User blog:PyroNacht/Significance of Central Chat

"PyroNacht, are you still writing about your opinions regarding the Community Central chat? The rules have been pretty well-established by now- isn't it time to move on to a new topic?"

Well, no. I realize that I previously have had distaste regarding the new rules of Central Chat in particular, but over the course of the last week since Brandon Rhea posted about the newer chat guidelines, I've witnessed a major improvement in the Chat here. You might ask me why I'm writing a blog about it, then, if I'm okay with it, to which I'll respond that while I fully understand the new rules, many users are expressing their discontent without actually taking a moment to note the concept surrounding the new guidelines. I figured I would highlight some of the complaints people are having when it comes to Chat.

So without further ado..

Purpose of Central Chat

 * Chat had been a brand-new release when I joined Wikia in May 2012- I ventured into the chat on my home Wiki often, because people were still buzzing about the new replacement for IRC. Granted, I never joined Community Central until later that year, but I didn't need that to know that this was a feature that had just been added.


 * However, with new features, comes great responsibility. Something I have noticed lately is that many, many users tend to take chat for granted- they have forgotten the true purpose of the Chats, which can potentially be disheartening at times. Central Chat is not just for the sake of discussing your favorite oil essentials or gaming life: Central, as the name would suggest, implies "center"- center hub of Fandom.


 * People all around Fandom come here for assistance regarding one thing or another. Although this chat has seen worse states (see 2013-2014: that's just my opinion..), I think that the fact our lovely outlet is finally receiving deserved attention is something not to turn a blind eye to. It's better than Chat being shut down.

"Rules Are Lame!!!"

 * I've always been a stickler for rules, personally. When I was in high school, I never missed a single class. I always arrived early, and never had any of those detention/suspension/tardiness slips. That's not to say I'm perfect, because I'm far from that. However, I bring this up because many individuals claim that the new rules are lame and that they were "made to be broken".


 * In which case, if rules are made to be broken.. surely they wouldn't exist in the first place? Either way, when you signed up on Fandom, you signed a nice agreement stating that you would abide by rules and so on and so forth. While I realize Freedom of Speech is a huge thing that people seem to enjoy using to their advantage as an argument point, the validity is honestly nothing.

What Now Then?

 * I don't believe Staff are trying to impose a "no-off-topic discussion or else immediate ban" sort of nature upon us, which is how many people are taking it. But. I can understand their directive when they wish for the Central Chat to be focused on helping others from all of Fandom. In my opinion, having to change to a different chat-room for social purposes is a very small price to pay. People will obviously complain however they wish, but I think that if one chooses to look at the brighter, flip side of the matter, we might actually find that this is the way to go.

In Conclusion

 * Chat's new guidelines aren't all that terrible: try to understand them from another perspective. It'll help.
 * If you need to be social, Private Messages still exist.