Censorship enforced by mods

[boppin]

I got moderated recently, I messed up with a post in the wrong section, my fault and I accept that. What I didn’t like was the tone of the mods message, very passive aggressive and totally uncalled for imo, but heyho

My opinion on that:

Just move it into the correct forum section and we're all fine. Because everyone does mistakes. No big deal. When I take a look at other forums some people always posting into the wrong section.

And yes, I can also understand that they is an all-English forum to avoid that someone gets insulted in another language. And I can also understand why they don't want to have political and other discussions here because it often comes to "flame wars" where people don't discuss in a civilised way.

My personal experiences were completely different with forums. No matter what's the topic was everyone could discussing about it very civilised and objectively. But if the team of MacRumors made a different experience so I can understand that, but I think they should communicate it more clearly. I am sorry for the misunderstanding that occurred!

 

[BigMcGuire]

Apologies that this may not be a very flowery Macrumors post...

Moderation here is hair triggered and can be incredibly harsh. I've talked with members who got permanently suspended and had no idea what they did was wrong (before getting suspended). Them reaching out to Macrumors helped clear it (saying they didn't realize what they did was wrong).

It saddens my soul to see threads full of increasing permanently suspended members who put significant time and effort into this forum. Some people I've talked with for a long time...

The canned responses the moderators give convey an emotionless State Trooper like response - you are the dirty criminal, you will behave or suffer the consequences - replies locked.

I've noticed enforcement is almost entirely based on those who report, so if you're not a habitual reporter, chances are people get away with breaking the rules while you don't (if you get reported).


Disclaimer: I am not a moderator. @Weaselboy and other mods puts a lot of time and effort into Macrumors - amazing when they don't even get paid - they have a level of my admiration despite this post. My experience with the mods here - while I've gotten slapped a dozen+ times, they've never suspended me (I would have if I was them for a few of the instances <cough>). So my thoughts are from one side of the coin...

Will agree that the canned replies seem harsh. But again, not my house, and I'm not the one with the badge.

 

[Doctor Q]

Feedback can help us, even if comments are critical of forum rules and policies. We've been fine-tuning the forum rules and our moderation system for decades, and there are always tradeoffs and adjustments to consider.

I've talked with members who got permanently suspended and had no idea what they did was wrong (before getting suspended).

When a post is moderated, the moderators send a message that identifies the forum rule involved, quotes the specific text of the post, and invites the user to contact the administrators if they have any questions about it. If a user repeatedly violates forum rules to the point where they are suspended, and don't know why, then they didn't read the messages. Unfortunately, we've also encountered forum members who did read the messages but then told others that they were suspended, without warning or for unknown reasons.

The canned responses the moderators give convey an emotionless State Trooper like response - you are the dirty criminal, you will behave or suffer the consequences - replies locked.

Forum members can get emotional about moderation, but we've designed our messages to be straightforward, matter-of-fact, to provide useful links, and to make clear what to do. Because there are so many posts to review, we have to use canned messages in most cases.

We don't enable replies to moderation messages because users with concerns need to contact the administrators, not have a private one-on-one conversation with a single moderator. Our efforts to moderate as consistently as possible depend on our team approach, where the moderators share decision-making and communication visibility, with review by the administrators.

You are quite correct that we depend on post reports to identify potential problems. Posts aren't moderated just because they were reported, but posts that need moderation are likely to be missed if nobody reports them. It takes a community effort to make the forums as useful as possible for forum members and site visitors.

 

[boppin]

I think this describes a fundamental problem. In my opinion, you are all far too emotional. When it comes to feelings and emotions, I am generally undemonstrative.

 

[StralyanPithecus]

We are all guests in this house, so we must follow the owner’s rules. If I don’t agree, I know where’s the door out.

 

[eyoungren]

I've talked with members who got permanently suspended and had no idea what they did was wrong (before getting suspended).

I follow at least two people who were temporarily suspended at one time or another and shortly afterwards disappeared. One of them is still quite high up on the forum post count list.

If being moderated offends, then one option available to everyone is to leave (without announcing your departure), just like the two friends I follow have done.

Staying means that we continue to agree to moderation, even if we have a low opinion about the moderators and how they function. And when we signed up, we all agreed to the rules - even if we did not read them. It's just like a cellphone carrier. If we disagree with the terms, then we are free to leave.

Now, some of us who are paying to remove ads might counter that they pay to support the site and are thus entitled to some leeway. But monetary support does not entitle us to special treatment.

My point in this is that constructive criticism and feedback is one thing. But staying here and then whining about the mods is entirely another.

Note, if it is not clear, I am not attacking you. Just making general statements that I believe apply to ALL of us.

It saddens my soul to see threads full of increasing permanently suspended members who put significant time and effort into this forum. Some people I've talked with for a long time...

Tenure ≠ special treatment.

Some users think it does. In some of my less stellar moments this thought has also crossed my mind, until one of the mods reminded me that no matter how long I've been here, they will moderate me if I violate the rules. When we keep violating the same rules repeatedly though, even though we agreed to abide by them, we get suspended - no matter how long it is that we've been here or how much we've contributed.

I too am sad to see that some have gone. But I also know that at some point they must have refused to stop a behavior that was getting them moderated. And for those who refuse to check themselves, Arn (who owns this site) and those he delegates authority to, have every right to show us the door.