Mitch Cronin Posted July 2, 2010 Share Posted July 2, 2010 Recently, a poster here was banned. We all probably know which "handle" that was, but that's not relevant here... what his offing made me realize, is that events may have led some others of you to get a little confused... I'd like to clear things up, just a wee bit...First off, I'll acknowledge my status here has been what most would call a "moderator", since JW gave up running the AEF some time ago (what was that? 10 years ago?) .... The owner/operators of this forum approached me very early in the game to ask me, along with two others, to help keep things in order... As most of you know, that's never been much of a problem. Most here are rather well behaved...Anyway, we all preferred keeping our status as moderators quiet... and things worked fine... until..., a recent change of software coincided with a spat I'd had with the above mentioned, now banned, individual... Somehow, and I'm really not quite sure how, some wires were crossed somewhere in communication I think, and the names were left out for all to see.... The cat was out of the bag.Now to my point.... The individual that's now banned, evidently feels that I personally have been responsible for his being banned, simply because I don't agree with him on several issues. That, of course, is laughable.... since if that were the criteria for banning someone, most of you would have been banned by now! Anyway, he's right in assuming it was I who hit the button to ban him. You see, I do my utmost to separate my posting self from my "moderating" self... and I've let all sorts of questionable things get by, because I'm erring on the side of caution when I know the potential for conflict of interest is present. I count on the others to "moderate" when I'm 'too close to the action' - so to speak... But in this case, the series of events had me - as an individual --and a non-anonymous [what's the right word to use there?] individual... an identified, with real name, individual... - being slandered, and complaining to myself - a "moderating" individual - of same..... So, as a moderator ought to do, in any such circumstance, I reckon, I suspended the posters right to post and put the whole matter to the rest of the crowd for review... (sort of).The facts are these: - a perception of slander was noted more than once, before a complaint was made (odd though it might have been)- the anonymous, now banned, individual in question was warned, by the named individual, on more than one occasion, that he did not appreciate the [alleged] slander and would take action if it did not stop- the [alleged] slander continued- a further complaint was made, with an attendant request to "fling the toad from the highest tree into the muckiest swamp!" (...along with a threat of dire consequences to this moderator's favourite dog if satisfaction was not to be had... more or less...)- I stalled... carefully... (I love my dogs and can't pick a favourite!)- more [alleged] slander was posted by the same -now banned- poster, and the final request came to "annihilate him!"I was at work, but I had just a minute to hit the big red button..... and I smashed it! Seriously though folks, slander is a complaint any moderator has to take seriously. If anyone wants to bad-mouth any named individual, they'd better bloody well be prepared to back up what they're saying, or face the consequences... The owners of the forum - and, probably, the moderators - could also be in some thick dung if they failed to take such a complaint seriously. In any case, after review, by the entire staff of 4, it has been agreed, the ban on this particular poster sticks. ...and yes, I'm sure I did have some influence in that decision... though not quite so much, probably, as he himself did.Clear as mud, yeah?--Edited to add: Some folks not named above may not agree with some of the particulars detailed, however, the essence of the situation has been sufficiently presented so as to get the gist of it across.-- ... I don't really care if "slander" doesn't happen to be a legitimate and applicable term... I do believe y'all will get the point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinnaker Posted July 2, 2010 Share Posted July 2, 2010 Which poster are you talking about? I don't read all the threads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireFox Posted July 2, 2010 Share Posted July 2, 2010 Highly inappropriate.I think admin should reconsider having you as a moderator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manwest Posted July 2, 2010 Share Posted July 2, 2010 I seemed we suddenly had moderators here as they seemed to the only ones posting for a while. That was my guess. I thought it was strange as most other forums you know who the mods are. I think a better plan would have been to announce who the moderators are when they were appointed than to have something like this banning, bring them *out of the closet* so to speak. Always nice to be upfront and know where you stand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seeker Posted July 2, 2010 Share Posted July 2, 2010 Highly inappropriate.I think admin should reconsider having you as a moderator.Really? Why do you think this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PowerAdmin Posted July 2, 2010 Share Posted July 2, 2010 Just to clarify, this board is monitered by a team of volunteers. No decisions are made unilaterally, including this one.For further information, please refer to our Forum Posting Guidelines and Terms of Use.PowerAdmin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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