anything I am going to say now, I wish someone was there to tell myself back when I needed it the most.

Here goes.

Our forum is not perfect. Far from it.

In fact I am now convinced it’s not going to change a whole lot in the near future, even with the upcoming platform overhaul.

This is a place where people from all walks of life, different countries and cultures meet and talk about the one thing they have in common:

Their dreams, hopes and efforts whilst chasing that dream of leading a different life.

A freelancer’s life. No 9-5, no boss, the modern cowboy.

That being said, not everyone’s views, work ethics, opinions will align with everyone else’s.

It is impossible.

I’ve noticed that a vast majority of fellow forum members are quick to judge, and are often pointing their finger at others.

Others who either have done something clearly wrong or may not know what we do.

I’d personally like for that to change moving forward. I’m not advocating for a “friendlier more welcoming place”. I am talking about making a conscious effort to think before we reply.

•“Can I help this person?”

•“Is what I am about to say something I’d like for people to tell myself?”

•“Does this person really want help?”

Sometimes we get caught up in a struggle to be right.

Or we because we were once treated unfairly, harshly, we seek for people who break the rules to be immediately punished for what they did.

For whatever reason, we end up playing a round of “emotional boxing” with people we’ve never met, over the Internet.

That’s not what I want this forum to be about.

As someone who has had some success on this platform, I want to help as many people as possible.

But I have reached the conclusion that not all people want to be helped. Not everyone is ready to view things differently.

And there will always be people who will be here to just try to game the system, cheat, copy others, be online 24/7 and post on the forum because some guru told them that will make them rich.

So what I suggest we do?

As a moderator, I will try my best to lead by example.

I try my best to remain calm no matter what the situation is, and I refrain from judging other members, regardless of what they say.

If I can’t help them, I do not engage, I simply move on.

If they are breaking forum rules, I moderate as needed.

In order for the forum to be elevated, we need everybody’s help.

It starts with us. The moderators and the regulars. (both those that carry that badge, and those who just participate every day on the forum)

We should lead by example.

Let’s try to not flag people’s posts strictly because they don’t know better.

Let’s try to be less dismissive, and try to help each other.

I think that we collectively as a community can elevate the forum, if we all just try to me a bit more empathetic when we read someone’s’ post.

90% of the time I see a “weird” post, or someone asking about something that’s clearly a violation, is because of despair. Fear. Someone’s probably in a really bad place.

We don’t know them, or their story. Nor do we have to.

All I am asking is for us to try to not be so quick to judge.

Let’s lead by example. And hope that others will follow.

I am here to discuss and talk about specific cases if you want with examples.

This is a topic I wanted to write, to inform everyone of where I am at personally and see if we as a collective want to change direction and try to elevate the forum.

This post was initially only shared in the lounge, but after a discussion with the mods team, we decided it should be shared in public.

I am sharing this with everyone, on hopes we can openly discuss about how we can elevate the forum, and therefore maybe spark the change we want to see in the platform as well.

Thank you for reading this. Hopefully this will spark a wonderful discussion.

P.S. Please keep replies relevant. For this particular topic I will heavily moderate the discussion.

A thoughtful post to remind us to keep our empathy and take some consideration before replying.

I am fully aware that I can become snarky at times replying, but I genuinely believe I keep that reserved for those whom I perceive as deserving such a response. I know I should keep it sealed up and try to reply in as professional a manner as I would to a buyer, but the intrinsic grinding-away and repetitive nature of the forum makes that difficult. That contributes as to why the list of truly “regular” Regular members is so very limited…

In fact I am now convinced it’s not going to change a whole lot in the near future, even with the upcoming platform overhaul.

That’s a bit disheartening to hear, so that likely means the current condition of the forum will likely perpetuate.

I’ve very rarely flagged posts, and only do so when I think it is warranted. The use of flagging to punish “wrongthink” or unpopular opinions shouldn’t occur at all, but there seems to have been a recent upswing in outright rude, insulting, hostile, or flagrantly rule-violating users.

There was a very recent user who flagrantly harassed and cussed users, brought it over to the main Fiverr site as bogus and insulting offer messages, was suspended, then merely continued on an alt account. Having terrible forum activity spill over into main site activity, with seemingly little protection or support, is a bit distressing to put it lightly.

Empathy should indeed be practiced, but apathy is only natural to foster with the current state of the majority of forum posts…

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I have thought about this a lot for the past week. I will be the first to admit that I have sometimes been a bit harsh with people. However, when I see someone clearly here to scam people, I get very angry. I feel for the people who are inevitably going to fall into their trap.

I have a great love for this marketplace, and that is why I try to shame people like that. In the end, it is a battle that is never going to be won. We can only report them, move on with our lives, and hope that Fiverr takes the necessary steps to get rid of them.

I have realized that it is not my battle to fight, and though I don’t feel that the scammers should win, I just don’t have the time or the strength to keep reporting them.

I don’t think I can kill scammers with kindness, so I will not be participating in those kinds of threads any longer. I will only be hearting other people’s posts.

From here on out, I will do my best to only participate in threads where people are genuine about wanting help or in fun conversational style topics.

I will do my utmost to put my best foot forward and not lash out at people.

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That GDC video I recently shared in the current ‘catch-all’ channel mostly covers my thoughts on the matter. I’ll refrain from flagging the copy-pasta, zero-content spam, and other lesser offences.

I’ve been considering leaving for a fair while, but curiosity can be a strong motivator. I really, really want to stick around and see what the new forums will look like, but I’ll admit, I’m… tired.

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Thanks for the reminder!

I try to be kind and explanatory most of the time, but when there’s those people that choose not to listen, it gets on my nerves a teensy bit.

I used to spend a lot of time in the IMG section, helping people out with their gigs, but so many of them all have the same mistakes, and it doesn’t feel worth it to share my tips there anymore.

I think we need to reiterate the read before posting (especially for newbies) because that’s probably the biggest problem!

And back to your post, I’ll be sure to be more considerate and kind, and to think before I post! Thanks!

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@krheate @vibronx @imagination7413 @vibronx @enunciator @teramangala @mehedi_shawon

Just a heads-up: after a discussion with the mods team, we decided this post should be moved in a public section of the forum.

I realize you may replied the way you did, because it was a private discussion.

So if you need to edit your replies, or if you want to remove them before I move this thread, you are free to do so.

I will be moving this thread in the next 3 hours or so.

Thank you!

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@krheate @vibronx @imagination7413 @vibronx @enunciator @teramangala @mehedi_shawon

Just a heads-up: after a discussion with the mods team, we decided this post should be moved in a public section of the forum.

I realize you may replied the way you did, because it was a private discussion.

So if you need to edit your replies, or if you want to remove them before I move this thread, you are free to do so.

I will be moving this thread in the next 3 hours or so.

Thank you!

My thoughts are the same whether this was posted in the Lounge, Fiverr Stories, or the Ranting Pot. Thank you for the heads up, but I’m fine with my particular thoughts on this thread being anywhere on the forum!

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Thanks for this post. I am very glad to hear that there are older members who do acknowledge that this forum can be a harsh place. I’ve lurked here frequently in the past six months (both signed in and out - since people immediately judge based on “read time”). Although this place has been instrumental in teaching me a lot about improving myself as a seller, I have also been extremely put off by the snark and occasional holier-than-thou attitude , especially by some regular members, and so I don’t usually post/reply here.

Heck, recently, there was some topic about whether a seller’s profile country matters, and there was an incredibly ridiculous reply by a regular poster which was nothing but a sweeping generalisation of a country of 1.3 billion, basically blaming all of those people for not “controlling” the scammers and fraudsters who happen to share the same nationality. If that member’s nonsensical rant had been posted for a specific religion, it would have been labeled as straight up bigotry. I have no idea what happened to that post or the reply, and I honestly didn’t care much beyond rolling my eyes, but that just cemented my belief that this wasn’t a place where I could expect much sensitivity. Fiverr’s (unofficial?) subreddit is actually doing much better in this regard.

A couple of months ago, Fiverr’s automated system flagged my bestselling gig after a random edit for some idiot reason, and it wouldn’t accept my changes. Eventually, the gig was removed automatically, and I came to this forum to check older posts on how to get it reinstated since I had broken absolutely no rules. There was a topic by someone who had managed to get their gig reinstated but before they mentioned that fact, a (formerly regular but now seemingly MIA) member here straight up accused the OP of “not revealing the full picture” and claiming that they must have been breaking rules, and their tone was super harsh. There were a lot of equally unkind remarks on other similar posts with people also claiming how a removed gig never comes back etc.

Luckily, I actually have some faith in the CS and sent them a message instead of seeking any ideas/solace here. CS checked the problem for me, and my gig was back within 3 hours’ time with an apology. I went on to receive my Level 2 badge a few weeks later. I was honestly so thankful that I hadn’t posted about my problem here because the previous posts convinced my inner cynic that I’d receive more snark and unkindness than any actual helpful advice.

I have no doubt that there are several annoying issues here due to scammers and trolls (including all those people who post way too much spam thinking it’ll get them orders) but with the way some members are quick to judge instead of helping actually harms discussion, and lowers the forum’s quality. If we manage to have a healthy discussion here, and move forward with kindness and genuine advice instead of only judgement, it would make this place so much kinder (and we all need more kindness given the state of the world right now).

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Well put points as always Frank.
From my time modding I remember on different days I would swing from the desire to remove all the posts that annoy everyone to wanting to start a Fiverr Academy specifically for the newest most annoying Forum users, to keep them off the main forum for a time in a kind of “Forum Kindergarden” which would be managed by several Regulars and where they could learn in a free-to-share place. After a while in Kindergarden, they would then get to move to the Forum although the Regulars and Staff could speed that along if they felt someone was ready.

My big gripe with all the annoying posts is that Buyers can see that. Like it or not, Fiverr sellers get lumped in with all of these sellers and I hate that. You can be sure that the posts people share about Fiverr from here are not the insightful professional ones but the ones that show this to be a kindergarden for freelancers - not my belief but something that I have seen elsewhere.

My opinion right now is that I eyerolled (sorry) a little with the request for us to be nicey nicey to all forum users. I have to say it that I believe that there is a whole swathe of (not able to) sellers who do not add anything and are actually a negative on Fiverr’s image and experience for Buyers. I feel having them have a public forum to share any rubbish at all, which then is to go unchallenged or whatever isn’t going to help the forum at all.

As for a solution, I really don’t know but am happy to contribute to things that will help and try out various ideas like this one.

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I am here and I am listening closely.

The reason why I am not replying to each and every one of you is because I want to really listen and understand.

Plus I feel like this thread should be a safe space for people to express themselves.

I will be gathering my thoughts and replying to everyone on this thread as it goes on.

Thank you.

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I cannot promise to be kind in every single forum interaction. If I did make such a promise, I know it wouldn’t last the moment I ran into someone hellbent on sowing discord, parroting harmful advice, or spewing vitriol.

I can promise to take greater discretion on when and with whom I interact with, and will try not to jump into the fray when I know doing so will likely result in negativity. It’s easier said than done, as one never exactly knows how others will react. Sometimes, genuine intentioned “helpful advice” may be personally construed as “harsh, unfair criticism” and can spark heated dissension.

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It’s all very well telling us to be nice and polite, and I do genuinely try to be so. The problem is when you have others who are NOT being nice. I reported someone who started name-calling another forum member and suggested (politely, at least I thought so) that name-calling wasn’t appropriate. There was no warning of what was to come next, but getting called four-letter words, talked down to condescendingly and then followed on to the Fiverr main site with fake orders and creating second accounts to circumvent a suspension was beyond any sort of reasonable response.

I had made that one post asking them to watch their behaviour and disengaged. But after I had disengaged, the attacks continued against me and the derogatory comments made at me were left there for hours when all I had asked them to do was to be polite, Worse, I felt completely unsupported on the forum by the moderators, especially when it started to impact on my stats on the main site - for asking someone to be polite.

I was a moderator on Stack Exchange for several years, so I’m used to working on very, very large and transient communities, but what happened here should not have happened. If you’re going to ask people to be polite and nice, then perhaps when someone isn’t being so, it needs to be addressed more quickly.

I try to be helpful on the forum, but at the moment, I’m looking at winding back my involvement here. Asking people to be nice is all well and good, but some people just aren’t. If we’re being told that we shouldn’t report bad behaviour and let them have at it, then this isn’t a professional environment I wish to be a part of.

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It’s all very well telling us to be nice and polite, and I do genuinely try to be so. The problem is when you have others who are NOT being nice. I reported someone who started name-calling another forum member and suggested (politely, at least I thought so) that name-calling wasn’t appropriate. There was no warning of what was to come next, but getting called four-letter words, talked down to condescendingly and then followed on to the Fiverr main site with fake orders and creating second accounts to circumvent a suspension was beyond any sort of reasonable response.

I had made that one post asking them to watch their behaviour and disengaged. But after I had disengaged, the attacks continued against me and the derogatory comments made at me were left there for hours when all I had asked them to do was to be polite, Worse, I felt completely unsupported on the forum by the moderators, especially when it started to impact on my stats on the main site - for asking someone to be polite.

I was a moderator on Stack Exchange for several years, so I’m used to working on very, very large and transient communities, but what happened here should not have happened. If you’re going to ask people to be polite and nice, then perhaps when someone isn’t being so, it needs to be addressed more quickly.

I try to be helpful on the forum, but at the moment, I’m looking at winding back my involvement here. Asking people to be nice is all well and good, but some people just aren’t. If we’re being told that we shouldn’t report bad behaviour and let them have at it, then this isn’t a professional environment I wish to be a part of.

I was not going to weigh in on this, feeling like @enunciator had covered my feelings - in a nicer way. But seeing the can of worms has been opened…

Yes for any of us caught in that 💩 storm to feel that we should be humbled by this call is not pleasing or supportive. Suggesting that a lack of loveliness on our part let that event start and continue was on us is not kind or lovely.

Mods were active in this forum but allowed that person to make personal threats, call a lady a 4-letter word, and even to make a new profile and basically run rampant for about 3 hours. Not to mention that this person was allowed to mess with Gigs and Stats for several sellers despite a request being made to Fiverr themselves to control the situation.

So, It definitely does feel disingenuous for Mods to say that we should be kind and lovely, polite and supportive, and all that nonsense when nothing of the sort was in evidence when some people (and really the forum as a whole) needed that kindness shown in definitive action.

I asked several times both in the forum and from Fiverr’s people for a formal response and accounting of how this was left so free for so long and nothing. Except for this post which right now feels incredibly pointed in blaming those caught in that mess for being victims of not suiting some twisted wants.

I too have grave reservations about Fiverr and its Forum moving forward as the culture seems very strange.

😦

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Hi there!

This is a post I’ve been meaning to create for a long time now, and something I shared in private with my fellow moderators.

I wanted to write a few words about what the current state of the forum is and where we’d possibly be able to go from here.

So, first of all let me say that I’ve been using the forum the wrong way for the first 3-4 years. It took me a bit of growth as a person and as a professional to be able to shift my POV just enough so I can change my worldview and challenge my core beliefs.

So anything I am going to say now, I wish someone was there to tell myself back when I needed it the most.

Here goes.

Our forum is not perfect. Far from it.

In fact I am now convinced it’s not going to change a whole lot in the near future, even with the upcoming platform overhaul.

This is a place where people from all walks of life, different countries and cultures meet and talk about the one thing they have in common:

Their dreams, hopes and efforts whilst chasing that dream of leading a different life.

A freelancer’s life. No 9-5, no boss, the modern cowboy.

That being said, not everyone’s views, work ethics, opinions will align with everyone else’s.

It is impossible.

I’ve noticed that a vast majority of fellow forum members are quick to judge, and are often pointing their finger at others.

Others who either have done something clearly wrong or may not know what we do.

I’d personally like for that to change moving forward. I’m not advocating for a “friendlier more welcoming place”. I am talking about making a conscious effort to think before we reply.

•“Can I help this person?”

•“Is what I am about to say something I’d like for people to tell myself?”

•“Does this person really want help?”

Sometimes we get caught up in a struggle to be right.

Or we because we were once treated unfairly, harshly, we seek for people who break the rules to be immediately punished for what they did.

For whatever reason, we end up playing a round of “emotional boxing” with people we’ve never met, over the Internet.

That’s not what I want this forum to be about.

As someone who has had some success on this platform, I want to help as many people as possible.

But I have reached the conclusion that not all people want to be helped. Not everyone is ready to view things differently.

And there will always be people who will be here to just try to game the system, cheat, copy others, be online 24/7 and post on the forum because some guru told them that will make them rich.

So what I suggest we do?

As a moderator, I will try my best to lead by example.

I try my best to remain calm no matter what the situation is, and I refrain from judging other members, regardless of what they say.

If I can’t help them, I do not engage, I simply move on.

If they are breaking forum rules, I moderate as needed.

In order for the forum to be elevated, we need everybody’s help.

It starts with us. The moderators and the regulars. (both those that carry that badge, and those who just participate every day on the forum)

We should lead by example.

Let’s try to not flag people’s posts strictly because they don’t know better.

Let’s try to be less dismissive, and try to help each other.

I think that we collectively as a community can elevate the forum, if we all just try to me a bit more empathetic when we read someone’s’ post.

90% of the time I see a “weird” post, or someone asking about something that’s clearly a violation, is because of despair. Fear. Someone’s probably in a really bad place.

We don’t know them, or their story. Nor do we have to.

All I am asking is for us to try to not be so quick to judge.

Let’s lead by example. And hope that others will follow.

I am here to discuss and talk about specific cases if you want with examples.

This is a topic I wanted to write, to inform everyone of where I am at personally and see if we as a collective want to change direction and try to elevate the forum.

This post was initially only shared in the lounge, but after a discussion with the mods team, we decided it should be shared in public.

I am sharing this with everyone, on hopes we can openly discuss about how we can elevate the forum, and therefore maybe spark the change we want to see in the platform as well.

Thank you for reading this. Hopefully this will spark a wonderful discussion.

P.S. Please keep replies relevant. For this particular topic I will heavily moderate the discussion.

90% of the time I see a “weird” post, or someone asking about something that’s clearly a violation, is because of despair. Fear. Someone’s probably in a really bad place.

We don’t know them, or their story. Nor do we have to.

“You see that person robbing a bank? Please don’t be quick to judge them, you never know their story and they might be in a bad place or desperate so please don’t ever tell them that what they are doing is clearly a violation and don’t jump into conclusion so fast”.

“I know they are robbing the bank (aka buyers whom some members are scamming with unprofessional services) but it’s not my bank (aka forum) so please be tolerant to them, you never know their situation. But if they’ll come to rob my bank (aka break rules on the forum) then we will take actions)

That’s how it sounds. 👆

There was already a post from Matt for more tolerance. We get that.

However we yet to see a post from moderation team to new members on how to behave on a forum and what steps they should take to ensure that they have a great experience on fiverr forum.

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90% of the time I see a “weird” post, or someone asking about something that’s clearly a violation, is because of despair. Fear. Someone’s probably in a really bad place.

We don’t know them, or their story. Nor do we have to.

“You see that person robbing a bank? Please don’t be quick to judge them, you never know their story and they might be in a bad place or desperate so please don’t ever tell them that what they are doing is clearly a violation and don’t jump into conclusion so fast”.

“I know they are robbing the bank (aka buyers whom some members are scamming with unprofessional services) but it’s not my bank (aka forum) so please be tolerant to them, you never know their situation. But if they’ll come to rob my bank (aka break rules on the forum) then we will take actions)

That’s how it sounds. 👆

There was already a post from Matt for more tolerance. We get that.

However we yet to see a post from moderation team to new members on how to behave on a forum and what steps they should take to ensure that they have a great experience on fiverr forum.

Or just a big bold shut up we know you aren’t getting orders.

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There is (evidently) quite a bit of frustration being displayed in this thread, and rightfully so. The forum has a plethora of issues befalling it, but I hope it doesn’t degenerate into a “hop down Frank_D’s throat” fest.

I can quickly recall certain users continually picking at him in a very large and very active thread he recently created. He actually practiced what he is preaching now and conscientiously disengaged from certain users he knew further interaction would not prove beneficent.

I personally don’t begrudge the moderation team, and nor do I envy their task, but I also clearly recognize that the current state of the forum doesn’t lend itself to propagating empathy, consideration, and thoughtful discretion.

-I think I’ve chimed in enough in this thread and will clear the way for others.

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Thank you for this post!
Regarding the newer forum members who seem to post spam and repeat the same questions over and over, I actually noticed an interesting thing on another platform’s forum. It had a chat option with a bot, where you could ask questions such as “How should I write a proposal?” and “What are tips for writing my profile?” (I wasn’t really wondering about the questions; I just like playing around with chat bots because they’re funny.) A lot of the advice it showed is the same as the good advice on the Fiverr forums that has been repeated over and over again.

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All right, a few questions for @frank_d, or other mods who might have answers:

  1. Should we flag posts advocating to stay online 24/7 and similar nonsense, or just ignore them?

  2. If someone advises someone else to break the rules (for example, ask for a review, just in different words), should we flag that as Inappropriate, or Other, or just ignore it (since there are way too many people doing it anyway)?

  3. Since the forum isn’t actually going to change much, does it mean that the clutter (for example, same thing asked a million times, countless requests for prayers, and so on) will just stay?

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Thank you for this post!

Regarding the newer forum members who seem to post spam and repeat the same questions over and over, I actually noticed an interesting thing on another platform’s forum. It had a chat option with a bot, where you could ask questions such as “How should I write a proposal?” and “What are tips for writing my profile?” (I wasn’t really wondering about the questions; I just like playing around with chat bots because they’re funny.) A lot of the advice it showed is the same as the good advice on the Fiverr forums that has been repeated over and over again.

There was a request for something a bit like that in the 2020 forum suggestions.

Here’s the feedback from that thread:

Thank you, everyone, for taking the time to let me know what you’d like to see happen in the forum. Truly amazing the scope of suggestions. This is meant to be a transparent process for the Fiverr community. In that vein, I’m sharing the google doc where I’m compiling everyone’s input. This will also have my suggestions, comments, and status of each suggestion. This is a living document that I’m still currently building out, so please be patient as I sort through everyone’s post comments. …

Row 17 in the Google sheet in that thread.

Maybe it could also have the ability to check people’s profile/gigs to answer questions about them/give helpful info/recommendations there too. Or suggest stuff based on existing skills someone has.

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I 100% admit (and I have no problems doing so) that I tend to point out harsh facts and such on the forum. I will also add though, I try to be “strict,” not mean. I guess the tricky part is that even though I might think I am trying to be strict but helpful at the same time, others might think I’m just being a bully.

When I leave a reply to certain posts, I end up taking a long time because I want to be careful with my choice of words because hurting/offending someone is not what I am trying to do, but I won’t be surprised if some people still got offended despite the time I put in.

If someone really needs help, I will gladly help. If I see a post where the person clearly is not putting in any effort in their gigs, I will ignore it or point out the mistakes especially if they are stealing images etc. Again I will try my best to sound “strict,” not mean.

On 4/16/2021 at 3:29 AM, vibronx said:

I don’t think I can kill scammers with kindness, so I will not be participating in those kinds of threads any longer. I will only be hearting other people’s posts.

From here on out, I will do my best to only participate in threads where people are genuine about wanting help or in fun conversational style topics.

I think I’ll go with this too. I don’t want to be a mean person, but I’m not really the “kill with kindess” type either. I will like to point out though when I see a person with a true success story post, I love showering them with compliments because it’s great to see people succeed, especially when they clearly have put in a lot of effort.

Having that said though if I see a post that is way too ridiculous or is clearly lying…not sure how I will react. 😅

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Interesting thread. I’ll occasionally go cold turkey on the forum because the often repetitive, lazy, vague, or irrelevant posts and responses really get on my t*ts. This is when I get tempted to be a little too harsh or sarcastic. That is kind of my humour anyway but I know it doesn’t always go down well. Being compassionate and reminding myself that we all have our stories and struggles is a practice in my daily life and I’m not always successful and, to be honest, I dooooon’t always want to be. But I try my best.

I think twice about becoming involved in some posts because sabotage is a genuine concern. There’s no way to protect ourselves against anyone who may want to throw the cat among the pigeons and get revenge by hitting gigs with fake orders or spamming. We can’t block anyone on this platform unless they’ve made an order before and I’m not in the habit of reporting people willy-nilly. I’ve only ever reported one profile and that was because their work samples were stolen (they came to the forum complaining about something else). I don’t consider that an innocent mistake and a part of my reputation is tied up in the platforms reputation, so while I felt bad for the seller who decided to do that and shoot themselves in the foot, I didn’t feel guilty for reporting it.

Anyway, I kind of digress. The forum is a great place to connect, learn and help others, but it’s also a vulnerable place to be sometimes and can quickly spiral into defensive and abusive communication. I’ve seen this from newbies and regulars, one particularly abrasive regular seems to have disappeared which is a good thing.

I like the idea of having a quick free course of sorts for people joining the forum, kind of a forum ready thing. A video or some text, some questions to answer about do’s and don’t’s of the forum and once this is completed THEN the forum is open. It wouldn’t solve all the problems, I know. I’d also like to be able to block anyone from visiting my profile and gig page who starts my alarm bells ringing.

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