I don't know what to do about this. (This is a long one but it is important, please read all the way through.)

Originally posted on @stxcksandstxnes.

I joined this site a few years ago. I haven't been active much because my mental health is abysmal but don't mind that because that's not the point of this entry. 

The concept of this site is amazing, and I love the implementation of customization with html and the retro-internet vibe. I wish there were more sites that implemented that in terms of social media. However there is a huge issue here that I don't think any one is blind to.

It's poorly looked after.

It's a fostering ground for exceptionally explicit material, such as verbal harassment, sexual material, (including children) and gore material. (Not gore in art, but genuine gore of real people.) 

I know that not everyone on this site condones this kind of thing, I have seen plenty of respectable people just doing their own thing as well as people speaking out against such vile material. However it has became increasingly more apparent that the people behind Spacehey would much prefer to ignore the issues or sweep them under altogether instead of actually working to stop the spread.

There aren't a lot of people on hand, that's also apparent. At the time of this post, there are only four moderators that are on An's roster. And An himself seems to be as MIA as possible regardless of online status. Now, looking at his profile it says he is a student (again at the time of this post) so I don't think many people actually know how available he is to look after the site, or at least I don't. And who knows how available the moderators are at this time, since they too seem to be inactive to at least some degree. And An doesn't seem to be taking applications to include more moderators, even on a volunteership.

I didn't join this site for explicit and harmful material. I joined this place to share creations, utilize the customization features, and interact with like-minded people. However with the influx of harmful materials, I don't know if I still want to be here. Now I know that I can still do the things I have mentioned here, as I stated above that it's not the entire site that is harmful, there are respectable people here. I'm aware there is no such thing as safe social media, and that there is good and bad everywhere. However if Spacehey's reputation's going to end up as a breeding ground for disgusting people to run wild, that outweighs the goodness. That's a reason I don't use twitter. Part of it's reputation is it's a breeding ground for harmful material, more than it has the reputation for interacting with respectable people. 

I'm honestly debating heavily on just deleting the accounts I've made on here. I've made one for my personal use, one for art and aesthetic characters, and one for music I'd like to share in the future once I can figure out a means of producing them. However if all this site becomes in the majority is just a place for harm, then I don't feel comfortable sharing those things here. I might keep the accounts up for a little while at least because I do believe in the possibility of things getting better in the future, albeit uncertain nonetheless; especially with the seemingly growing possibility that this site may not last much longer.

If this site gets sued, it's small and therefore won't be able to have the resources to protect itself, and thus it will be shut down. There's also the possibility for the people behind Spacehey to just stop paying for the servers and then the site will be shut down that way. I'm not very sure what to make personally based off of all of this.

I would love to see this site prosper into being as safe as possible without being intrusive, after all I had joined back when the moderation was a bit better. Despite not having made many friends or had interacted around much. 

Again I'm going to hold out my hope for at least a little while. @Batman The Bat has made a couple of posts with a link to a petition to help push the Spacehey team to make the platform safer. I'd strongly encourage any users that come across this post or Bat's post to sign the petition. You do not need to spend any money if you do not feel you have the means to, signing and sharing around is completely free. However, if you do wish to donate that would be greatly appreciated by the good people of the Spacehey community. The link for the petition is below:

https://www.change.org/SaveSpaceHey

I too would encourage people to share this link in case I do decide to delete my material here. I can't say for sure how active I will still be on this site, but as of right now it may not be much with everything going on. I'm also going to include in this post a couple more posts that you can go to here to learn more about the current state of the site.

https://blog.spacehey.com/batmanthebat (account for the original petition posts that sparked this one.)

https://blog.spacehey.com/entry?id=2046611

https://blog.spacehey.com/entry?id=2048503

https://blog.spacehey.com/entry?id=2058763 (this one has more links for other blog posts regarding the issues at hand!)

Now with all of this out of the way, there is one more point I would like to make: If the staff currently isn't doing anything helpful to keep you safe here, take it upon yourself to keep yourself safe.

You do not owe anyone anything. If someone is interacting with you and being blatantly inappropriate, regardless if they're being "nice" about it, block the account immediately. You do not owe them an explanation as to why you won't tolerate their behavior, they know why; they just do not care. If you are uncomfortable with something someone is doing, you have every right to shut the interaction down with no words. A stranger on the internet is not going to care about you the way they might parade that they might. Listen you what your logical brain or gut feelings will tell you. If you are uncomfortable, you are allowed to leave. And you do not need anyone's permission to do so. Don't worry about "being impolite" or "hurting someone's feelings" if you know that staying in the situation is going to hurt you. Because at the end of the day, leaving a situation that is harmful to you does not constitute you as being rude. Again, leaving a situation that is harmful to you does not constitute you as being rude. If you are uncomfortable, you are allowed to leave without explanation. And you do not need anyone's permission to do so.

If you find yourself in situations like this and are comfortable enough to make a call-out post warning others about the intrusive account, I would encourage doing so even though there are reports of moderation not taking kindly to that. If you are able to warn at least one person then that's a win for you regardless of losing access to your own Spacehey account. And do educate yourself on internet safety. A few points of that include:

People lie on the internet all the time. Just because someone tells you they are of a certain age, or certain appearance, does not make it true. Take everything with a grain of salt.

Do not give out your personal information. This includes phone numbers, your name, your age, where you live, etc. If you do however feel comfortable disclosing some of those things, (I myself disclose some minor details in my profile) understand that it does have the ability to draw in unwanted attention. If you do disclose any minor personal details, be cautious.

And once again, if you find anything in your interactions here being used against you in any way shape or form; just leave. Don't spend time trying to repair the interaction, don't explain why you feel a certain way, just leave. The more time you spend in a harmful situation will just make it worse.

I thank all who have signed/shared/donated to the petition and took the time to read this whole entry. I wish all good people here the best, and for prosperity for safety here on Spacehey.

Have a great day/night.

Edit: And here's a link to the account of the original creator for the petition!

https://spacehey.com/profile?id=4435668