I love how much kindness we have in our forum, but I feel that people need to remember that, while the staff has a responsibility to protect the community, this does not erase personal accountability. I am not calling out anyone directly, and I don't want anyone to feel bad for making a suggestion, so please take my word in good faith. I'm also not sure if some of these mentioned are with an "in an ideal world..." musing in mind, so apologies.
In life, there is no guaranteed safety when you choose to be emotionally vulnerable (believe me, I wish there was). When you confide into a person, no matter your relationship, there is always a risk of disappointment and hurt. Likewise, this risk extends to a public forum. Of course, we should encourage one another to be mindful of people's feelings, but having a melting pot of different people with different views and experiences means that miscommunications and conflicts will happen.
I think it's an unfair burden on the staff to expect them to go through hoops to fix particular social issues with technology (that may not exist with a dated forum), when a far easier solution exists and is being utilized.
If the risk of pain is greater than the benefit of posting what you want to vent or share, there are safer alternative methods. Or, like many people already do, post it and set an alarm to remove it when you're no longer comfortable with it being visible.
Being that this is a public space, there is always someone you don't like or wouldn't like if you knew certain details about them. Everyone here has an opinion I disagree with, and the same goes for everyone about at least one of my opinions.
You either curate your friend group and share with those that have proven to be worthy of your vulnerability, or you take steps to mitigate the risk (but still accept that it exists and that people you don't like will see your content).
That being said, the lack of age restriction on photo sharing does concern me if there is a history of sexual harassment (esp given the all ages audience of Animal Crossing). I would totally be down for an age-restricted section of the forum, but I also know that it would create added work on an already stretched staff to enforce no identifying IRL photos outside that section.
Also, on the note of concerning content in WBY and similar threads, it feels unfair and tonedeaf to speak in certain ways, and then tell others that they can't respond. If a person says something that makes me feel like they are a danger to themselves or others, it is the empathetic, human response to want to keep that person safe. Courtesy should not be held above genuine concern, especially when the danger that follows saying nothing is too great.
