šŸ“£āš ļø A quick note on Conduct - Please read

Hey all,

As some of you noticed we had a rather ugly exchange here this evening. Regardless of anyoneā€™s opinions on the people involved with it, it was an unacceptable breach of our Code of Conduct and it has led to a permanent ban on one account. Actions that could be considered to be harassment are taken very seriously here and weā€™re grateful to those of you that flagged it with us privately, especially the members of the Coral Crew who brought it to our attention.

I want to talk about some of the things that led us to this point and how, in the future, we can deal with them in a constructive way.

After a thorough investigation, weā€™ve determined that an individual who was displeased with the behaviour of another individual, took it upon himself to very publicly denigrate the person with whom he was displeased. Neither party, in our opinion, was innocent, but the public actions of the former went way beyond the pale in respect to the behaviour of the latter.

Thatā€™s not how we deal with things here.

If you are upset with something thatā€™s been said by another user, you use the flag system and explain why. If you need to add more context, you DM a staff member such as myself, @cookywook, @yen, @naji, @HughWells or @beths. We donā€™t quite have 24/7 cover (yet) but most hours and days of the week, at least one of us will be around to address anything.

In this particular incident, had the person discussed it with us instead of taking it upon themselves to target that person directly, they would have quickly learned that we were already in the process of taking action.

The point is, that weā€™re a civilised forum and we have staff and processes in place to ensure everything runs smoothly. You are free to disagree with anyone else, as long as you can speak (or rather, type) in a polite, constructive manner and act with basic human decency. We donā€™t use patronising or exclusive language. We donā€™t insert ourselves into volatile conversations with the intent of making them worse. We donā€™t abuse the flag system, and we definitely donā€™t harass other people, even if we find them particularly offensive. Itā€™s just not how we do things here.

As Monzo has grown to over a million users, weā€™re adding over 100k users a month at this point. Community, as you all know, is at the absolute heart of what we do. Over time, itā€™ll be even more visible in the app itself (like the new Making Monzo section) and so weā€™ll see lots of new users here. We want them to feel welcome, and included, and to participate - we need a range of diverse voices and opinions to improve our product, and thatā€™s why we celebrate diversity so much. But the thing that all the diverse voices absolutely have to have in common is basic decency and kindness to others and the desire to actually be part of a healthy community and to respect the other people in it. Itā€™s not just about Monzo either - although we own this space, weā€™ve hosted and welcomed feedback from many other companies in or close to the fintech space, so that they can learn and gather feedback from our vibrant community. Ultimately, we believe in community as a space for the wider scene. As they say, a rising tide lifts all boats.

Weā€™re a growing company and a growing community, but here on the forum weā€™re still a relatively small team. We rely on all of you, and particularly the Coral Crew, to help us shape and maintain this place as we grow.

Our community, and how itā€™s regarded both inside and outside the company, is a testament to how incredible the power of community can be. Iā€™ve been around the country meeting and talking to members of our community in different cities, and itā€™s the number 1 thing I hear, about how much people value our community. Other companies seek to understand how weā€™ve built something so vibrant, and every single company thatā€™s reached out to us to do a Fintech Q&A so far has said how impressed they are with what we do here.

What happened this evening was so far from the behaviour that we seek to encourage, and I know that I speak for the company as a whole, and the community as a whole, when I say that weā€™re better than this. Weā€™ve made the fastest growing current account in the country, with an awesome community behind us, and weā€™ll continue to do that, as long as we can all respect each other and work together, even when thereā€™s differences of opinion.

This can be an open topic, and we can discuss ways to improve the community if we so wish. And if youā€™re more comfortable speaking privately - you can always DM myself or another staff member :slightly_smiling_face:

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Who got the ban coz it wasnā€™t me :eyes:

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test reply to see if Iā€™m banned

Good and clear post. Hope the drama wasnā€™t too dramatic.

I totally missed what happened (I donā€™t need to know though). Itā€™s always unfortunate when these situations happen. Iā€™m a moderator on another forum and occasionally weā€™ve had to deal with this sort of thing. Iā€™m glad action has been taken though.

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Sometimes itā€™s better to step back and think about whatever you were going to do or say. We are all emotional in one or the other way but staying civil even when anonymous should always be top priority.

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Iā€™ve actually been reading and not posting much recently as so many threads drift so quickly. Really ā€˜on pointā€™ post @simonb . So many people on here that I have a lot of time and respect for.

I had very little confidence when I first started posting on here, and I grew to feel I can be honest and open when I post, so I guess my point is, if someone says something you disagree with, stop for a second before feeling you have to correct them or push a different viewā€¦ It may well of took that person a good while to of posted their messages.

Free hug to anyone who want one!

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I really need to do this regularly at work when I get a snotagram or some other dreadful email.

Ban check nope, all clear!

I just wonder how will the community team deal with these incidents going forward. The downside of Monzo & their community getting popular is that it will attract more and more trolls (there are awful people on the internet after all), so Iā€™m keen to know what solutions anyone proposes going forwards.

This brings me back to my teenage years spending countless hours on gaming communities; this kind of drama was happening pretty much daily. Fun times.

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Glad this post has been put out there, as @Dannytc stated Iā€™ve actually tried to avoid certain threads on here due to them being constantly derailed.

I like to think of the community as somewhere Monzo customers can come and share their experiences (good or bad), talk about things we have in common (such as Fintech) and enjoy the occasional random chat. It seems to have lost a bit of that recently due to certain members pushing their own agendas and not taking other peoples opinions into consideration.

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I agree, a number of topics do seem to have been derailed lately. Itā€™s a shame because unlike some forums the members, moderators are so helpful and friendly, and thereā€™s been some brilliant topics for discussion.

I agree with @anon23935806 though that as this forum grows the number of unpleasant users will grow as well. So I hope that can be dealt with to keep this forum great.

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I moderated, and eventually adminā€™d a teen support site and had to deal with things like this very often. As our customers are adults, you would hope the level of civility is high enough that these sort of reactions arenā€™t a thing.

But as Simon has so eloquently put it (heā€™s so good with words) itā€™s not something we will tolerate here, and we want to continue to develop an inclusive community.

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I0hxJwS

In the process of taking action. So canā€™t one person make a judgement call or does something like this have to be sorted via committee?

Very well said :heart: excellent post as always Simon! The forum should always be diverse and inclusive, but not at the expense of including people who cannot be civil or understanding.

The forum is meant to be an enjoyable read where people come on to talk about Monzo, other fintech, or anything at all, and the last couple of weeks have been especially grating. Iā€™m glad Monzo is on it :+1:t3:

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Great post @simonb. I think we all appreciate what you guys and the Coral Crew do for the community. Itā€™s a real shame when these things happen, but we can always learn from them and grow as a community. Thanks everyone :+1:

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Very well said, and glad to see that we can have civil conversations, really appreciate the input of Monzo and coral teams, the community is something that I enjoy to read whenever Iā€™ve got a few minutes spare (like now before work) a lot of topics Iā€™ve read lately has gone off topic and have turned quite quickly so didnā€™t even post some. Thank you Monzo for making the community a kind place :grin:

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:hot_coral_heart:

This is why I am loving Monzo :heart::rocket::heart::rocket:
Community spirit is at the heart of the upliftment of all :sparkling_heart:

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I miss the days of 2016 and the Apple Pay thread, things were so much more easier then :frowning_face: :crying_cat_face:

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Samsung Pay will be the next Apple Pay. :smiling_imp:

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