Hello everyone ![]()
I am writing this short little piece because we want to inform everyone about a few things. I know exactly that decision-makers are generally not liked, no matter what they do. We ourselves have experienced countless times that when we kindly comment to someone or perhaps ask someone, try to moderate, some take it as lecturing, picking on, and an insult. But more on that below…
I dare say there isn’t another Community like the one that has formed here on Vaperina and is constantly growing. I’m not writing this, or let’s say saying it more than necessary, because we would be arrogant or want to get confirmation of this from you, but because these are facts, but let’s admit it, it’s a huge pride, and for us, you are the ones who give hope to humanity. Not only we say this, but you do too. We don’t ask anyone to lobby for us, we won’t smear or discredit anyone so that more people get ahead. Whoever is here knows exactly, or rather sees, that people relate to each other differently here somehow. For some reason, they can be kind, understanding, helpful, and reliable with each other here, and remain so. Anyone who joins newly sees exactly that this is how it works here, and although this would be natural everywhere, unfortunately, it’s far from it.
Trust
Trust is a priceless and invaluable asset. We are filled with extreme happiness when we see that members, completely selflessly (and by the way, let’s add, even unknowingly), help each other, whether by trying to solve a question that arises for days, or for example, helping others have the opportunity to try, experience a different kind of vape experience by offering theirs. These are almost daily occurrences here. If someone can help in this way, they will help, because that’s how people are here! For us, this is the Community! There’s nothing like this elsewhere, and everyone can rightly be proud of these selfless and trust-based actions! But unfortunately, or not unfortunately, this also comes with the fact that we must pay increased attention to the members so that abuse does not occur. If this were to happen, it would likely cause a loss of trust not only between the two members but would affect the entire Community. From then on, people would be less trusting of others.
Of course, unfortunately, we cannot guarantee 100% that this won’t happen, but we can guarantee, and we do guarantee, that we monitor suspicious users and their activities in every possible way so that we can intervene before trouble occurs. This is also why the trust system and various security measures were created. However, the trust that members place in us is also extremely important. If you feel or observe that a user approaches things very differently and you believe they don’t belong in this Community, please let us know. There are several ways to report this: you can report a post, or it may be enough to tell us privately. If a dispute on the site appears to be escalating, you can draw our attention to it, even by mentioning us, so we can intervene as quickly as possible. It’s important to mention that these disagreements rarely end peacefully. If they continue publicly, users who want to mediate might join, but unfortunately, they can get caught up in it too. It happens that one user doesn’t like another. This is a natural human reaction. It happens. You can try to sort things out privately, but if it doesn’t work, then only ignoring the user remains. There are some options for this in the settings. When reporting, it’s important to clarify that under no circumstances will we reveal the identity of the reporter to the author of the reported post, nor does it lead to immediate action, and it most often prevents a greater wrong.
I understand that many people think they cannot tell us if they have a problem with a user. This is either because their trust in us has been shaken before, or they have already experienced enough disappointment in other people. We respect private matters, and we have no interest in turning users against each other by stirring up discord among them.
Moderation
Moderation is a difficult task; one must always examine things objectively and not be driven by potential emotions. I understand that an average user may not fully grasp what is actually happening, let alone what problematic posts or statements that user may have made previously, whether publicly or in private messages sent to us (or other users, if they inform us). This is why an action may often seem excessive or unjustified.
We have been here longer than anyone, so we can follow a user’s entire community life, see where they started, what they were like before, and how they have changed. We see when they are having a bad day, when we need to be more tolerant with them, when we can joke with them, and when not. We rejoice together, we grieve together, we worry together, and we try to find solutions to problems together.
We see every post, often before everyone else, and if it is highly exaggerated, offensive, or in any other way does not reflect what Vaperina represents, we delete the post so others won’t see it. However, for us, and of course in the system, this counts as 1 demerit point. After a few of these, we draw the user’s attention to what we would like them to change (this can also happen based on feedback received from you). If a user accumulates enough demerit points or rule violations, they will receive a suspension or mute for at least 3 days. During this time, they have enough opportunity to decide whether they want to change based on what has been written before and remain in the Community or not. After the suspension/mute period expires and the user returns to the Community, we apply zero tolerance. This is why it may seem to many that what we are doing is unjustified. Which is perfectly fine, as we cannot expect anyone not to judge based on what they currently see, even if they only log in once a week/month, and this is where trust comes in again, and the ability to accept that we make thoughtful and well-founded decisions in all cases. This can be difficult for some, but let’s think about why we would want anything bad for the Community or ourselves by turning members against us? We have thought a lot about what could be behind this, and it’s likely driven by what makes Vaperina so human-centric. Everyone knows us; we don’t hide our identities, so it’s easy to attack, personalize, and blame us for anything. No one thinks of harassing or threatening something non-human like Facebook. Nevertheless, this is precisely what makes Vaperina humane. We are here, and if there’s any problem, it won’t be a robot that answers and helps. In all cases, we look after the interests of the Community and make decisions based on that. If we see that a user harms the Community more than they benefit it - then unfortunately we have to say goodbye to them - and I don’t mean by potentially helping someone with a vape topic, but by the style in which they do it, how much their mood fluctuates, how unpredictable their behavior is, etc. - meaning, how they are as a person (based on what they show here). They might be the all-knowing Vaper if such a thing existed, but if their behavior, their emotional intelligence is not adequate, and they are unwilling to change it, then unfortunately we have to say goodbye. We are, first and foremost, human. Without these values, Vaperina would not be Vaperina, just a place like Facebook or any other social media site or forum.> I’d like to take a small detour here to discuss what’s actually wrong with social media sites like Facebook. Why aren’t they human, and why is not even a faint spark of empathy detectable most of the time? Of course, there are exceptions, as everywhere, but as we know, that only strengthens the rule.
What I’m writing here reflects my opinion, and I suspect, the opinions of millions of Facebook users or former users.
It’s no coincidence that more and more people decide to leave. This is still a negligible number, unfortunately.
Facebook is built this way. That’s its purpose. This type of social (or in this case, business) model will in most cases never function in an empathetic, cooperative way. Users embody nothing more than a revenue tool, but at least it’s free, and in return, they know everything about them. In fact, they collect data not just locally but from all websites on the net where there’s a like or share button. They know everyone better than their own acquaintances… This is natural today, so I won’t go into more detail here.
The primary problem is that people see what’s on their own social feeds. So they live in a bubble and only receive news and information that further strengthens this bubble, and this isn’t necessarily the truth. Is there even such a thing as truth?
No! Truth is what each person builds around themselves. They choose to receive only certain news, choose what posts they see, choose whom to interact with, they choose everything. These will, of course, reflect their views one by one. This is why people so easily attack each other. Because how can this contradict me when I’ve been seeing something else for months…? Unfortunately, this can escalate to the point where they would drown each other in a glass of water. This is why we need to approach and examine things from multiple perspectives and accept that the other person’s stance towards us is just like ours towards theirs.
One problem follows another. There are no boundaries on Facebook. What better proof of this than the fact that no one has ever been missed from a Facebook group – of course, there might have been such cases – if they left or were kicked out. Therefore, it can be done there with zero responsibility and consequences. Why is the user not missed? Because there: 1. A relationship cannot develop that is based on mutual trust, respect, and understanding. It alienates people from each other far more than it unites them. 2. They are likely to be found in almost every similar group, just like the person who might be looking for them. Perhaps it doesn’t even matter which group they are in…
The problem is that different categories and themed groups merge just as easily. For example: joining a support group, a classified ads group, a motorcycle group, a vape group, and say, a rock group. The transition from one group to another is almost imperceptible, as posts appear mixed on one feed, but let’s realize that in 4 out of 5 groups, it’s probable that people of any mentality, emotional state, behavior, or emotional intelligence can join. Where the members won’t necessarily reflect kindness, understanding, and acceptance towards a newly joined member. And now let’s think about this being just one person. Countless groups, countless people, and countless combinations exist. In my opinion, humans are not designed for this. It’s simply impossible to adapt to, tolerate, so many types of people and so many behavioral forms, but I don’t think anyone should have to tolerate being ridiculed and shamed simply because they don’t yet understand something. Especially not in something that could have a significant positive impact on their health if they received the right help. Because of such things, many prefer to continue smoking, as at least there they don’t have to ask questions…Very, very many people use Facebook to relieve the stress accumulated in their lives, and unfortunately, they do so in a much more immoral way than they would outside the internet. They dare to do this because unfortunately, there are no consequences; they dare to write anything, anywhere, to anyone. Whether hiding behind a fake profile or using their own… it doesn’t matter at all because Facebook is for this. Moderation and the lack of consequences play an extremely large, if not the largest, role in this, of course.
Compared to this, the trust system built on Vaperina, and the fact that sometimes our acceptance is required for posts to be published, proves to be a very good filter. Everyone sees the same thing, interacts with the same people, and it takes everyone the same amount of time and activity to reach one trust level from another. Of course, what one wants to see, etc., can be personalized, just like almost everything. But by default, we prefer a different kind of community model, and we have found over the years that it works, and not only does it work, but it works better than ever. Human relationships based on trust and respect develop. People with the right emotional intelligence, who are empathetic and sensitive, quickly integrate here, with the Community Members continuously offering a helping hand.
Vaperina Community Model
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Back to the detour… Of course, these cases are not easy for us either, primarily because we have to tolerate the private slandering, insulting, and aggressive, threatening behavior of often popular individuals. Threats have become almost commonplace, and we have been called fascists, dictators, hypocrites, pathetic, aggressive, and many other things by them. All while we see that they have the trust of the other Members of the Community. Therefore, these moderation actions are quite painful because we unfortunately turn those Members who sympathize with the affected Member against ourselves. But I don’t believe those who show a completely different image in private than in public belong here. We trust that over time, more people will feel the beneficial effects of these measures on community life here, and perhaps more will dare to open up in the future because of them.
Anonymous User?
Users who no longer wish to be members of the Community, or whose accounts are terminated as a consequence of a rule violation, are most often anonymized. In such cases, all personal data and personally identifiable posts are removed. The anonymized user account is necessary so that the essence of the conversations remains and the user at least leaves their posts behind for the Community and posterity, so they can continue to learn from them. This is essentially how it works on all social media sites. On Facebook, for example, Deleted User appears if that’s the precise technical term, which is exactly the same as what we have here. Also, in Facebook groups, posts remain the same after a user leaves or is kicked out. No one in the universe has ever objected to this elsewhere, only our similar action had objections from the few people who wanted to leave the Community and have their accounts deleted. We are working to preserve the posts and will adhere to the General Terms and Conditions (ÁSZF) in all respects going forward, so as not to harm the Community by deleting them. However, unfortunately, this is not a consideration for some. This is why some conversations, on certain topics, are fragmented. We apologize for this and ask everyone that if they see something like this, not to hesitate to ask the question again in a new topic. I am sure that the Community Members will answer it just as well, if not better. ![]()
Of course, this is only a part of how we operate, and we could have written pages about it, but we tried to gather what affects you the most and might raise the most questions. ![]()
Thank you for reading
We wish everyone a pleasant weekend! ![]()