@JasonD 204615 wrote:
Thankyou both for your replies and my apologies for the delay in responding.
Friday was a very very busy day for me, as is this week as a few people are flying in from around the globe for meetings with me. As for weekends, I do my utmost to spend that time with my kids!
I will respond inline to your comments Dominque ( I have snipped some of your comments down the meat so that we can get to the meat) and then give a small summary at the end.
Please read my views, as I have read yours, with a smile on your face and remember tact isn’t an asset of mine and bluntness is something we both share
I disagree. There was an admin cock up not a moderation cock up. I will come to the reasons for the moderation by me, when I can. But the way I handled the situation, including cutting and chopping threads would have worked perfectly if 1 of 2 situations would have happened.
#1. I had the ability to merge threads – It was showing as I did have this ability which is why I started by splitting threads to remerge distinct and seperate discussions after the split. It seemed I was unable which led to the initial request in here for Admin support.
#2. If Admins / someone with the ability to merge the threads, had indeed merged them then all would be sweetness and light right now. Instead of merging you deleted, which can then cause a worse history as there would be no public viewable backup of discussion.
I am glad we agree
I refer to my point above, but will add that using words like mutilated is a touch over dramatic!!
A well run message board needs to manage risk. Online a message board is one of the most litigous prone type of sites there are and having moderators in place makes it more so if those moderators do not do their job.
Not having moderators is a defence. Having moderators shows that you are aware of risk and therefore moderators ignoring risk shows guilt.
With the greatest of respect, your statement above is an oxymoron. You can NOT have a well run message board without managing risk and I suspect you have been managing risk without realising it for many years.
I will and am
Again, with the greatest of respect – that’s crap! You are unable to decide what is and isn’t a legal issue until I have told you what occured and the risks inherent with that. I have yet to tell you so you can not say whether it is “moderation” or not.
I personally hate it when someone uses the age old trick of stating how long they have been doing something. I personally believe in quality over quantity as you may simply have 8 years experience of being a bad moderator. I am sure that isn’t the case though.
If time does matter to you I should let you know that I moderated and operated my 1st “forum” before the word forum was used in this context. It was known as a BBS back then in the late 80s and required people to dial in to my systems, log in and exchange messages in a threaded “forum” style.
Since then I was at the launch of forums within the WWW running a forum on a contentious subject matter that was illegal in many parts of the world (much like Gaming / Gambling is today in fact) generating just shy of 1Million uniques per day. That was in the late 90’s heading into the Noughties, so if experience does matter I can safely say I have around 20 years experience of running forum style communities, but as I said above, time doesn’t mean a thing, it might mean I have 20 odd years experience of being a bad mod!
Yup, but those 7 boards being run for 8 years may have all been run badly.
I find that statement simply rude – if it is how you feel then so be it but I ask 2 things. Don’t speak for others only yourself and also please be aware of the difference between bluntness and rudeness. If you can’t be civil then please don’t bother
I have been asked to run the search forums by the site owners. On that basis, and until the site owners tell me differently and/or I can not be bothered anymore I will continue to run them as I see fit. I will not defer or consult with you for something I believe is perfectly reasonable for me to make a decision on.
Agreed and so am I
As have I
Please do not presume, of what and what not, I am ignorant or otherwise of.
I stand by my decision to moderate in the way I did and defer that the reason for the mess was yours by deleting and not merging the thread as I requested. I further put forward my view I made the right decision. I am afraid you are not availed of all the facts but if you were you may well agree with me. I am afraid I can’t avail you o those facts yet.
I am sure that in our own personal areas of expertise we can add tremendous value to the community but I am also sure that the only thing mutual back slapping delivers is a sore back for all!
I will summarise this discussion by making 4 points.
- I stand by my decisions to deal with a legal threat, at the time I was here in the way I did.
- I believe that when I make a request for someone to undertake an action on my behalf, when I do not have high enough priveledges to undertake it, that they either do as I ask, or contact me urgently to discuss and ask why.
- I do not expect something other than which I have asked for to be undertaken. That is quite simply – slapdash!
- Dominque – You’re a huge asset to this community but you need to stop thinking of yourself as queen bee. If you don’t think in that manner then please change the wording of how you communicate as calling yourself a senior mod with 8 years experience simply shouts “arrogance and conseit”
I put my kids to bed at about 7pm. Anyone can call after 8pm (my personal mobile number is available in this forum) and between 10pm UK time if they ever wish to discuss matters in the evening.
thanks and kind regards to you all
Jason
Admin, you need to explain here.
If the way CAP is moderated has changed, I expect to be notified.