LOL! I got banned!

[Quagmire]

That will forever be a disagreement between RF and me. I don't like backroom deals and clandestine operations

So basically you'd be into public floggings.

(And here I was just
starting to let go of my German = kinky stereotypes)

 

[Aupmanyav]

The staff here is nice, though I have been banned or warned frequently for valid reasons, mostly. Once or twice, I thought it was not fair, but it is all in the game. I do not know my current warning status. The new software perhaps keeps it under wraps, though I would like to know. I get warnings lasting a whole year. I think the staff here has mellowed some. I have not received any warning since joining after my three-month ban.
Had I included 'IMHO' in my posts, I could have escaped many warnings.

I've gotten pretty nasty with people in Reddit and I've never even been called on it, let alone banned.

I got shadowed out at reddit, even in their Atheist Hindu forum, so I left. No one wanted my radical Advaita or would accept that there can be an atheist Hindu.

 

[Heyo]

So basically you'd be into public floggings.

Yep. Maybe it's because I've had bad experiences with opaque structures and enforcement. I'm generally for transparency. When I openly break the rules, I deserve a public punishment.
Or, to put it another way, public courts and public court rulings are a staple of Roman Law. We've had vehmic courts in the past and there's a reason we abandoned that practice.

 

[Quagmire]

Yep. Maybe it's because I've had bad experiences with opaque structures and enforcement. I'm generally for transparency. When I openly break the rules, I deserve a public punishment.
Or, to put it another way, public courts and public court rulings are a staple of Roman Law. We've had vehmic courts in the past and there's a reason we abandoned that practice.

You're confusing private with secret.

 

[Heyo]

You're confusing private with secret.

What's the difference, especially if I have to keep it a secret when I get a private ruling?

 

[SomeRandom]

Well done @Quagmire!!!

 

[Quagmire]

What's the difference,

People usually do things in 'secret' when they're up to something (which you seem to think we are. Or at least, you seem to be fond of giving that impression)

'Private' when it comes to something like this is out of consideration for both parties.

And so moderation doesn't become a sideshow.

especially if I have to keep it a secret when I get a private ruling?

You know I wouldn't personally have a problem with people talking about their own moderation issues in the open forums if they could be trusted to be accurate about it.

Most people can't. Or at least, most people who would feel compelled to talk about their own moderation issues in the open forums in the first place.

As far as that goes I've seen you yourself put a pretty wild spin on things when talking about your personal moderation experiences.

It isn't fair to us to have people running around in the forums making false accusations against us when we can't defend ourselves without violating the members privacy rights.

I've often suggested in the staff rooms that when somebody does that, when somebody starts talking (especially inaccurately) about things that happened behind the scenes, we should take that as permission to waive their privacy rights and actually go out in the forums and show --- not tell --- what happened and what was said.

I've never been able to push that through though.

 

[Colt]

I was banned from a site where the mods were all flat earthers!

 

[Gargovic Malkav]

I wonder how many people saw the title of this thread and thought, "It's about time".

Honestly I thought this thread's OP would've been @Father Heathen since he has a history of trolling.
So I was thinking: "Oh, is he up to his old shenanigans again?"

 

[Gargovic Malkav]

I got shadowed out at reddit, even in their Atheist Hindu forum, so I left. No one wanted my radical Advaita or would accept that there can be an atheist Hindu.

I've always suspected such experiences are the reason why you seem to base so much of your identity on your atheism.

 

[Gargovic Malkav]

That will forever be a disagreement between RF and me. I don't like backroom deals and clandestine operations. If you want to moderate me, you can do that in the open. It is also informative to the other members to know what is considered worthy of moderation.
But aside from that disagreement about principles, I join in the applause on the work of staff and moderators.

I have mixed feelings about this.
I see how this kind of subtlety can come across as "sneaky" and like you said, can also rob others of the chance to get a better idea of how things work around here.
But I also see how people shy away from that as you can get those kinds of scenarios that makes me think of the criminal on the scaffold, surrounded by a cheering mob hungry for blood.

I wonder if a mod would violate the rules if they would respect your request.

 

[Heyo]

People usually do things in 'secret' when they're up to something (which you seem to think we are. Or at least, you seem to be fond of giving that impression)

I'm sorry, that wasn't my intention. Over all I'm very happy with the moderation. I see much potential for malice in the secrecy rules but no actual malice. So, this is an absolutely theoretical discussion.
The main theoretical problem with secret private moderation is that the moderators are anonymous and only accountable to other mods. With open moderation the mod has to justify his ruling to all members, not only the "delinquent". Mods can, theoretically, like a secret police, let posts and even members disappear without the public noticing it.

 

[Wu Wei]

I got banned from another site because I pointed out, via PM with a copy of the site rules, exactly were a troll, on the site, was continually breaking those rules..... and I got banned

 

[LuisDantas]

Speaking as a former forum moderator twice over, I have to say that it is incredibly emotionally demanding work - not least because the temptation to just throw the table and be forceful is always there and always so alluring.

Good moderation is not something to take for granted anywhere.

 

[Revoltingest]

I have always believed that public moderation is a farce and an insult to members' dignity. This is the latest of many examples that have reinforced my belief.

I agree.
But there is at least 1 private forum dedicated to
discussing RF moderation. It has been useful.
Although in the last couple years, moderation
has improved to the point that it languishes.
This is good.

 

[Debater Slayer]

That will forever be a disagreement between RF and me. I don't like backroom deals and clandestine operations. If you want to moderate me, you can do that in the open. It is also informative to the other members to know what is considered worthy of moderation.
But aside from that disagreement about principles, I join in the applause on the work of staff and moderators.

Consider my like a friendly frubal! But a like also works.

 

[Rachel Rugelach]

. . . on another site.

I've needed a break from Admining and RF in general lately so I joined a couple of other sites in the past few weeks.

One thing that I've taken away from this experience is this: YOU GUYS HAVE NO IDEA HOW LUCKY YOU ARE TO HAVE THE KIND OF STAFF WE HAVE RUNNING THIS PLACE.

Seriously, this morning I posted a joke thread on one of the other sites that, admittedly, was probably in poor taste, and as I was posting it I was thinking, "Oh well, if this is over the line I'm sure they'll let me know . . .". and boy, did they let me know : in public, in the most scolding, most condescending tones possible all the time waving their staff badges in my face.

I had been a member at that site for 3 weeks, had dozens of posts, and had more ratings than I had posts. I had been interacting in a positive way with the members, including a few staff members. The only other problem I'd had was when I accidentally posted a thread twice (must have clicked the button twice), for which I also got thoroughly scolded in public.

Basically I had shown pretty clearly that I wasn't there to troll.

And yet, I was being given exactly the same treatment that we (the RF staff) normally reserves for people who actually are just here to troll. And even then we usually do it in private.

So being slammed into the public stocks for something that was (mostly) an innocent mistake took me completely surprise.

I pointed this out to the mod, and also pointed out that I thought it was a little inappropriate for her to be talking to a 64 yr man as if he were a misbehaving (and she actually used that word) 8 yr old,. . .

. . . at which point she started talking to me like a misbehaving 3 yr old . . .

. . . at which point I promised to try harder to humor her from then on . . .

. . . at which point she threatened to ban me if I ever again suggested that she needed to be humored. . .

. . . at which point I said, "OK them, In that case feel free to go **** yourself. ". . .

. . . at which point she banned me (apparently, no consensus required).

LOL! I'm just glad this happened before I had too much time invested, because I'm pretty sure it would have happened eventually anyway.

On another site a mod warned me (although this was in private) that I couldn't insult someone just because I didn't like his poetry. I said OK, but I tried to clarify that the reason I insulted him wasn't because I didn't like his poetry, it was because he insulted me after I told him I didn't like his poetry.

That didn't seem to clarify anything for her.


Anyway, like I said, one thing this experience has done for me is to make me appreciate the staff we have and the way we moderate this place.


So, in praise of Rf staff !!! YAY YAY YAY !!!

(and I'm going to take a bow myself when nobodies looking because figure I must have had something to do with it somewhere along the line)

Oh, believe me, I KNOW how lucky we all are to have the staff we have here at RF. I came from one of those forums that treated you that way (and I wouldn't be surprised if it was the same forum that I used to be at).

Ditto on the YAY YAY YAY!!! I'm happy here, I've made friends, and I trust and respect the RF staff.

 

[Heyo]

Consider my like a friendly frubal! But a like also works.

:friendly:

 

[Guitar's Cry]

There are other forums?!

 

[mangalavara]

Like I said: compared to what I just saw the masses here have it easy.

I love the RF staff because they are mature adults who treat us as mature adults. The woman who acted like some medieval disciplinarian toward you should find something else to do.

I got shadowed out at reddit, even in their Atheist Hindu forum, so I left. No one wanted my radical Advaita or would accept that there can be an atheist Hindu.

I stopped posting on the Hindu forum there because so many of the users there think like the ‘one book, one religion’ believers. Apparently, as an adherent of a thinking person’s religion, any opinion that I might hold is inferior to śāstra. Also, they hate hearing that there are individuals who have been making wonderful spiritual progress without formal authorization. All in all, so many Hindus on Reddit are unworthy of our time.