[{"_1":2,"_30":-5,"_31":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4},"routes/__layout/tag.$name",{"_5":6,"_7":8},"tagName","community management","posts",[9],{"_10":11,"_12":13,"_14":15,"_16":17,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":23,"_24":-5,"_25":-5,"_26":27,"_28":29},"id",1468,"title","Inclusiveness vs. safety in online spaces","excerpt","After 20 years running online communities, I know \"inclusive\" and \"safe\" are mutually exclusive at the extremes. Eventually you must choose who to exclude. My advice: define your space clearly, own your choices, let incompatible communities fragment naturally, and don't agonize over free speech obligations.","body","

A combination of events at Reddit and LGBTQ in Tech Slack spurred me into a tweet storm about online spaces:\n\n\n

The tragedy of all online community spaces is that the goals of \"inclusive\" and \"safe\" are, at the extreme, mutually exclusive goals.
— Laurie Voss (@seldo) July 13, 2015

If you keep including people you will eventually end up with people in the same space who cannot stand each other and will not get along.
— Laurie Voss (@seldo) July 13, 2015

At some point you have to exclude someone. You get to pick if it's the people feeling unsafe, or the people making them feel unsafe.
— Laurie Voss (@seldo) July 13, 2015

And *that's not always an obvious choice*. Somebody's \"reasonable topic of discussion\" is *always*, eventually, somebody's threat trigger.
— Laurie Voss (@seldo) July 13, 2015

I've run online communities for 20 years and I have learned that there is not even an approximation of a consensus of \"reasonable\".
— Laurie Voss (@seldo) July 13, 2015

This is why online communities fragment. Let them do it. It's the only viable solution to the existence of mutually incompatible people.
— Laurie Voss (@seldo) July 13, 2015

Define your space clearly. Let in anyone who shares your reality. Be honest that people who don't share it will be excluded. Say why.
— Laurie Voss (@seldo) July 13, 2015

Don't wring your hands about free speech. You are under no obligation to let people say things you hate. They can go elsewhere, and will.
— Laurie Voss (@seldo) July 13, 2015

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Posts tagged “community management”