Booker Folder Rules

[Trevor]

Dear Mookse and Gripes forum members:

The activity of this group is well beyond anything I envisioned when I started it a few years ago. To be honest, I find it overwhelming, but that’s not a bad thing. I think this is a vibrant community, and I’ve been happy to get to know so many interesting and kind readers. I also appreciate the work of the moderators who thoughtfully put in a lot of time discussing books and working behind the scenes. They are not only putting up threads and managing statistics; they are also addressing concerns that members bring privately. We are united in our goal of making this an enthusiastic place for readers of all backgrounds, experience, ages, preferences, and viewpoints who want to come together to discuss the stuff we tend to discuss on this board.

One of the reasons this group exists in the first place is the Booker Prize. As Booker 2020 gets underway, I’m excited. Hopefully it will be a bright spot in a difficult year, and I want all of us to work to keep it that way.

On that note, I think things are going great! A few weeks ago there was a great conversation on the board about how to make things more open and welcoming, and I felt many people express their desire and willingness to help make the group even better. Thank you for this. This post is not meant to change anything in particular. But since the Booker Prize longlist is going to be announce next week I wanted to make sure we keep up the good work and do what we can to make things even better.

As moderators of a very active group, we feel it is important to articulate some guidelines that we will be using in order to, we hope, make the board a place for all to happily and passionately discuss books. I want people who come here to feel the spirit of friendship and mutual respect. Below are some guidelines, based in large part on the insights shared by members a few weeks ago. Many of them boil down to two things: be open to different viewpoints and refrain from repeating points in order to push your position as the principal position in a thread meant for everyone.

To flesh this out a bit:

Remember this is a community, not a competition. There are many new and less active members, and their thoughts are welcome. There are also people who do not have the time or resources or desire to quickly read, say, the entire longlist, and they are welcome. Importantly, we need them to know this by the way their comments are received. We know members who feel like they cannot comment because they are not “smart” or “fast” or “professional readers.” While it likely was no one’s intention to make them feel this way, the way we talk to one another and the way we respond to new voices sets the forum’s tone. Try to be inclusive. This won't be perfect, so I hope everyone can be generous in how they read others' comments.

To facilitate inclusiveness, there is one change we are making to our usual policy. We are implementing a no-spoiler policy in the books' threads during the longlist period (up to the shortlist announcement) so that readers who are busier or have less access to books can still read the threads and engage without seeing spoilers. During this time, we recommend having spoiler-inclusive discussions under reviews you post on your own account. Please feel free to link to these in the threads. Once the shortlist is announced, delve into discussions that involve spoilers if you wish.

Now, while I said I want this board to be open, not all comments are welcome everywhere. For example, if you do not like the Booker Prize and don’t intend to read any of the books and think it represents all that is unholy in literature and culture and think those who do read the books are dumb, well, this is not the place to say it. Everyone here knows that there are many people who do not like the books that show up for the Booker Prize, and we’ve heard most, if not all, of the reasons. In order to discuss the prize in 2020, we do not actually need to know who does and who does not want to follow it. Please do not come into this folder and give into the temptation to proselytize your anti-Booker beliefs, as valid as they may be.

That said, when I say this I mean something very different from discussing controversies about the Booker’s policies or statements. We have a thread for that. The Booker has always courted controversy that does not reflect well on the brand, and I think it's great to discuss it in this thread. But if the Booker itself is not your thing? That’s fine, and, as much as we might want to talk about it somewhere else, in this folder we don’t care.

I worry folks might think I want everyone to become a sycophant and like all of the books. Of course not. Please post if you cannot finish a book because you cannot stomach it. That's fine. Just remember, there are ways to do this without being dismissive of those who had a different experience.

Along those lines, you might disagree with someone’s feelings on a particular book or about the quality of the longlist or shortlist in its entirety. Of course this is the place for that. However, if you have already stated your opinion and simply want to reiterate it, please don’t. But if you do respond to a particular point that helps further the conversation, do not adopt a tone the implies the people you disagree with are stupid or ignorant. This dismissiveness is not conducive to the lively, amiable group we want to foster. Present your opinions as your own and not as absolute truth that everyone needs to subscribe to in order to be accepted. Please support the board’s goal of thoughtfully responding to differing opinions.

A bit more on not repeating your opinions in a thread. Such a post does not add to the conversation but instead makes it look like you’re trying to reenforce your own position as one-upmanship rather than engage with others. Ultimately, repeating yourself shuts down everyone else. This is not because they have been convinced to agree with you; it’s because they don’t see any reasons to talk with you, and that is not a win. No one here should feel it’s important to have the final word on anything, and the board’s consensus does not need to reflect your opinion.

We will start deleting posts that we do not feel are conducive to our goals. We will do so without comment. We will also delete follow-up posts that ask us why we deleted posts. Members who take this as an opportunity to call out moderation will be suspended or perhaps banned. We understand that there is inherent friction in wanting an open board while deleting posts, but hopefully most of us have seen why this is nevertheless a good idea. We do not intend to be rude or draconian, and if we delete a post it has nothing to do with whether we agree or disagree with your comment; it’s because we want there to be room for everyone to share their thoughts, and your comment, we felt in our discretion, worked against that. Will we sometimes delete a comment that you think makes a nuanced point? Probably, though we hope not. Our over-arching goal is to encourage respectful conversation.

I hope you are all are doing well, and if you choose to embark on Booker 2020 that it is an enriching voyage!