Checking in with "*Monica*" users

Question

On 2019-12-23 Monica Cellio updated her GoFundMe to announce a legal settlement with SE Inc.

(Latest) Since that day, I've been wondering if (or what) that means for that unorganized ad-hoc "campaign" that got a few hundred (?) community members to alter their display name (and ideally their profile information) to make a public statement of support for Monica.

My questions to such users are probably a déjà-vu¹:

• Are you satisfied with that legal agreement?
• In any case, what are your next steps? Do you for example intend to keep your "Monica-supporting" display name forever? Or do you consider the whole effort to be useless by now, to react by doing...?

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_{1: But not a duplicate of Checking in with moderators that suspended their activity, as this question addresses a completely different set of community members: the moderators!}

Answer 1

Are you satisfied with that legal agreement?

Well, it isn't in the public domain and so reacting to that agreement itself isn't possible. All we know is that it was accepted by Monica.

Do you for example intend to keep your "Monica-supporting" nickname forever?

I changed back to my previous (and current name) from "Justice for Monica" and cleaned up my profile page the day I read of the agreement.

Or do you consider the whole effort to be useless by now, to react by doing...?

The whole effort was, in my opinion, certainly not a wasted effort. She got some sort of settlement, which I feel wouldn't have happened at all if it weren't for the expressions of support here and on the GoFundMe page.

On the flip side, it was (and is) disappointing to see

• comments such as "no one died",
• descriptions of what has happened as a "drama",
• suggestions that what's past is past and
• that we should learn from the past and move on.

Answer 2

Are you satisfied with that legal agreement?

I'm a kind of regular user in the network, but I have followed up to a certain point about what is happening. Honestly, I'm not satisfied with the situation since the "apology" and "resolution" was locked:

Update: an agreement with Monica Cellio

It's not about keeping bad attitudes against the people in "charge" of Stack Exchange, but if something I've noticed is that there is no democracy in any decision at all.

The people in charge of the organization can randomly change any rules like was the case of Monica and most importantly, the negative actions that they took against her. It was more pressure from us that moved the ship to take some actions, if Monica would have been alone in this, she would have been just ignored. Also, previously the case of the licenses.

Now, after many months we had that "apology" that no one is clear what happened as a resolution, since Monica needed to be silent about the agreement (which is fair up to a certain point). I cannot say that I'm satisfied since this situation has split the community and until some terms of the agreement are known and Monica is reinstated properly, this situation is just going to keep growing.

In any case, what are your next steps? Do you for example intend to keep your "Monica-supporting" nickname forever? Or do you consider the whole effort to be useless by now, to react by doing...?

I'd say the people are free to keep them as long as they want since this shows the lack of support of us, the users in Stack Exchange, the ones who contribute with our precious time (something that cannot be recovered) to keep this ship afloat. Stack Exchange needs to realize that these actions are just damaging their image and trust around us and sooner or later, their business is going to be affected too.

Answer 3

With so many answers already written, and this one coming so late after the question was posted, I doubt this will get much attention. But I've removed the Monica-related language from my accounts for a couple of reasons:

1. Monica herself did so. I recognize that this is likely due to her agreement with SE, but I was following her lead in the first place. I see little reason to deviate from that now-- whatever is in their agreement, it was clearly acceptable enough to Monica to make the change on her own profiles.

2. It has become a meaningless protest, in practical terms. SE does not care about a phrase in our user names like this. Keeping a protest message like these gives the illusion of action and tenacity, but I'm not sure that, for me, it provides anything beyond that illusion. SE really doesn't need more practice in ignoring its users, and I feel that these additions to user names will cause SE to care about its users even less than it already does.

3. I think that it's self-defeating with regard to newer users as well as those that have not followed the controversies. If existing users care about these issues, but not enough to affect anything more readily perceptible than a user name, then the user name protest messages will seem to be inert. At that point they just give the impression that the issues at question are deserving of mild complaint and nothing more.

To be clear, I have no complaint with people who want to keep those messages in their user names, and I fully support their doing so. But for me, I personally don't go in for low-key, persistent, symbolic expressions of disappointment. And since I, personally, feel that that is all keeping such a message in my own user name would accomplish, I chose to remove it.

I'm onboard for other actions, should the community pursue them (such as a regular participation strike, or something similar). But I no longer feel that this avenue has much to offer.

Answer 4

I'm happy because there's an agreement, which means both parties are happy with what was agreed.

From the moment I've heard of the agreement, i removed right away from the name and description information regarding Monica Cellio's cause, but left all my upvotes / downvotes.

Yet, I'm a little afraid something similar might happen to other user and the same user doesn't get the same support from other members as Monica Cellio did.

I feel there's high chance for the user to be doomed because i believe what lead to the agreement was the support Monica Cellio had in the GoFundMe, the profiles, QAs, comments, ... from fellow users which pressured SO into considering Monica Cellio's side.

SO tried to sweep it under the carpet. This saying, even though this case was solved, it remains unclear what SO is doing get users' trust back. One thing i know, if nothing is done, something is being done (that would reveal they don't really care about the users). If nothing is done, then I'm not even sure where this could lead; i could see even space for all this valuable content to be made private.

Answer 5

It's great to know that an agreement has been reached, but at the same I feel confused because it's like playing a game that you don't know if it's over yet. But anyway, I'll be supporting Monica through my profile name until we have a formal and clear announcement that we can move on.