Viceman Cometh Posted October 4, 2011 Report Share Posted October 4, 2011 I thought I'd share an embarrassing moment from my personal life, one that doesn't cast me in the best light. To see if anyone's had a similar experience, if any mods here can offer an admin's perspective, and also for anyone who just wants to revel in my humiliation.I got involved in a dustup on a media industry board because a public figure in the industry was taking an unexpected and unexplained leave of absence. I started a thread asking if anyone knew why he'd done this.I was almost immediately bombarded with multiple replies basically all saying the same thing: I was a horrible person for prying into the guy's personal life. I responded that I was asking a simple question, but was glad they were all morally superior.Over the course of a few days, one other member in particular wouldn't let it go, so I kept poking him (because, frankly, I have a talent for it). It ended with me, in not my greatest moment, telling him to "eff off," using emoticons in place of the letters u and o to circumvent the board's no-profanity policy.I immediately received a warning PM from a moderator/admin telling me my post had been deleted because of was in violation of Terms of Use. The mods/admins on this particular board are different than they are here, in that they don't have typical user names and don't post -- they simply exist invisibly until they swoop in to mete out punishment.In another not-my-best moment, I replied with a PM of my own that contained three simple words: "Eat my shorts." My account was immediately terminated.So, here is my defensive view of the situation:[*]I'd never had any previous warnings on this board prior to the eff off comment and had led a pretty unremarkable existence on the site.[*][*]My eat my shorts comment was contained in a private message and could not be viewed publicly.[*][*]I was essentially banned for my first offense.Because my account had been disabled, I had to use the site's general contact form to send an inquiry about what kind of thin-skinned moderator would do such a thing. I received an e-mail reply within minutes that simply copied and pasted the site's terms of use. I sent another contact form saying I thought I deserved a better explanation than that. I received another e-mail telling me if I had a problem with the action, to send a letter to the site's parent company in Chicago.The whole thing just seemed weird to me. Like issuing the death penalty for littering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Ferrariman Posted October 4, 2011 Administrators Report Share Posted October 4, 2011 Well for starters, from an admin's point of view, I don't see a thing wrong with your question. If you were told to back off and you kept poking (which, by the way, you do have a great talent for ) then you deserve a warning at best. It's probably even written in their rules somewhere if they bothered to look. As for being banned for a PM, well you just got lucky and sent it to the wrong person. If I received that PM from a member I hardly knew and I was having a bad day, then yeah maybe he would be cast off into the abyss BUT, there in lies the difference. I think I have a pretty good handle on the members here and I try to treat them like real people, because that's what they are. We all have good & bad days. We all screw up at one time or another and we all deserve second chances. Your whole situation there sounds like my recent experience with wikipedia. I added the link to our site to the external links section. Before I even realized wiki had moderators I was hit with messages from 2 of them telling me what I did wrong and to read the rules. Right away I felt like a number instead of a person. I sent back a message of explanation only to receive "read the rules" again. I could tell right away that I hit a wall and it wasn't going anywhere but I still managed to find one admin's e-mail and I sent him one in my defense. Never got a reply. Guess he couldn't be bothered.I've been on several sites that operate that way and I simply never go back. Why bother if you're guilty 'til proven innocent? I can tell you that if I were the admin on that site, it never would've gotten as far as it did and you would most likely still be there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cageyJG Posted October 4, 2011 Report Share Posted October 4, 2011 That sucks and I know the feeling. Yeah, an F-bomb will do that. I guess you could wait a week and apologize/ask a different moderator to be reinstated. Just remember that moderators aren't necessarily pillars of society either, but yes, it can be a blow to the ego to have some anonymous adult put us in the corner. You can't possibly win every battle though, so that's why people say, "You have to pick your battles."Our real-life "mods", the Supreme Court - if they followed the Constitution, Natural Law, and objective truth, they'd probably be in agreement a lot more often. But they're much more arbitrary - surely you've heard of all this "legislation from the bench." Too bad for you that nobody else was interested in why Mr. X was taking a leave of absence. Here's my experience with some self-righteous mod. I am Y, he is X. I know I was right, but he was such an uber-d* that I just let it go. You have received a warning at Z Forum.Reason:-------Hijacking a threadPlease read our terms of service.-------Original Post:Medal of Honor winner can't fly flag due to Homeowners' AssociationQuoted from Y:Ah, it's you again. Did you stop by to call any people in Richmond "trolls" like you began to in the Hampton Roads forum? Was Patrick Henry a troll when he came to deliver his "Give me liberty, or give me death" speech? What about Abraham Lincoln after the Civil War? Richmond is not a city full of dopes. ----------Warnings serve as a reminder to you of the forum's rules, which you are expected to understand and follow.----------Quote:Originally Posted by YHow can I possibly be hijacking a thread I created?----------Quote:Originally Posted by X Ok, i can change the label on the infraction to trolling, would that be better ? This was completely off topic.X.----------Quote:Originally Posted by YNot to insult you, but how can I be "trolling" a thread I created? I'm not a troll and not a hijacker - I was followed into my own thread by a troll - was I flagged?Richmond was host to Pat Henry and Lincoln's speeches - so you're way off. But I know better than to get in a fight with a mod. Happy to leave your forum if I'm going to get penalized for talking.----------Quote:Originally Posted by XOh you can. The fact that you created a thread doesn't mean you can simply ignore the tos. Any post that is changing the focus of the thread by provoking an emotional response I consider trolling. And it could be a thread hijack as well.X. [END] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Ferrariman Posted October 4, 2011 Administrators Report Share Posted October 4, 2011 Not to beat a dead horse (ouch! did I really say that?!) but that sounds like the same load of crap that srobak preaches. He will quote you rules and regulations while completely ignoring the problem or question at hand and he ALWAYS has to have the last word! Tiny minds with a little power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viceman Cometh Posted October 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2011 Thanks for your input on the situation, F-man. You do have the patience of Job and we're lucky to have you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators timm525 Posted October 5, 2011 Administrators Report Share Posted October 5, 2011 VC, don't feel bad. I was recently permanently banned from a software web site. I purchased software from them and then had trouble installing it. I took screen shots of the problem I was having and posted it in their tech. support forum.Long story short, a month goes by with no answer to my question. PMs and emails to the owner don't get answered. Someone posts spam in the thread I created and the owner then deletes my thread and permanently bans me!I sent an email requesting why he banned me when I was asking for help with the installation of his software. No reply.So I ended up with $75.00 worth of software I can't use as it does not install, no active account on the web site to get the product updates that I paid for for the 1 year the license was active. And no customer support for the product.Nice huh?I spent a month going through Pay Pal's resolution center only to be told they don't get involved with software. Soooooo, I'm now in the dispute process with my credit card company to get my money back.Moral of the story, people are people and some people are d**ks!There are also admin/mods that get "drunk with power" in terms of editing posts, deleting posts, locking topics they don't like, and banning members for silly purposes.I'm on another forum that has a few mods that are absolutely "drunk with power". They love to ban members for a week at a time or lock threads on an almost daily basis. Funny thing is a lot of the members that get banned don't even violate the board's terms of service. Some people are on a power trip and it makes them feel superior to be over someone else. I think those people deserve your pity as they obviously have no lives of their own to feel important with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Posted October 5, 2011 Report Share Posted October 5, 2011 Good reads, thanks guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Calderon Posted October 5, 2011 Report Share Posted October 5, 2011 Well, seems Assrobak has a new site, and works invisible lloll Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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