Uncalled For Attacks On Moderators

Originally posted by testtubebaby
reply to post by Klassified

 

"Pucker up, where's those butts?"


This is the best case of "let me be a part of your so awesome team please sirs!"

And herein lies part of the problem. A limited perspective. Yes, today it's mods. And tomorrow it could be: "What do you know sport? You only joined in 2011, you're still wet behind the ears." Only the comments will be much nastier, and personal in nature.

The point of this whole thread has eluded you.

And for the record. I have no interest in moderating. Not that I would qualify anyway.

People have negative opinions, why do you think mods would be above these things? Why do some people feel the need to defend a mod as if they are wusses made of glass or something. I am pretty sure I have met all the mods here, and they have no problem facing negative opinions any more than anyone else that can handle themself in a mature conversation.

not so much a need to defend them as if they are wusses or on a butt kissing expedition. at the end of the day its about showing a bit of class and common decency. yea they can handle themselves but the whole point is , is the growing trend on ATS as of late of lets bash the mods, the mods get special treatment when they post, the mods are after me, the mods are showin preferred treatment and a lot more. its getting tiresome. Those of us on ats who have EVER ran our own forums or sites know the work that goes into places like this, they cant be everywhere at once, and contrary to belief they aint psychic and dont know every single one of the thousands of posts that get posted here weekly or even daily. iv had the pleasure of working along side some of the mods and SkepticOverlord when doin tinwiki when it was active and they aint bad peoples most of the time

are all the mods/admin/owners angels? hell no they are human after all....................i think so iv been told anyways they make mistakes, get angry, get annoyed, are happy, get hyper (nef as an example on ats live somtimes ), and oh guess what they actually have their own opinions

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/73277d086050.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/7abb307fabe8.jpg[/atsimg]

Originally posted by Klassified

Originally posted by TWILITE22
reply to post by Klassified

 

It's a conspiracy site everyone is .....suspicious!!

the paranoids are after us!

"Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get me."

My psychiatrist told me I am a paranoid schitzophrenic

Well, he didn't exactly SAY it .. . but that's what the bastard was thinking

On a site like ATS, with the kind of topics we discuss, and the nature of folks who come here, there will always be people who believe the system is out to get them because of what they believe, or those who simply feel the need to "stick it to the man".

And then there are those who knowingly break the T&C and blame the staff for pulling them up on it, because they don't take responsbility for their own actions.

It kinda goes with the territory.

That doesn't make it right of course, but what some people fail to realise is that we're only human, we don't get paid to do this, and some of us give up an awful lot of time to help out on the forums and in other ways.

Of course, when you're convinced your're the next best thing from Zeta Reticuli and can't understand why your thread has been moved from Breaking News to the Gray Area, you may be angry. Its at those times when a step away from the input device is called for, a deep inhalation of whatever fresh gas you need to survive should be taken, and a quick count of the number of fingers/tentacles/mandibles etc that you have will come in handy before you post again. Theres no need to start an interstellar war over it.

It is the internet, after all

I must admit that I am guilty of berating a Moderator or 2. But I do have my reasons. (one of which is I DO have a problem with authority/imposed authority, ask me mum, she'll tell you )

I think there needs to be a more personal touch in some cases, which is severly lacking. One case I am reminded of is this.....there was a thread a few moons ago, where the thread starter seemed very down, and had suicidal ideas in the post. The thread was shut down. i was appauled at the lack of humanity shown. (and i still am) Now, I am a mod on another site, and when we have stuff like that, we get involved. On a personal level. We make sure that the person who posted the thread is ok, and we've not missenturpreted their post. If they are suicidal we keep them talking, get to the problem and try to help them. In worse case scenarios, we've got the police round to help them. (one had cut his wrists, another had taken an overdose) In both cases, those posters are still with us, and are thankful that we helped them. And i am more than pleased that we did help them. It seems ATS mods can sometimes be very impersonal and more "by the book" types. And that's just insanely wrong on so many different levels.

Don't get me wrong, I know this place needs stern moderation sometimes. It's a huge place to mod, and mods do so of their own time and free will, which should be commeneded. But a little personal touch, goes a long way.

Uncalled For Attacks On Moderators

Well, here's the thing about that. I don't know you, you don't know me. My personal position is that I can't take anything personally coming from someone who doesn't know me personally. Ergo, I'm pretty much immune to insult here, and only action it because it's a site violation. There's no real emotion associated with it for me, it's akin to picking up some trash off the floor.

Originally posted by Acidtastic
But a little personal touch, goes a long way.

Now, as to people with really severe personal issues. We're just not going to get involved in that. We're not set up for it, have no qualifications for it, and could just as likely make a problem worse as rectify it, since there's no way we'll ever have all the facts. As far as we know, it's someone goofing on people for the attention lulz, anyway. And that's happened more than once.

No, even if it's the real deal, the best thing we can do is close off this avenue for a deeply troubled person and hope it serves to direct them to seek assistance in a more appropriate way. Now you may disagree with that and think it's a cold, heartless way to go. And that's your privilege. But that won't be changing. We're a discussion forum, not a crisis center. It would be completely inappropriate and just as likely counterproductive, for the site to intervene in someone's personal issues. A little personal touch? Okay, I'm down with humanity. But we recognize the natural limitations imposed by the circumstances and where the boundaries of our involvement have to be.

Originally posted by Klassified
I've noticed the beginnings of a disturbing trend lately on ATS. Attacking mods who are posting as members. What's worse is these attacks use the mods status as a personal attack.

"And you're a mod!?"
"You should be more _______ since you're a mod."
"They call you a mod!?"

It is noticeable, as are similar attacks on those with gold and silver status. It didn't take long. I noticed it within a day of the new system taking effect. Some people here are treating it as a bullseye.

Jealousy is very petty and unbecoming... but at the same time, it is a unique insight into the mindset of some conspiracy theorists here on the boards. They simply are not happy unless they are whining about how disenfranchised they are.

IRM :shk:

reply to post by yeahright

Well, here's the thing about that. I don't know you, you don't know me. My personal position is that I can't take anything personally coming from someone who doesn't know me personally. Ergo, I'm pretty much immune to insult here, and only action it because it's a site violation. There's no real emotion associated with it for me, it's akin to picking up some trash off the floor.

And I suspect most of you have come to the same mindset.

If I look at this from a shorter sighted perspective. Then yes, mods can take care of themselves, and I have no concerns that they're going to take every personal attack to heart. I understand it comes with the territory.
But this isn't just about narrow focus on personal attacks. Although I think the mods should apply the T&C to attacks on other mods as equally as they do members. And you don't.

But, if I look at this from a long term perspective. Which is really what this thread is about, It begins to paint a different portrait altogether. When is the last time one of you had something to say on a topic, but didn't because you didn't want to disrupt or kill the thread because you felt your presence and input would do so? Or maybe you just said to yourself, "I don't feel like messing with the crap that will come of it tonight"?

There are members on here I hope will never become mods. Because if and when they do, the membership and the board loses. And I'm including a few I seldom even agree with. And I know they don't agree with me.
And there are members here I'm sorry to see as mods, because I personally like their threads and posts.

So when we add consistent personal attacks on those members because of staus, it stifles otherwise good debate, contributions, and good input.

And from an even longer term perspective. It will spread. I promise you. Because when you become a little too lenient here because you think its not worth messing with, or its no skin off your teeth. It spreads to other things.

Mods today.
Gold and silver members tomorrow.
Noobs the day after that.
Female members after that.
And so on.

I'm not trying to preach to the staff, and tell you what you should be doing. Just trying to clarify my line of thought in the OP. I hope this helped, and didn't just muddy the waters further.

ETA: This thread and post is as much to membership as to staff. I'm not advocating Gestapo tactics to stop all personal attacks. I'm not unrealistic, thats not going to happen.
But curbing it will definitely add to the quality of discussions around here. And what do most of us come here for? Learning, discussion, debate?

Although I'm sure there are some who come here to attack others and stifle discussion.

reply to post by Klassified


I get what you mean, and it's an admirable attitude. In fact, we do judiciously attempt to keep the incivility and personal attacks off the boards, regardless of the target. There is sometimes a fine line between a personal attack and fair criticism and honestly, we probably do bend more toward allowing some venting in the direction of the site and staff. More often than you might think, it's followed up with a member submitting an apology and admitting they were temporarily caught up in the heat of the moment.

No one lasts long on staff if they don't posses a bit of a thick skin and the ability to shrug off what happens. Actually, what I've found to be true is virtually everyone on staff takes more umbrage at attacks about the site than they do personal ones. Go figure.

People are human, with all the good and bad that encompasses. Things will never be perfect, we'll always be subject to a degree of attack, and that's just part of the deal. At the end, we'll try to maintain a civil environment and those who aren't comfortable with that will either eventually leave of their own accord, or in more extreme cases we'll facilitate the exit. And that's the palms-up shoulder shrug way it goes.

reply to post by Klassified


Re: Opening Post

Thanks for the support. I see myself as a member first. Modding is only something done aside while being here...as member.

I delete a lot of stuff before posting it because of concern that someone will play the "you're a Mod, you are not supposed to have that opinion" card. Modding has nothing to do with opinions. It has to do with volunteerring to do various clean-up tasks here and there. Its not an elevated position and it does not come with payment or special rights and I for one would love to just be treated as a normal member.

reply to post by Klassified


Great post !!

You bring up a lot of valid points...and the longer I am here..the more I see how good the mods really are.

I would enjoy more of them posting on personal views , and hopefully they still feel that their opinion is valued, even if it is debated by some.

Originally posted by Klassified


And herein lies part of the problem. A limited perspective. Yes, today it's mods. And tomorrow it could be: "What do you know sport? You only joined in 2011, you're still wet behind the ears." Only the comments will be much nastier, and personal in nature.

The point of this whole thread has eluded you.

And for the record. I have no interest in moderating. Not that I would qualify anyway.

That already happens

In fact, its happened to me...... and my husband has been here since 05 and Ive been here since 07... this is just an account I made after we moved.

Then, on the other hand, you get the ones who claim you have a "group" or "posse" when they say something stupid, you counter it and some other random poster agrees with you... pretty darned paranoid. Whatever you do, dont get a thread with your name in the title... some will go nutty over it and make up weird scenarios in their head concerning it. How do I know? all of the above have happened to me over the last few weeks and I barely post here!

As someone else said... those kinda things are common in the intertubes.

Nef is right about the "sticking it to THE MAN" psychological issue though I actually saw this in action on Skype between a very laid back nice mod and an obsessed ex member. Its a real issue with a few about this authority figure problem they have... especially since they can act like children and "rebel" against authority and not be in any fear of a beatdown. I GUARANTEE you they dont act like this in real life and probably cower in the presence of anyone they even THINK has more authority than they do. I see some of the behavior here that I honestly see out of my own kids.. especially the 12 and 5 yr old ones I have Ive seen on another board (where I was a mod) the social experiment go awry when we had " uniform" avatars.. as in all the mod avatars matched except our names. It was a large message board attached to an import export business.. and our avatars simply reflected the business. Well, it was seen as jackboots and uniforms to some... incredibly enough! It brought out the whiners from the woodwork! I really didnt grasp the problem at first... how odd folks would see this as any sort of "authority".. modding is ONLY babysitting adults for Gods sake! I feel sorry for those that view it as some source of power or authority.

Having modded for several yrs and running away from my own monetary investment in the board.. and maybe needing therapy later from my experiences... I give the mods slack when theyre goofy and respect just 'cause. Theyre humans. Theyre here out of a love of the subject matter and desire to provide themselves and US a smoothly running forum. There is no school for modding.. you absolutely wing it. In fact, I figure in order to attain Mod Perfection one needs a PhD in abnormal psychology and mind control tactics. I was part owner and mod for a board that dealt with professionals and insects/arachnids/inverts... nothing like the subject matter here.. and lost my marbles. Im serious, this place is wild... I wouldnt be a mod here if you paid me. The owners must choose these guys ( and gals) carefully.. as some have the patience of Job and even care enough to help the misguided.

I too see some slippage in modding here though and I think its influx of new users and just not enough mods to accurately moderate the plethora of conversation.I see the same folks whine about heavy handed modding who make the same whining posts about the board going downhill and it being a shadow of what it was as far as subject matter. Now, I DO actually see a change in the place.. users are at fault as its all user generated. Im fine and dandy with more heavy handed modding.. Im kinda getting sick of the newbies AND old timers acting like absolute fools here. I also see why anarchy or even true libertarianism will never fly.. just from observing posters behavior on a board.. I can only imagine how they behave in real life!

SO.. hush, support the moderation team, alert them to the idiocy we all see becoming more prevalent, and keep this board nice. I like it... its the one place that is an open board that I actually participate in and thats due to its "business model" and the moderation. The other boards Ive been a member of for yrs are closed and not open to this infiltration of random folks. Thats great for more serious convo.. but I swear we lack the inspiration and true unique points of view that come from an open board like ATS. Everyone really should appreciate the work done by the admins and mods if they thought past their own noses. I come here for my conspiracy fix and political discussion. Keep my entertainment pleasant or Ima get cranky.

well I remember when the mods weren't mods,



and I miss them






Don't ask.

Remember when we used to make human contact?

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/b7bf6e819de5.jpg[/atsimg]

Here we sit,
Go fishing or something,
We are stardust -
Billion-year-old carbon -
We are golden
Caught up in the devil's bargain
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden

This aint natural, bickering over issues, all alone with our PC and virtual reality, when the fact of the matter is we have more in common than any of us realize.

What have we done?

When I was a mod I got a lot of crap for voicing my opinions on the boards. It got to the point where I just couldn't take the whining anymore so I forced my resignation. I stopped enjoying ATS because of exactly what the OP described.

Now I have more latitude and I enjoy contributing without some whiny jerk complaining about how I could be allowed to mod with such views...

I don't know how my former fellow staff members do it. But it just wasn't for me.

I have to say, being a mod myself on other boards, that the mods here get a bit of a raw deal at times from some members, in that they are seen as "authority figures" rather than the members they actually are, who have taken on a thankless task, with little reward other than the love of the site.

Some members delight in pointing out the obvious, which usually has nothing to do with the topic at hand.

"Noobs" get attacked quite regularly, but length of membership is no guarantee of quality - and neither is gender, race or sexual preference.

You come across people in life who only want to argue, and will use any weapon to "win" or just feel better about themselves - and the same goes for the internet, only more so.

Ignore the strawmen, ignore the made up bullplop, ignore the twisting of words, and the selective posting of arguments out of context to "prove" something, and above all, don't feed the trolls or rise to an obvious agenda.

Or then again, do all of the above - I don't really care. It's just the internet, and if someone feels the need to abuse another person because of a position, a persona, a cultural, physical or political preference, then who cares?
The only person that ends up looking stupid is the attacker - most members see it for exactly what it is: a bull# argument put forth for puerile reasons.

reply to post by keepureye2thesky


Good, means I'm doing my job .

Originally posted by budski




The only person that ends up looking stupid is the attacker - most members see it for exactly what it is: a bull# argument put forth for puerile reasons.

Whoa, you give members a lot more credit than I would have.

"puerile" is that like something to eat? Sounds nasty!

I've always subscribed to the notion that the www. and discussion boards in general, are very much like TV; only the characters answer back. And as nef said...."it is the internet after all"