Magic the Gathering: A Strategic Approach to Community

At some point in your online life, you have most likely experienced some sort of general harassment or bullying.  The anonymity of social media and the shield that it provides can enable some of the most shocking forms of non-physical attack.  Those who seek to find friendship through these pathways, especially when they are starting out, are the most vulnerable to the emotional turmoil that ensues when cruelty is fired in their direction. 

Unfortunately, this is the norm.

Eventually, we learn to shrug off these comments and try to make sure these stings don't leave a mark.  We block.  We unfollow. We mute.

We work to build a fortress of safety around ourselves.  We intentionally begin to segregate everyone into groups deemed 'good' and 'bad'.  Then we cut off the bad limb.

Break

In the military, war is handled at 3 different levels.  The lowest level is called 'tactical'.  This refers to a single unit or a small group taking action that has a short term benefit.  It's a ship capturing Somali pirates or a unit of ground forces defending a base.  Small achievements that, when added up, can produce a desired effect.

The next level up is the operational level.  For now, you can look at this as a group of units exercising a major movement, but it is more the connecting force between the tactical level to the highest level...the 'strategic' level of war.

The strategic level of war is how we exercise national power.  Think of it as the large scale effect that you want to have happen.  It's the effect that takes the most time.  It needs multiple tactical and operational wins to move forward.  It's the long game.

I'd like to talk about our community from the perspective of the strategic level of war. 

What is the overall desired effect that we want to accomplish with the MTG community?

I propose that the overall strategic goal of our MTG community is to have a safe, inclusive, and self-advocating body that perpetuates a positive standard of conduct.

So how do we move toward that goal?

The reason for the military discussion was to illuminate where we are currently operating and how we can better focus our tactical and operational goals to move the ball forward strategically.  Tactically, we have been fighting individual battles (person vs the world) to defend our individual lives and space.  Operationally, we have formed groups that work in much the same way by partitioning our community...setting up barriers to defend and support our group.   Strategically, the outcome of this would be a world divided.  US and THEM.  The standards vary, but once someone is out of the US category, they are forever part of the THEM, with no hope for redemption.

So how do we alter our tactics to affect our strategic goal of creating an MTG community that is safe, inclusive, and self-advocating with a positive standard of conduct?

The answer lies with how we approach those exhibiting poor or unwanted behavior.  It occurred to me, as I was about to swallow up some kid who decided to leave a jerky comment in response to one of my friend's posts, that I could do more good for the community by pulling this kid into the fold and mentoring him than I could by making him an outsider.  I contacted him and asked if he would like to be a part of our MTG Content Creators Group on Facebook.  I began talking to him about how there are better ways to get his name out there and that showing support rather than tearing people apart will always yield better results.  After many conversations, it was easy to see that this kid wasn't a lost cause...he was just alone. 

Like so many people who reach out online for a connection with other people, this person had found a large portion of the anger and bullying that resides in our community.  He learned to fight dirty to defend himself, and had started using those fighting skills, along with a need for attention, to blast others indiscriminately.  He received attention, but at a cost.  This became his routine.  He was hurt, so he hurt others to redeem his pride in some small way.   There seemed to be no end to this cycle. 

Then we met.  Instead of installing another scar across his ego with cruel words, I found a way to connect with him where he was in his life. 

I don't think he'll ever intentionally hurt anyone again.  He's got some mending to do, but I can see that with a community behind him, he'll go on to eventually mentor the next wayward youth.  And so on....and so on....

So that's how we do it. 

I have summed up the tenents of this idea here:

-It is the responsibility of everyone in the community to respond. 
-When we respond, it will be through kindness and understanding.
-We will meet people where they are at and do everything that we can to show them that they can be part of something......that they won't find hate and contempt here, nor will they see us perpetuating it.
-We will mentor.
-We will strive to be inclusive and forgiving.

We may not win every fight; some battles just can't be won.

But it won't be because we poured gas on the fire to make ourselves feel better.

It won't be because we didn't try.

And strategically our community will move toward something that resembles more of what a community is supposed to be...with every win we will create a rippling effect, and maybe in time we will see a positive change.  Even incremental change is worth it.

I hope you found this article useful.  I understand the realities of our world, although I might come off as naive.  I still hold to the premise that we can mobilize our groups to inspire change, and I will never give up on trying to do my part.