We've had more messages about this so far than anything else, so I wanted to take a minute to chat to you about our positive names only policy.
As you might have noticed when you signed up for Fantasy General Election, one of our main rules is that your username (and team name) must be positive.
You absolutely can use your name to show your support for a particular party, or idea, but you can't use it to attack or insult others - even in a jokey way.
A lot of people have been asking why we have this rule, and a few people have, understandably, been a bit miffed that they've been asked to change their name.
I thought it might be helpful to give you a little explanation as to why I personally feel it's important.
The first reason, to be completely honest with you, is that politics has been really getting me down recently.
Maybe it's just me, and maybe it's always been like this, but it feels like most political debate these days (especially on the internet) is basically just people shouting at each other.
The reason why, of course, is that politics is genuinely really important.
General elections are not trivial things, and the results of the vote on 4th July could have a huge impact - one way or another - on all of our lives, which is not something to be taken lightly.
As someone who voted remain in the Brexit referendum, and has never voted for the Conservatives, I know what it feels like to be on the wrong side of an election result, and I understand why people feel as passionately about these things as they do.
However, once the election is over we all still have to get along (or at least tolerate each other), and it feels like a lot of the 'discussions' people are having around politics aren't doing much to bring people together.
Now obviously, Fantasy General Election is not going to change that.
Nobody thinks that stopping people from slagging each other off through their usernames on a daft website is going to dramatically alter the course of political debate in the UK.
However, doing something is better than doing nothing; and so I decided it was better to have the rule than not.
Have Something To Say For Yourself
The second reason for the rule is that so much political debate now seems to focus on why your opponents are crap, rather than why your ideas are actually any good.
Of course, it's actually very important that we're able to criticise people we disagree with - especially in politics.
Opposition, and holding our leaders to account, is a vital part of our democracy; and I'm not saying that nobody is beyond having their ideas rigorously examined. The exact opposite is true.
However, if I'm being brutally honest, I don't think 'f**k the tories', or 'Keir Starmer is a c**t' necessarily fall under the definition of rigorous examination.
As a society we do seem to be getting a lot better at slagging off our opponents, and less confident in putting forward why our ideas are better.
Again, it's not this website's job to regulate political debate in the UK, or tell people what they can and can't say, but on a personal level it does kind of annoy me when the best argument people have for their own ideas is that the other parties are worse.
The whole point of a debate is to try and persuade people that your ideas are the right ideas, and I'm struggling to think of a time when I've seen someone happy to have their mind changed by being called a twat.
It just feels to me as though, in general, we can do a bit better.
How does this affect Fantasy General Election?
Firstly, I'm sorry to say that there are people who have been submitting usernames which are downright offensive - and there should be absolutely no question that those names are not acceptable on Fantasy General Election.
There is no place on the website for hate speech - of any sort - and where those sorts of names are slipping past our automatic filters, we're removing them manually as soon as we see them.
But beyond that, I can understand why some people are a little confused or disappointed as to why their names might not have been allowed.
There are a lot of grey areas; and unfortunately there isn't going to be one solution which keeps everyone happy.
We recently had an email from one user who was upset that their username had been flagged, whereas someone with a name along the lines of 'no more immigration' was still on the site.
While ending immigration is not a policy that I personally agree with, it is a legitimate political position. As long as it's expressed in a respectable way, it's not something we're going to remove.
On the flipside, we've had to remove some names which are really fairly harmless, and actually quite clever, but are nonetheless portraying someone in a negative light.
In these sorts of circumstances, it does feel unfair to ask someone to change their name, but unfortunately we do have to have a rule.
We won't always get it right (and if you see something you don't think is appropriate, you are more than welcome to bring it to our attention), but we're doing our best to apply it fairly.
Plus, while a lot of people who play the game are no doubt seasoned politicos, who have developed a very thick skin when it comes to this sort of thing, not everyone else has.
We want Fantasy General Election to be a site where anyone can participate, and not feel downcast or belittled for their political beliefs.
I know FGE isn't really that big a deal. There are far worse things going on in the world than someone having a slightly questionable username on an entirely inconsequential website.
But if the positive names policy helps even one person feel a little more confident in engaging in politics, because they're not being called a moron, I personally think the rule is worth keeping.