The most important thing to me about being a leader of this site is that it is my job to make sure everyone on the site feels safe and comfortable interacting with the community. So it bums me out to say that over the recent months, the admins have had a few cases of people getting in touch to say that they don’t quite feel that way.
This majorly sucks, because like, AN is a super awesome community full of super awesome people. Everyone deserves the chance to enjoy it. So the big thing we want to stress is that if something is making you feel uncomfortable,
please message an admin straight away. We will do whatever we can to fix it. Would hate to think that there are people who haven't spoken to us about an issue, it's part of our job!
In tandem to that, just want to stress a few things, on top of
the forum rules.
1- Don’t assume people will want to interact on platforms other than ATAR Notes. Of course, if you want to that’s fantastic, but don’t get offended if someone rejects a friend request on Facebook, or whatever. They are entitled to that boundary.
2- No one is obligated to respond to your messages, and this includes AN PM’s. If someone doesn’t respond, don’t keep messaging them. Don’t take it personally either - People are entitled to use the site however they like, and this may not involve having private conversations.
3- Be assertive. It is very easy to be misconstrued online, so leave no room for misinterpretation. If you aren’t comfortable, say so. If at any point you ask someone not to contact you, and they continue to do so, message an admin.
4 - Yes, AN is a big online family and can foster real, meaningful connections. But all your general 'online safety’ stuff applies on ATAR Notes as much as anywhere else, even if we are one of the more wholesome communities on the internet 😉
Thanks for taking the time to read y'all - Much love <3