We love you guys. But we have to talk about something.
This Halloween season marks three years since I started writing full-time for Bloody Disgusting, and a year-and-a-half since I became the site’s Editor in Chief. As a writer on the internet, I’ve had many homes over the course of the past 10+ years, but BD is far and away the one that feels most like “home” to me. Partly because of this site’s awesome community.
Bloody Disgusting’s community is the largest and most active on the horror scene, loaded with passionate horror fans who support what we do not only by reading and sharing our articles, but frequently by commenting on them as well. As a writer, there are few things more important than feedback, and it’s been pretty incredible to write for a website with such a massive community that nearly every single article gets some sort of interaction. At the end of the day, that’s what makes Bloody Disgusting so special. It’s a community. It’s a family.
But like all extended families, well, let’s just say I’d be lying if I said there weren’t a handful of bad apples roaming around here. And you know I’d be lying, because the fact that BD’s comments section is something of an internet cesspool is really no secret. It’s common knowledge in the community, and we don’t want another day to go by where that’s the case.
It’s high time we do something about this. And we realize we need your help.
Bloody Disgusting is, at its core, an incredibly small business, run by three people who are each fulfilling a few different full-time jobs every single day. The truth is, we just don’t have the time to strictly moderate the site’s comments in the way we’d like to, and though we’ve been trying our best this past year or so, it’s become clear that we need some extra sets of hands.
What exactly are we looking to clean up? Well, rather than run through a copy/pasted list of boring rules and guidelines, let’s make this simple: we’re no longer going to tolerate assholes, racists, misogynists or general cruelty of any sort on this website. And no, this doesn’t mean we’re going to silence differing opinions or even differing political viewpoints. Truth be told, we love when you guys disagree with us. We love discussion. We love debate. What we don’t love, what we can no longer tolerate, is the savage cruelty I’ve seen way too much of on here.
By all means, tell us when we do something you don’t like. Just don’t be a dick about it.
We realize that we’re never going to see eye to eye with all of you guys, not about movies and certainly not about larger social and political issues, and that’s okay. Particularly when it comes to movie opinions, what we love more than anything is the *discussion* that’s born out of differing viewpoints. That’s why we’re here, at the end of the day. But there’s a certain point where disagreements cross a line into outright cruelty, and that line is being crossed nearly every single day down below in Bloody Disgusting’s comments section. What should be a beautiful community full of horror fans having discussions and talking about movies has become a highly problematic wasteland of meanness. And it doesn’t have to be.
It won’t be. Not anymore.
As the editor in chief of this website, it’s my job to protect my writers and the site as a whole, and when my writers are being bombarded with hateful vitriol simply for daring to express an opinion or their own viewpoint, then I’m not doing my job very well if I’m sitting back and doing nothing about it. And that’s why I’m here to ask for your help. We need moderators who can help make Bloody Disgusting the positive, inclusive and friendly place we know it can be. The only thing “Bloody Disgusting” about this place should be the movies we’re writing about.
And just to double down on this, we’re not looking to silence anyone who disagrees with us. We’re only looking to cut back on hate, vitriol and disgusting behavior. What brings both the writers and readers to this site is the very same thing: a love and a passion for horror movies. We *all* share that in common, and it’s time we start acting like friends rather than enemies.
If you’re just not capable of that, well, it’s time we bid you farewell. Our single most important goal is to encourage and foster a safe, welcoming atmosphere for *ALL* horror fans to come together and discuss the movies that we love. If you’re a consistently negative presence in our community, you can expect that your account will be banned. Period, end of story.
Anyone interested in volunteering to lend a hand as a Bloody Disgusting moderator, please e-mail tomowen@bloody-disgusting.com and use the subject “BD Moderator.”