A malcontent has snuck into a community and established a base. Perhaps the malcontent is a troll, deliberately trying to cause trouble. Perhaps the malcontent is a useful contributor having problems adjusting to
CommunityExpectations. The
CommunityDoesNotAgree. If not dealt with somehow, the malcontent threatens to tear the community apart.
Therefore, apply a temporary CommunityExile on the malcontent of 24 hours.
- If the malcontent accepts the temporary exile with good grace, and abides by it, then she passes the ordeal, and is permitted to remain on the site. The community will agree that she should be allowed to stay. Few will wish to attack her for her past actions, as she has already been punished for them. In submitting to the CommunityExpectation that she obey her temporary exile, the malcontent has learned humility.
- If the malcontent responds to the temporary exile with violence, or does not abide by the exile, then she fails the ordeal, and becomes a permanent CommunityExile. The community will agree that she should be exiled. The entire community can then be united in encouraging her to leave. Few will wish to defend her, as her subsequent violence is indefensible. In being faced with a temporary exile that she considers unreasonable, the malcontent has learned that this is not a place she wants to stay, and will exercise her RightToLeave at the earliest opportunity.
- There is a third option: the malcontent may just up sticks and leaves. The community still does not agree, but it doesn't matter. If the malcontent returns a month or two later, the community should exercise ForgiveAndForget.
The community may still disagree over whether the temporary exile should have been applied, but that decision is in the past, and is made irrelevant by events, and will therefore rapidly die off. For free, the temporary exile gives emotions time to cool, on all sides.
But, there must be a BenevolentDictator or a similar authority who can take decisive action to set a temporary exile. There must be a CommunityExpectation that such temporary exiles are to be respected, and that creating SockPuppets to get around the exile is unacceptable. This in turn requires that the temporary exile be the result of FairProcess.
Beware, that the price you pay for uniting the community may be the creation of a monster. Beware that if you got into this mess once, you may get into it again, so try to identify the roots of the conflict. Beware that the need to uphold the CommunityExpectation that the exiling process must be respected voids the opportunity to ForgiveAndForget.
The above text is PrimarilyPublicDomain
CategoryMembership