It has been on my mind a while the question: When is a posting from a moderator done wearing the moderator's hat and when just as an individual member of the Forum with an opinion? This has become more relevant as I found two of my posts on the thread "looking to move to Duma" deleted with no notification or reason given. When I repeated them, one (the one connected with a moderator, the person who deleted my posts) was very swiftly moved to off-topic. That one was in reply to a moderator's comment (which I considered trollin') and he is the moderator who deleted the posts! But, interestingly, his off-topic trollin' post remained This has now led to me being threatened with 'actions' for daring to question this. I believe in fairness, so you never find me crawling into the 'hole' allocated to me by those with power. Never have and never will. I am not bothered by negative ratings, mockery, threats - or anything. And that's in colour! The moderator had the option as an individual to give a rating or a written reply to my postings - but chose instead, using moderating powers no ordinary member has, to delete them. I SUGGEST if it is time for moderators to have a 'Moderator profile' separate from their personal one. This means they can comment as moderators, which I accept they have the right to do, or separately in a personal capacity. This prevents any misunderstanding of which 'hat' they are wearing. I have no grudge against moderation as such as I understand and accept that without it any Forum would run amok.
Please don't go down this road. It has been traveled many times. There are much better things we could be doing with our time. I know I have many things I would rather (and will) be doing. I understand you feel slighted and want some answers. Unfortunately I am not able to provide them as I'm not exactly sure what this is about or what started it. I suggest you message DavyL and try to sort it out. He is a pretty reasonable guy and I'm sure whatever the issue is is just a misunderstanding or could be easily remedied.
Rye, I understand that you are pushing this back to being an offline conversation between the Moderator and Member, but it does raise a valid point and one that I have also been at the sharp end of. Unlike NMRN I chose to remain quiet for the sake of peace, even though I felt similarly confused and slighted. As individual members we sometimes get a bit heated with each other and things are written that, maybe with a bit of hindsight and thought, should be said differently. I'm as guilty of that as anyone else. When there is a Moderator involved in the midst of that discussion it can become personal to him/her. It's at that point that we are seeing members being taken to task, with whatever measures the Moderator feels like unleashing at the time. You have said above that what another Moderator does may not be what you do - how do we know which course of moderation is the right one and how we can avoid it if there is no consistency? How can we know when we are discussing with the Moderator and when with the Member? If this course of action continues then it leaves open for Moderators to say whatever they like about members, with no recourse. That cannot be correct. You mention this road has been travelled many times. That suggests that it's a recurring issue and one that does need thinking about. Not trying to ruffle any feathers here. We all know and appreciate the job that's done in keeping the Forum going and being a place that many of us look forward to visiting, but this does seem to be something that's taking the shine off it a bit for some.
I am not going down any road but simply suggesting something I think would benefit the Forum and that some members would like. I have never been aware of the person(s) moderating my online posts on any other media and I think it complicates the matter to have moderators, some with buddies through outside activities, who mix personal comments with moderating duties. But it is not my website, not my Forum, so I will not pursue this. Just an idea. As I stated elsewhere, I have already contacted the moderator @DavyL200 and his response has, in my opinion, been mocking.
You can take my answer as you please,i never thought it was mocking anyone. You just saw it that way!
This was sent by you to me in a PM but as you are a moderator with power, which I think you have abused, I am making it public and I am not concerned what you think about me doing so: "I just laught at youre childish trolling stuff lol" Not mocking??? (Btw, copied and pasted, so the spelling/punctuation errors are not my typos.) Anyway, end of. I think you have abused your powers and I hope the response you have seen (your negative ratings have gone from 0 to 4 today) will make you think about the role of a moderator and how power is a privilege and should be used sparingly. Even the powerful can fall if the relatively weak stand up to them.
Your excellent piece is supported by PMs I have received today, all of which shall remain confidential. Too many people, many very good contributors, have left the Forum for reasons you outlined above.
