Hello users of Hexbear, there have been many changes and some drama the past few months.
The recent changes we've been making have been an attempt to create a more safe and welcoming environment for many demographics that have been overlooked in the past.
For any of our comrades that have been unintentionally hurt in this process, we apologise and hope to find a solution that accommodates as many people as possible while still meeting the needs of the marginalised groups who need a space like this the most.
The intent of this post is to provide a space for all users to air grievances with regard to the site. As well as provide suggestions for specific things that could be changed to address your grievance. Comments insulting the mod team or those without a specific means to address your problem may be removed. No commenter will be sitebanned, unless it clearly breaks the code of conduct.
The site has been enveloped in multiple debacles for multiple months now and I found the atmosphere to be terrible, I don't know why exactly this was the case so I can't comment on specifics. I find it concerning how it got so bad though. Tc69 moderated in a manner that a lot of the userbase felt inappropriate and she consequently deleted her account. Then afterwards a different admin banned multiple users for one upvote and another admin explicitly said they were against this. Why did this happen, what was achieved? This can be interpreted as at least one admin having contempt or animosity towards the userbase.
For a while it also seemed like there was a disconnect in how most users approach the site versus how some users on the mod/admin team view it. The impression I've gotten is that most people use this place as a lighthearted place to socialize free of the worst right wing radiation that permeates society and additionally to essentially commiserate. I don't think most users come here with an abundance of energy and an overdrive to learn unfortunately.
There was a period of time in the last half of 2024 that some old admins left, new admins joined, and old admins came back. During this, there was a degradation of internal communications and a movement away from slower/longer time to acting. This was done at the behest of multiple mods and users of marginalized communities, saying that comrades are being driven off by the racism and misogyny.
Mistakes were made, and we apologize for the lack of proper communication, allowing user feedback, and for acting so quickly. We don't apologize for trying to work to make the space safer for comrades, regardless of the shitpost - effortpost dichotomy.
We have since repaired the communications, recommitted to not only communicating site changes, but also to including the users in the discussion of these changes. In addition, we have slowed down all changes, meta-posts, and mod team additions.