This came up in the comments in another post, and I think it'd be good to have its own topic to discuss what this community covers and how it should be moderated.

I'm posting this publically because I believe this should be transparent to everyone involved in this community, and I'd like to invite my fellow moderators @Hermit_Lailoken@lemmy.world, @Sergio@slrpnk.net and @Eldritch@lemmy.world to give their opinions on what they would like for this community.

So, what should this place be about?

For my part, I would like this place to be inclusive of related genres and generally have an open policy to any discussion related to music, subculture, fashion and aesthetic. I am not interested in strictly defining what goth is or isn't, I do not want to gatekeep and I would like to foster an inclusive community, rather than an exclusive one.

As far as moderation goes, I intend to uphold the terms of service of the server this community is hosted on (lemmy.world) and for my part the only other term I would like to explicitly include in this community's rules are: no acceptance or tolerance of bigotry, examples of which include racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia and xenophobia.

Generally I would hope everyone will treat each other respectfully and with kindness. I favour a light touch when it comes to moderation: I'd like to see active and natural discussion without the need for moderators to step in. However, if someone isn't playing nice I would encourage people to report such behaviour and I will take all reports seriously.

To my fellow moderators: I would like to encourage openness about how we moderate this community. I would also value and welcome your opinions about how we go from here. If there are things we feel would need discussion I would like to make a public post about it in this community so decisions are transparent and it's clear what our concerns and intentions are.

Finally, I want us to enjoy this. It shouldn't feel like work or be difficult. If you have any concerns, worries or criticism of what I've laid out here please feel free to comment.