Official Pokemon forums just went live and the chaos already has fans in uproar
The Pokemon CompanyThe Pokemon Company recently made strides to connect with its fanbase hoping to give themselves direct insight into their community. On July 4 they launched their official Pokemon forum but some lax moderation led to content that’s a far cry from the family-friendly image the company tries to maintain.
As the site went live, Pokemon fans flocked to the forum to share their love of the franchise and discuss their favorite topics. Though some were quickly caught a little off guard by inappropriate posts that definitely went beyond the scope of The Pokemon Company’s intention.
A massive amount of now-deleted posts were compiled in a Twitter thread started by user Touyarokii.
Some were harmless like forum user Yoshikid64 pondering “Which Pokemon would be the best at operating a Hyundai 25-L7 Forklift?” (Machamp, of course). Others firmly stepped over the line by asking things like which Pokemon was responsible for the September 11 terror attacks.
Content moderation appeared to be a massive issue in the site’s early hours and the lack of any apparent gatekeeping caused the forums to be flooded with increasingly bizarre posts.
Many fans began voicing their displeasure and concern that the forum was becoming a hotbed for off-the-wall discourse. Taking to Reddit, members of the community were worried that the situation would impact the reputation of the fandom.
Things escalated when users began to be banned for posting or even participating in off-topic or insensitive discussions. Select fans on the forum have criticized the decision as heavy-handed and failing to address the core of the issue.
Most asked why the Pokemon Company didn’t begin by incorporating a more comprehensive moderation system to stop things like this from happening when they conceived the platform.
Twitter @andreamarianamThings appear to have wound down on the platform for now and all the visible posts appear both on topic and safe for work. Perhaps indicating a moderation team eventually stepped in.
The damage may already be done though and lots of Pokemon fans are choosing to stick with existing sites like Pokecommunity and Bulbagarden. Their proven track record with fair moderation has made them a hub for franchise-focused interaction.