- Recon Number 54
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Well, here we are. I guess that it was destined to come to this.
Posted by: sharpace77
Posted by: Recon Number 54
So, the OP is proposing a "take off my hat" mode for employees, allowing them to make their posts appear the same as regular members, for when they are making threads or replies that are not related to official duties.
I'd love such a feature, especially if it could be extended to the moderators. There are plenty of times where I am not posting as a part of my ninja duties, but as a member of this community and to be honest, sometimes the colored text can be a distraction to others.
With that said, there is also the counterpoint that since we ninja and the employees are known, anything that we say or do is going to be seen (with or without a notification to others) as "this person said this!"
Whether or not we can take our hat off, there will always be people who will misinterpret things said casually. So, perhaps there are two reasons for the colored text and the golden septagon. One is to let members know who is speaking, and maybe the other one is to remind the person with the colored text or thread flag that "anything and everything they say can and will be used against them in the court of public opinion".Exactly Recon. You brought up some good risks of including such a 'take of the hat' feature, but at this point I think the gains are in the majority. Employees and moderators *should* be mature enough to know that they always represent Bungie and post accordingly, whether or not they have colored text, a golden septagon, or just a custom avatar. Drawing so much attention to certain members simply because they are 'part of Bungie' is annoying at best, but more times than not only serves to derail a topic.
In addition, I think a feature like this would allow moderators and employees to post more, knowing that they wouldn't necessary ruin a topic with a short, witty reply.
While I would appreciate and use the feature myself (if it existed) I don't think that it would alter or increase my posting habits or the content of my posts. Nor do I think the feature would alter any ninja or employee habits.
The only "real benefit" would be to make a clear distinction between someone's post being "Me doing my job" and "Me just being a part of the community".
The truth is, that even "off duty", those in public servant roles have to adhere to a certain level of conduct and are expected to "act and respond as if on duty" even when they are not. For example, a citizen can walk past a bleeding man on the sidewalk and other than being a callous prick, they haven't done anything truly "wrong". But an off-duty cop, firefighter, paramedic, nurse, doctor, etc. has an obligation to render aid. They are never really 100% "off the clock" or "off the hook".
While I wouldn't equate our roles and responsibilities with those other professions, both the ninja and employees are aware that our posts, official or not, can potentially reflect on Bungie and this community. We always have to act accordingly. Colored text, golden septagon or not.