moderators editing members posts

cacophony · #1 07-21-2008, 07:16 AM

i would like to know who added "allegedly" to the title of my GWB Hates Women thread.

locking the thread and discontinuing discussion is one thing. editing my post without my permission, without notification, and without a moderator comment appended to the post to indicate the change is something quite different.

i'm appalled that anyone in this community would think it was okay to edit a member's post without notification or comment.

i had a good chuckle when everyone was up in arms about the locking of the thread. because it's a unilateral move that affects both everyone and no one. and in essence it doesn't stop the discussion because, as happened in the "locked???" thread, the discussion picked up once again where it left off.

that being said, i am not chuckling about the editing of a single member's post, without any indicator that the edited content did not originate with the member him or herself. it is tantamount to putting words in someone's mouth, and considering how outspoken i was in that thread and considering how strongly i expressed my opinion it is unforgivable to add the word "allegedly" as though i were cowardly enough to couch my sentiment in such namby-pamby placating terms.

this place has gone seriously awry. scott w. never abused his privileges this way and i think it's a goddamned crying shame that the abuse of authority was adopted so swiftly upon his departure.

so thanks, i've lost a lot of respect for this place. congrats to whichever moderator screwed the pooch on that one. whichever moderator you are, you need a moment alone to think about what your role here really is.

i would be no more pleased if one of sean's posts had been edited to soften its tone and make it more agreeable to my point. one of the things this place has excelled at is a healthy respect for disagreement, even (or especially) in passionate debate. i would no more expect a moderator to change another member's post to make it more agreeable to my sensitive palette than i expect my posts to be altered to make it agreeable to anyone else's sensitive palette.

but hey. i've always been of the opinion that beggars can't be choosers. it's a free forum and i'm not footing the bill. i'm here because someone else's generosity allows for the continuation of this community and i certainly don't expect to come in here and make or change the rules. i'm not going to campaign to anyone for my "rights" because it ain't my financial burden to bear. all i can do is be disgusted and incredibly ashamed that anyone here would endorse this sort of action.

so fuck this. i'm done.

//\/\/ · #2 07-21-2008, 07:32 AM

what she said /\

BeautifulBurnout · #3 07-21-2008, 07:45 AM

I edited it the second time to "Allegedly" because some else has edited it to add "Bush - Cock". I had forgotten I'd done it, frankly, with all the other shenanigans that had been going on in here when I got back from my evening out. I have to admit to being a tad pissed off with the whole thing at 2.00am.

I will change it back immediately. I am sorry if it offended.

However, you are wrong to assume that it is only since Scott has gone that threads have been changed, deleted, moved, renamed or anything else. It just doesn't happen very often in World. And this time it happened for a reason in that I was trying to calm down what had exploded into a complete hissy-fit.

BeautifulBurnout · #4 07-21-2008, 07:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cacophony

whichever moderator you are, you need a moment alone to think about what your role here really is.

I have no need for a moment alone, thank you. All I need is to know that when people post they show a little respect for other posters. And when they don't, I normally deal with it by way of a "c'mon, let's all have a group hug" type post.

The mess that was here on Friday night when I got home was waaaaay beyond that, including people telling other people to fuck off, threads being locked, other threads complaining about the threads being locked and general mayhem. So I dealt with it as best I could.

You maybe need a moment alone, Cacophony, to ask yourself if you are right to swear at people directly in your posts.

cacophony · #5 07-21-2008, 08:59 AM

nice to see you dangling out there on the cross, suffering for the sins of dirties everywhere. it's a message board. you don't get extra credit for getting yourself worked up at 2 in the morning because 3 people were miffed about a locked thread. it was hardly WWIII so let's not lend the circumstances more importance than they deserve.

additionally, it's not up to you to decide how disrespectful sean's comment to me was. it was beyond disrespectful and as the target of the comment it is purely up to my discretion to decide how offended i was. his comment to me was inexcusable. that said, we're all adults here and i believe i couched my "fuck you" in a very clear framework that explained exactly the terms and limitations of the expletive.

this forum doesn't need a self-appointed mother. as you said, moderation did happen in other forums under scott's watch, but never in the world forum. i wonder why you suddenly think your intervention is necessary now. both sean and i could be described as "long-timers" with a long history of both agreement and disagreement. this was hardly two newbies trolling each other. your role as diplomat in this instance is not necessary.

and since you explained the reason for your edit, to remove the pooch-screwing of another moderator, i'll be happy to broaden my overall disappointment to include anyone else who has abused their ability to edit other members' posts.

and now i'm left wondering which moderator will step up to cross that final frontier: banning a member who dares speak out about poor moderation. anyone tempted?

BeautifulBurnout · #6 07-21-2008, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cacophony

nice to see you dangling out there on the cross, suffering for the sins of dirties everywhere. it's a message board. you don't get extra credit for getting yourself worked up at 2 in the morning because 3 people were miffed about a locked thread. it was hardly WWIII so let's not lend the circumstances more importance than they deserve.

additionally, it's not up to you to decide how disrespectful sean's comment to me was. it was beyond disrespectful and as the target of the comment it is purely up to my discretion to decide how offended i was. his comment to me was inexcusable. that said, we're all adults here and i believe i couched my "fuck you" in a very clear framework that explained exactly the terms and limitations of the expletive.

this forum doesn't need a self-appointed mother. as you said, moderation did happen in other forums under scott's watch, but never in the world forum. i wonder why you suddenly think your intervention is necessary now. both sean and i could be described as "long-timers" with a long history of both agreement and disagreement. this was hardly two newbies trolling each other. your role as diplomat in this instance is not necessary.

and since you explained the reason for your edit, to remove the pooch-screwing of another moderator, i'll be happy to broaden my overall disappointment to include anyone else who has abused their ability to edit other members' posts.

and now i'm left wondering which moderator will step up to cross that final frontier: banning a member who dares speak out about poor moderation. anyone tempted?

Get a grip. Show some of the perspective you were demanding of others earlier.

Resorting to personal attacks demonstrates your lack of clarity and vision in any of this, and having read and re-read the GWB Hates Women thread, while I agree in general with your points, I find it very hard to see where Sean was being offensive enough to deserve being told to fuck off, or to be publicly lambasted and humiliated about a private message he had sent you. But hey, that's just my opinion.

And beautifully-worded and funny though your characterisation of me might be, I don't accept your criticisms of my "poor moderation", any more than I arbitrarily go about stomping on people, locking threads or banning them.

What ever your issues are, this is not a place to vent your spleen and take it out on other posters.

cacophony · #7 07-21-2008, 09:24 AM

you're welcome to your opinion. the difference between us is that i don't have the ability to edit your posts to make them conform to a different perspective.

BeautifulBurnout · #8 07-21-2008, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cacophony

you're welcome to your opinion. the difference between us is that i don't have the ability to edit your posts to make them conform to a different perspective.

OK.

I said I was sorry it offended you.

I explained the circumstances surrounding the changing of the thread title (Side note - I have certainly never interfered with the content of anyone's posts and I never will, unless it links to pr0n).

I then changed it back to the original title.

You are reading things into this that aren't there. It wasn't an attempt to weaken any of your posts, otherwise I would have used my Super Magical Moderator Powaz to edit all your posts as well. I actually agree with the points you made. I simply saw that someone changed the title to something stupid and, in the heat of the moment, I changed it to something less stupid, and forgot about it.

I didn't particularly appreciate being told to spend some time alone to consider my role so I gave an explanation of that as well. Your response made me LOL, frankly, as it was coming from the person sneering at others for complaining that the thread had been locked in the first place.

I have done what I can to put this right. What else would you like me to do, exactly? I really don't see why you are still ranting at me about it.

In any event, to mis-quote Forrest Gump, that is all I want to say about that.

Sean · #9 07-21-2008, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cacophony

i would be no more pleased if one of sean's posts had been edited to soften its tone and make it more agreeable to my point.

Dubman actually did edit one of my posts in the "GWB hates women" thread for no other reason than to be sarcastic. I edited back over the top of it, but this is the one. I was replying to Deckard:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sean

If I believed in god, I'd pray that you would stay actively involved. I feel like I'm alone in crazy town....

mature edit by dubman in an effort to clearly display his awesome powers as a moderator

- YES I AM ALONE IN CRAZY TOWN

Needless to say, I didn't appreciate it either.

dubman · #10 07-21-2008, 09:44 AM

i edited it to 'bush, cock' because by then the thread smelled strongly of the infamous "bono, cock" thread, and i was the Ally in that thread, so it was as big a joke on me than anything, but it was, um... lighthearted?
and yeah i did seans post too, just because. i didnt take anything he was saying out, and i was basically making fun for no one calling anyone out by name because we were all playing nicey-nice, but since that's not obvious it's otherwise hardly anything to get worked up about unless thats not what this is really about.

gee, you think were all still a bit pissed and this 'group hug' PM was a bit premature?