Re: It says a lot about a forum...
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Lowlight</div><div class="ubbcode-body">The quality of the posters, the manner in which the questions are asked definitely sway the response.
People seem to think we are being harsh, but a lot of new people are quick to post political commentary which we have to chase down, I mean, I banned a guy last week and he completely attacked me via email with the caveat, "so I missed two small rules" and torn me up. Do I care, no but the fact is, he didn't break 1, he admittedly broke two of the rules and was mad I banned him.
Most people tend to take being banned emotionally, usually I don't even remember your Screen name 5 minutes after banning someone and my bans are generally 3 to 10 days... Still they come back pissed, and then start to cause a problem in every thread waiting for you to do it again. Same thing with this last week, the fact I warned the poster once a month ago, <span style="color: #FF0000"> he automatically believes I don't like him</span> so anything said is done with that in mind. Most people only see 1/4 of the story, we tend to see a bigger picture.
We get it and we don't like taking our time out to enforce the rules, it's the worst part of what we do... but when we see patterns and react off them to head off the problem, people get mad. Trust me everyone thinks they are unique and their story is different enough to warrant special consideration.
Do we have bad days and good days, sure, but we also have to look at a lot of things we don't want to every day. This is why some sites have 100s of moderators, to keep it from weighing down the staff. And believe me, being a mod is a thankless job.
All this said, the site rules are being modified simply to account for the people who don't quite understand them so we have to spell them out in greater detail. Also I am looking into the welcome email part, and I may try to put something up for new members. But it's up to 'older" or slightly older members to work to help too. Not quoting spam, having to chase quotes is a pain, not baiting and pushing, and letting issues die. This community is only as good as it's members, while the staff helps move things along, we do not set the pace, you all do. And I hate to remind people this is not a Free Speech Zone, it's a privately owned business, we don't allow you to say just anything you like, and you have no rights to such. Sure you can say it, but there is no guarantee we'll keep you or what you said around.
After 10 years. this happens with every growth spurt, the FB promotion brought a new crop of people who think in s slightly different way. So that is to be expected and must be understood ahead of time. Once you figure that out, the rest is easy.
Ebbs and Flows... </div></div>
I knew it...sniff sniff