It's one of those things, Claire, where it is hard - obviously - but from my experience, things that are outrightly triggering and glamourising are pretty obvious. Obviously there are grey areas - and in that case, it comes down to community response and taking an executive decision. And, if you post something in a rant that is pretty obvious that you posted it without intending to be pro, or if it is a grey area, it probably won't be held against you. But there are areas that are pretty obviously triggering, and where people either haven't thought about what they're posting or are posting it to make a point. Obviously there are always grey areas. But you get some members, and some posts, that are so obviously geared in one direction it's concerning.
With the situations you've mentioned, Claire, do you ever report them? The mods rely on members to highlight where things break the rules. It's normally this, the seeing a trend in people reporting certain things, that leads to rules being made. It's far more of a bottom-up model than I think people realise. But - in saying that - there have been situations in which people have reported things that are just so obviously a step too far, and the mods haven't done anything about that. Granted, it was a few years ago that I was a mod but I think that there was definitely a centre ground. Half the community wanted more words and terms to be banned, the other half thought that it was already too strict. People want different things out of RYL and it is hard to balance them all. I'm not saying, obvs, that the mods are always right - but I do think it is hard when you're being pulled in both ways simultaneously.
I do agree with the confusion re: 'safety' of RYL (although I think that is in part due to a lack of ideology. It's quite hard to identify what RYL's 'aims' are, and I think because it's 'community led', there's no clear aim or definition. It's not always a bad thing, but it does mean that there is confusion re: what terms mean or what we're wanting RYL to be).
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