[reinaberg]

I think that this thread serves as an example of why discussions regarding applications involving the most drama-oriented area of the community are currently being held between admins. The admins’ discussion regarding Laced becoming web staff was civil and reasonable, with people who each view and associate with Laced in their own unique way. This public discussion has devolved into personal attacks, with too many people with the exact same opinions on each side involved in the argument. Of course, that doesn’t apply to everyone, though, as there have been multiple valid points questioning the decision to make Laced web staff, as well as multiple valid points supporting Laced becoming web staff. 

Rather than questioning his competence, many responses have questioned Laced’s character. Someone saying that they believe he has demonstrated too strong of a bias in the past to perform well as a staff member is valid in voicing that concern. Someone saying that they believe he has demonstrated very unbiased decision-making as a TTT staff member now is also valid in voicing their opinion. Someone who is blindly attacking or defending Laced based on their own distaste or favor towards him as a person is not, in my opinion, effectively communicating their criticisms in a way that adds to the discussion. 

After seeing the results of this decision, I think that creating an open line of communication for community members to privately share their criticisms, concerns, and compliments, may have been a good way to give the opportunity for people to voice their opinions. I do not believe that this thread as a whole was any more effective than Battons’s deleted response at communicating opinions in a constructive way. 

I hope that neither side of the major argument that has happened on this thread comes away from this thinking that they have added to the discussion in a way that should affect the decision, because there were very few reasonable comments in this thread.