It is my hope that by having this code of conduct and community guidleines that it will inspire others to take ownership and action toward building a more positive and inclusive community.
- BogusRed
The guidelines
We desire a community where ALL feel welcome. By following these guidelines you're helping us foster a safe and inclusive art community...
- This is a safe and inclusive community. Insensitivity toward the following are violations of the community guidelines: gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, relationship orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size/shape, ethnicity, culture, abled-ness, religion, age, profession, socio-economic standing, mental and physical health, education. This is not an exhaustive list, and topics will be added if needed.
- Approach each interaction with others as an opportunity to help each other grow.
- Be considerate and empathetic toward others. Don’t attack, insult, or otherwise antagonize any member of the community. Please be respectful to everyone, including yourself. Avoid language that can lead others to feel shame, rejection, or otherwise feel unwelcome, unwanted, and unloved.
- Aggressive language and excessive negativity are not acceptable
- Dishonesty, trolling, and bullying are not acceptable.
Where these guidelines apply
- The PaperDemon.com website
- The Discord server
Consequences for violations
We are a neurodiverse community so many in our community may struggle with impulsiveness and emotional dysregulation which may lead to rule violations. Mod staff will try our best to take this into account and offer leniency, especially if the violations are minor and you have an overall positive history. That said, mods priority is to the wellness of the community as a whole over leniency for those who continue to negatively impact the community.
There are consequences for not following our community guidelines outlined above. Consequences include warnings, mutes, account suspension, or perma-ban depending on the severity.
Moderators reserve the right to
- Use repeat warnings instead of mutes for minor infractions or for those who have a history of positive behavior
- Skip ahead in this consequence sequence if a person's first and/or primary interactions with the community are negative
- Ban someone on PaperDemon.com if they were banned from the discord and vice versa.
- Ban someone on our Discord and/or PaperDemon.com for harmful actions which take place outside of our platforms (e.g. Twitter, DeviantArt, Instagram, another Discord server, etc).
Report a violation
If you see something, say something. Please don't try to handle it yourself.
For violations on our discord server, check the #rules-and-info channel on details on how to report a violation.
For violations on PaperDemon.com, please send an email to [email protected].
Appeal
If you think you were wrongly or unfairly banned or muted, please contact us at [email protected]. Please include your paperdemon.com username and/or discord username and provide detailed justification as to why you think the actions taken were incorrect, along with any supporting screenshots or documentation.
If you are someone who frequently has difficulty complying with community rules within other communities, we empathize with you and your struggle. We understand that this can be common for those who are hurting the most inside or struggle with more severe forms of mental illness or neurodiversity. While we do aim to be a welcoming place for the neurodiverse, we cannot allow community guideline violators at the expense and safety of other community members.
It is not the mod staff's responsibility to coach you into better communication habits. Our priority is the protection of the community as a whole. There is a minimum level of respectful communication required by members of our community in order to participate in community discussions. If you are not yet capable of meeting these standards, it doesn't make you a bad person but it does mean you're not yet ready to be a part of this community.
Reasons behind the guidelines
Know that we take these community guidelines extremely seriously because many of those we aim to serve have a history of trauma, particularly trauma of being bullied or living with mental health challenges, and need a safe and supportive environment to help them heal, be productive, and feel accepted. For that reason, it is essential that members of this community maintain respectful, kind, and compassionate relationships with one another for the psychological safety of all community members.
As such, we maintain a trauma informed environment. A trauma informed environment is one in which there is a universal assumption that trauma has occurred. This means we are actively working toward:
- Creating and fostering an environment that is understandably safe
- Providing an opportunity for creators with past and/or current trauma to successfully be a contributing as well as receiving member of a supportive community
- The establishment and maintenance of structures (topic-specific channels) and rules that are understandable, reasonable, and predictable
- Maintaining a community that respects boundaries set by its members (using content and trigger warnings)
You may notice that we don't give as many second chances as other communities. Our philosophy is that the best predictor of future behavior is relevant past behavior. Meaning, if someone is a repeat violator within a short period of time soon after joining the community, there's little reason to give second chances as this is a pretty clear indication that they will continue to violate the rules and guidelines, even after being warned or muted. By acting more swiftly and permanently, we can better protect the vulnerable members of our community and minimize damage to the community.