User blog comment:StrawberryMaster/Sit down, let's talk/@comment-27446087-20190905012551

Here are my thoughts on the situation:

Yes, chat cancerization is and has been a recurring problem (contributing to why I left after a brief un-retirement in 2018). However, from what I can see, it's in a much better place compared to last year. Yes, users do have their "moments", but it's relatively minimal compared to it happening all the time last year, and some days, I don't even see it occurring. So I'd call that progress.

Immaturity is a slight issue, but what can you really do about it? As you said, you can guide someone on a better path forward, but as the old proverb goes: "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink." That applies here. You necessarily can't control what a user says, nor how they act. It's up to them to change, and only if they see fit. They have to change for themselves, not because someone mentioned it in a blog post with hopes there'd be a better future ahead.

The thing, these problems have been left almost virtually untouched for so long it would be nearly impossible to try and get a whole community to go another way. That's not necessarily the fault of the users themselves - because they weren't told soon enough to curb their behavior, it's ingrained - hardwired into their brains - within them, and it's all they know. From what I've seen, most of the people who join HHWD (and Discord in general) are there because they lack social skills in real life, experience trouble making friends in school, and have difficulty interacting with others. Therefore, they become obsessed with memes, jokes, and the like, because they don't really know how to hold or carry on a conversation. So, in places where they can get away with it, they will see how far they can take it (like one user and his obsession with a certain human organ). And without any sort of enforcement (be it positive or negative), the obsession grows, and it spreads to others, similar to a pathogen.

This shows HHWD is infected, and there isn't a vaccine for the illness. You can try all you want now to change, but it won't work too well. There's little consistency. The rules are constantly updated, things are enforced for a while, then sink down to the bottom, and then they're brought to light again. This is why these issues are recurring issues. Rules are inconsistently enforced - some are forgotten about and revived, while others are heavily enforced. This has helped foster many of the so-called problems that are now being experienced. Too many individual needs of certain people are being met, while community goals are non-existent - they're not even established. And if these problems really do need correcting, then the administration has to step up and actively do MORE and STAY CONSISTENT in order to achieve it (and by more, I mean much more than simply telling users to stop and moving out of the administrative channels). Don't talk about the problem - find a way to resolve it and implement it. Repeat. If you do find a way to fix the problem, then follow through. You HAVE to keep up on it in order to keep it from coming back again. That's part of the reason why so many of these issues keep coming back after being previously addressed. It's like a pest invading your house. To keep that pest out, you would do anything in your power to keep it from returning, right?

And while many people think humans stop developing in their early adolescence (aka the age most HHW users are), the human brain isn't even fully developed until age 25. And while there might be hope here, shut that door because it is very hard to get someone change in the midst of their development if they are accustomed to a certain manner of doing things. An example is the Wild Boy of Aveyron - a young, 10-year old child who was found, completely unsocialized, living in the France wilderness in the late 19th Century. Psychological professionals attempted to teach him how to adapt to civilized society - aka use utensils when eating, learn basic literacy skills, and properly interact with others. However, it was difficult for this young child because, even though he was still in his early developmental stages psychologically, because he was already to used to living a certain way, he could not fully conform to the socio-norms at the time. The reason I'm citing this example in my speech is because these problems have gone on for so long now, it will be immensely difficult to try and change an entire community's behavior. It'll be like rewiring their brains - which is hard for someone to do even when they're actually willing to change.

And I'm not putting all the blame on the users, or even the administration, because society has created this culture. It's the world we live in, more than anything. The U.S. President is a walking meme, and because he's in such a position of immense power, people will follow in his footsteps. Our favorite celebrities cause us to do the same. The music we listen to, the movies we watch, the people we're friends with - it all contributes. And that's one thing we'll never really be able to change, unfortunately. So unless the world changes, these problems will likely plague HHW for some time to come. And in some cases, adapting to the situation rather than trying to be something you're not is the best solution.

Note this is just advice, not me telling you what to do. I'm giving you solutions based on MY experience with this, and have worked. So consider it. And if you do, may the results please you.