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Lack of accountability from forum moderators
- Thread starter facedmurkroots
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If you write something that, in the real world would get you a punch in the face, it will get you into trouble here.
You've been on MacRumors about three weeks and you are telling us that something is very wrong, or is this your second or third account?
There are people who have been here over 20 years and have probably never had a warning or suspension.
Self-restraint is a wonderful virtue.
I am willing to moderate this issue if the parties agree. OP and Moderators please submit your arguments via private message to me and I will render a final verdict concerning the moderator's action in this action. I am a neutral arbitrator as I have equal disdain for everyone.
I have no issue with the way this site is moderated. Rules of conduct are available and as long as you abide by them, you shouldn't have any issues. I've been warned before and believe the moderator was correct in doing so. They even told me why I was being moderated. IMO nothing needs to be changed.. I'm surprised you have only been a member for 3 weeks and already are complaining about how the site is moderated. Treat people how you would like to be treated and you'll be fine. On the occasion that someone posts something you feel crosses the line, report the post and let the moderation staff decide what type of action if any should take place.
Correct. If one is getting posts moderated one can either look at why and take it to heart, the easy path. Or change the system, the hard path.
Fighting the system with continual violations will get one banned.
@facedmurkroots, the system in place has accountability.
As @Weaselboy has pointed out above, you have not made use of the system to which all users have access to lodge complaints or ask questions about moderation: the Contact Us form. You are welcome to do so. If you believe you are being moderated without posting rules violations, I strongly encourage you to do so, because in that case, you are most likely misunderstanding the rules. We are always happy to explain the rule involved when a user contacts us about moderation via the Contact Us form.
- Moderators work as a team. Unless the violation is crystal clear (calling someone an idiot, posting spam), moderators always discuss before they act.
- All moderation actions done are visibile to the entire staff. This means that if a moderator were to go rogue, it would be seen and dealt with very quickly.
- Moderation discussions and steps are documented completely and in detail.
- Moderators never review moderation, because it's not possible to be completely impartial about moderation one has done oneself. Review is done by administrators. If moderation is found to be incorrect, it's fixed and the user gets an apology. If moderation is found to be appropriate, the user is informed and is given an explanation of why it was appropriate.
As @Weaselboy has pointed out above, you have not made use of the system to which all users have access to lodge complaints or ask questions about moderation: the Contact Us form. You are welcome to do so. If you believe you are being moderated without posting rules violations, I strongly encourage you to do so, because in that case, you are most likely misunderstanding the rules. We are always happy to explain the rule involved when a user contacts us about moderation via the Contact Us form.
Punches in the face are not all that uncommon. A lot depends on your age and demographics. Some people come from privileged backgrounds and do not get punched in the face as often as they should.
I have been, hundreds of time. Just after school 4 racist boys would pull me into the alley and hit me repeatedly.
As I said before, moderators do mostly their job, it’s the strictness that is a bit of a problem.
Europeans are much more relaxed in this regard, not offended easily and politics should be able to be discussed.
The US is sometimes odd, in real life it’s much easier to say things than online.
Or, look at clothing, in Europe you barely ever see a suit anymore, people are offended if you don’t.
If I hit my finger with a hammer I swear, nobody even cares, but in the states online it’s a big issue.
Europeans are much more relaxed in this regard, not offended easily and politics should be able to be discussed.
The US is sometimes odd, in real life it’s much easier to say things than online.
Or, look at clothing, in Europe you barely ever see a suit anymore, people are offended if you don’t.
If I hit my finger with a hammer I swear, nobody even cares, but in the states online it’s a big issue.
The hasty generalization is a logical fallacy. It's a logical fallacy where a conclusion is drawn from a small or unrepresentative sample, leading to a flawed generalization. In your example, you posit not one, but two hasty generalizations. One about Europeans. The other about Americans. This, of course, leads to a doubly flawed conclusion.
I have absolutely no idea what any of your posts mean.
Honestly, I get suspended from here for trivial stuff so often i always make an inner bet to see how long to the next lol.
Not that I do anything INTENTIONALLY to get suspended.
For example
1. I’ll say something negative about Android (my opinion)
2. Android fan gets offended and makes a personal attack lol
3. I sarcastically respond but I almost never make a personal attack
4. It goes on for awhile
5. I get suspended for awhile for ‘trolling’ lol.
Rinse and repeat.
I do think that moderation here can be unfairly heavy handed.
especially when it’s the same moderator and often times the suspension are one sided. My boyfriend for example is on this forum and I noticed that while I was suspended the people also involved in said argument weren’t either. Which makes me wonder is there some sort of bias but eh.
Personally, I don’t care. I find it funny that android fans get so defensive on APPLE WEBSITE. But also the suspensions have no bearing on my real life.
I have very little stake in macrumors and all the suspensions do is just push me(and others) elsewhere.
As someone who has owned a very successful forum, I do know that the job of moderation is time consuming and frustrating. But the right balance is required because being too militant is worse than being complacent bc at that point it’s censorship.
Making personal attacks against belief systems or minorities or whatever should never be tolerated.
But banning people and labeling VALID(or even Invalid) criticisms of a mobile operating system bc someone’s feelings get hurt is a bit much.
Not that I do anything INTENTIONALLY to get suspended.
For example
1. I’ll say something negative about Android (my opinion)
2. Android fan gets offended and makes a personal attack lol
3. I sarcastically respond but I almost never make a personal attack
4. It goes on for awhile
5. I get suspended for awhile for ‘trolling’ lol.
Rinse and repeat.
I do think that moderation here can be unfairly heavy handed.
especially when it’s the same moderator and often times the suspension are one sided. My boyfriend for example is on this forum and I noticed that while I was suspended the people also involved in said argument weren’t either. Which makes me wonder is there some sort of bias but eh.
Personally, I don’t care. I find it funny that android fans get so defensive on APPLE WEBSITE. But also the suspensions have no bearing on my real life.
I have very little stake in macrumors and all the suspensions do is just push me(and others) elsewhere.
As someone who has owned a very successful forum, I do know that the job of moderation is time consuming and frustrating. But the right balance is required because being too militant is worse than being complacent bc at that point it’s censorship.
Making personal attacks against belief systems or minorities or whatever should never be tolerated.
But banning people and labeling VALID(or even Invalid) criticisms of a mobile operating system bc someone’s feelings get hurt is a bit much.
I still visit here for the news because as it stands Macrumors is unrivaled based on news quality and even when using Reddit, most news always links me back here.
But as for the community aspect, I largely am only here sparingly bc there are less militant Reddit communities to discuss IOS or Apple stuff.
And ironically, even when I criticize Android, I get push back but I never have to worry about being banned lmao. Even on android subs. Lmao.
That being said, OP. It’s just a forum. Don’t let it get you down or mad.
But as for the community aspect, I largely am only here sparingly bc there are less militant Reddit communities to discuss IOS or Apple stuff.
And ironically, even when I criticize Android, I get push back but I never have to worry about being banned lmao. Even on android subs. Lmao.
That being said, OP. It’s just a forum. Don’t let it get you down or mad.
Analogies can help the unaware forum user. Classroom is to a locker room as MacRumors is to Reddit. Adjust behavior accordingly or you will be reminded to do so.
This FAQ could easily be titled "Why was my account suspended, and someone else's wasn't?":
I mean if two people are arguing and equally aggressive both should people just get to same punishment. That is common sense in my opinion but I digress.
Banning one for an action and allowing the other stay in spite of the same action is uneven moderation.
If person an and b were robbing someone and person a shoots and kills the person, person b still gets charged with murder as well bc they were a part of the crime together.
Last edited by a moderator:
Forgive me, but there is someone moderating who seems to be taking sides. I've noticed this since I returned to the forums.
This is exactly what we strive not to do. We have constant conversations about how to moderate as fairly and consistently as possible and only on the basis of the rules. As I wrote earlier in the thread, all moderation actions are documented thoroughly, so there is transparency.
If users feel a moderator has taken sides in moderation of their posts, those users should use the Contact Us form to alert the administrators, who will then review the moderation.
In addition, I think numbers 3, 4, and 6 on this list give good information. What might appear to be taking sides most likely isn't. If a moderator started taking sides, our backstage routines would make it very clear very fast.