Moderator team changes

[Second Summer]

Recently there have been some changes in the mod team.

First of all, Mel has resigned as super moderator. Mel has been involved in running our FB page and doing general moderator tasks since the beginning.

Secondly, due to a wee difference of opinion, our other super moderator Pickle Juice, along with forum moderators & stewards kibbleforlola, Annia and RabbitLuvr, have all decided it was in the best interest of the community to vacate their posts. PJ has been working on our styles (a.k.a. skins) and smilies, in addition to general moderator tasks. kibbleforlola was the forum moderator & steward for the Sexuality forum and The Women's Health Forum. RabbitLuvr was our Home & Gardening + Animal Family & Friends forum moderator & steward. Annia was the forum moderator & steward for the Literature forum. I'm thankful for all their contributions.

New moderators will hopefully be appointed in due course, but at the moment I don't have any idea who they might. In the meantime, moderation will probably be somewhat slower and more arbitrary than usual.

I realise I have been much too optimistic in the design of our current rules and regulations. So in the near future we will be working out moderator guidelines as well as updating the forum rules and probably adding some guidelines for the Debate & Current Events forum. I'm also considering other ideas. Hopefully this will help in creating a much more enjoyable VV.

Our current moderator team is listed on the moderator page.

 

[thefadedone]

Well this sucks. I'm sorry to see all these members step down. They have all done an exceptional job moderating their sections of the board. I understand their reasoning behind stepping down, but it's still crappy. I wish them the best of luck though and hope they enjoy their new freedom from all the stress of moderating a message board.

Thank you all for your work and the time you invested here while you were moderators. I hope you all still remain members of this forum even without your mod super powers.

Spoiler

 

[kibbleforlola]

Let's be clear here, at least in the case of Rabitlovr, Annia, and myself, we didn't decide to step down, we logged in yesterday and were no longer stewards. I understand why, and I harbor no ill-will or resentment. It's just this post makes it sound like it was a joint decision, when it wasn't at all.

 

[Second Summer]

Let's be clear here, at least in the case of Rabitlovr, Annia, and myself, we didn't decide to step down, we logged in yesterday and were no longer stewards. I understand why, and I harbor no ill-will or resentment. It's just this post makes it sound like it was a joint decision, when it wasn't at all.

Yes, it was more a Stalin-type purge, really. I wasn't sure how you preferred it to be announced, so I tried to phrase it as politely as I could. (Guess I should have asked!)

 

[kibbleforlola]

Yes, it was more a Stalin-type purge, really. I wasn't sure how you preferred it to be announced, so I tried to phrase it as politely as I could. (Guess I should have asked!)

I didn't say that. I just think that honesty is the best policy.

 

[Second Summer]

I meant to say "Stalin-type purge " <-- note tongue-in-cheek. But then this is perhaps not a time for jokes.

 

[Muggle]

Let's be clear here, at least in the case of Rabitlovr, Annia, and myself, we didn't decide to step down, we logged in yesterday and were no longer stewards. I understand why, and I harbor no ill-will or resentment. It's just this post makes it sound like it was a joint decision, when it wasn't at all.

This.

Although, to be honest, I was on the verge of stepping down anyway. There have been many many threads where I've wanted to voice my opinions but felt like I couldn't. Recently, I couldn't stay silent any longer.
So yeah.

 

[Amy SF]

It makes me very sad to see all these recent developments. Until then I was feeling that this board was the anti-VB. None of the feuding, bad blood, anger and so on. No personal attacks. Everything was nice. I felt comfortable here, with none of the really strict rules of VB. Now this has all changed.

 

[RabbitLuvr]

I had been planning to step down, but found my name had already changed color when I logged in to send that pm.

 

[Pickle Juice]

I did offer to step down, not because I wanted to walk out on the job due to resentment, but because I was concerned that I had crossed a line. All I can say is that I felt compelled to bring this problem to everyone's attention in the most general way I could, to keep more members from leaving the forum. If people had taken that initial post for what it was worth, and not taken exception to me personally because I was the one posting it, things would probably have been fine, but once I got put in the position of having to defend my reasoning and my behavior over and over, it definitely went downhill. I regret how unpleasant things became. It was never my intention. My intention was to do something to help the people who had appealed for a solution to the problem of being unable to engage in reasonable discourse without being subject to having their threads derailed by personal remarks and flaming. Mods can't just ignore people who have concerns. It's their duty to help them.

IS, I think you need to make it very clear to the members that anyone you appoint as moderators have the same authority you do to set down and enforce forum rules. I have observed from this incident that people did not seem to think they needed to listen to me because I am just a moderator, not the forum owner. I suspect some of it also had to do with the remark I made in another thread, that got reported. I think people also thought that because there was no official statement from you, I had "gotten away" with something I was expecting other people to do, "or else", which was not the case. I am not sure why this notion persisted, since I have been very open and honest about that, and informed those arguing with me that I was reported for it, realized I shouldn't have said it, and that it had been acknowledged by you and dealt with.

I do think people should feel as free to report a moderator as they should feel to report anyone else, but I think that when that happens you will have to address it publicly, to reassure the members that no one here is above the rules. I think anyone you choose as moderators in the future must first agree that if they do something that gets reported, the incident will be addressed in public. Only for staff though. I still think privacy is best for incidents involving regular members.

I also think, as I stated in the other thread, that you need to be more timely and decisive when problems erupt. This issue has been around for months, and it should not have been allowed to go on this long without action from you. In no way am I trying to downplay my own role. I'm just hoping that we can all learn from this and do better if it ever happens again, and this is some of what I think went wrong.

I didn't say that. I just think that honesty is the best policy.

I am very sorry, but I cannot let this pass. When someone makes a bold statement like this, demanding honesty from others when they do not offer it themselves, it is unfair to everyone who reads it. You said in the other thread that you had no idea that you were the subject of multiple complaints, and yet I had made more than one post in a thread in the moderator's subforum informing you that your behavior was inappropriate, and I was informed by IS that he was going to have a talk with you, so I don't see how you can claim to be unaware when you were indeed informed by two people on staff, as well as made aware in the threads in question by those whom you offended. I am not going to say any more on the subject, and my intent isn't to cause another huge fight, but I can't let this go unchallenged. Not when you accuse other people of not being completely forthcoming, but have shown yourself to be less than willing to do what you are demanding of others.

 

[kibbleforlola]

I am very sorry, but I cannot let this pass. When someone makes a bold statement like this, demanding honesty from others when they do not offer it themselves, it is unfair to everyone who reads it. You said in the other thread that you had no idea that you were the subject of multiple complaints, and yet I had made more than one post in a thread in the moderator's subforum informing you that your behavior was inappropriate, and I was informed by IS that he was going to have a talk with you, so I don't see how you can claim to be unaware when you were indeed informed by two people on staff, as well as made aware in the threads in question by those whom you offended. I am not going to say any more on the subject, and my intent isn't to cause another huge fight, but I can't let this go unchallenged. Not when you accuse other people of not being completely forthcoming, but have shown yourself to be less than willing to do what you are demanding of others.

That's highly inaccurate - actually, that's down right wrong. But I'm done with this, you don't care to have a decent conversation with anyone, so I'm done. Peace.

 

[Muggle]

Seeing as it has already been mentioned by Pickle Juice and what's she's written is, in fact, incorrect and I don't feel it's fair on kibbleforlola for things to be mentioned here about the mod forum which other members can't access so only have somebody else's word for it:

I've read everything that has been posted in the mod forum, up until I was removed as a steward yesterday afternoon. There was one occasion, many, many months ago, where kibbleforlola had been informed her behaviour wasn't appropriate as a steward. And that wasn't even a post she'd written, it was a post that she had liked. And come to think of it, I'm pretty sure I liked that post too but as I wasn't a steward then, I was not contacted in any way about it (or even mentioned in the mod forum).

So if anybody is reading this thinking that there's been all sorts of ruckus in the mod forum, there hasn't been. There was one incident mentioned in the mod forum from months ago.

Now I don't know about any reported posts of kfl's since then as I could not see reported posts outside of my forum, so kfl would also have been unable to see any reported posts that were outside of her forums. But there has been no mention of those in the mod forum up until yesterday afternoon. Obviously I am not aware if there were any PMs sent, but the assertion that kfl has been spoken to multiple times in the mod forum is completely inaccurate and the one incident that did occur in the mod forum had nothing to do with all this stuff recently because it was ages ago.

EDIT:
Just wanted to say, I asked Karen's permission before I posted this post and she is fine with me mentioning that incident here.

 

[RabbitLuvr]

Annia writes the truth.

 

[mlp]

Yes, it was more a Stalin-type purge, really. I wasn't sure how you preferred it to be announced, so I tried to phrase it as politely as I could. (Guess I should have asked!)

In professional circles, it's standard practice to announce that someone is leaving "to pursue other opportunities" or some similar wording, even when that person is being fired for cause. People know that they will continue to be travelling in the same circles and may be working cooperatively in the future. There is value in wording such announcements in a way as to enable people to save face. Apart from that, it's just a reasonable and mature way to handle things.

So, kudos to you for your attempt to do that.

 

[Mel]

What Annia says is true about the mod sub-forum. There is however another forum that stewards can't see. (IS, hope that it's ok for me to mention that.)

 

[Blobbenstein]

the uber forum.

It was mentioned before, or hinted at, that there were needed two mod forum icons.

 

[Second Summer]

Myeah, but the super-mod forum is irrelevant to this matter. (In the future I'm hoping to merge the two mod forums.)

You [kfl] said in the other thread that you had no idea that you were the subject of multiple complaints, and yet I had made more than one post in a thread in the moderator's subforum informing you that your behavior was inappropriate, and I was informed by IS that he was going to have a talk with you, so I don't see how you can claim to be unaware when you were indeed informed by two people on staff, as well as made aware in the threads in question by those whom you offended. I am not going to say any more on the subject,

Hmm. Before this recent disagreement there was AFAIK one post in the mod forum regarding kfl "liking" an inflammatory post, and there was one private message from me regarding another matter. That was the extent of it.

 

[Mel]

Myeah, but the super-mod forum is irrelevant to this matter. (In the future I'm hoping to merge the two mod forums.)

True, although my point being that one should not assume that they know all that is going on. Since Annia presumably did not know about the Super-Mod forum, then she couldn't know 100% for a fact that the issue being discussed here wasn't being discussed elsewhere. (Not saying it was, not saying it wasn't, btw)

Hmm. Before this recent disagreement there was AFAIK one post in the mod forum regarding kfl "liking" an inflammatory post, and there was one private message from me regarding another matter. That was the extent of it.

I think you're right. I don't recall any other "specific" incident being discussed.

 

[kibbleforlola]

True, although my point being that one should not assume that they know all that is going on. Since Annia presumably did not know about the Super-Mod forum, then she couldn't know 100% for a fact that the issue being discussed here wasn't being discussed elsewhere. (Not saying it was, not saying it wasn't, btw)

I think what Annia was trying to say, that she as a steward only saw the one thread, so I - also as a steward - would have also only seen the one thread. If more was being discussed in the part of the mod forum we didn't have privy to, there's no way I would have been aware, so I'm not lying when I say I'm not aware.

Just to clarify.

Although, I really don't think I'm that interesting that y'all would have all kinds of things going on about me there.

 

[Mel]

I think what Annia was trying to say, that she as a steward only saw the one thread, so I - also as a steward - would have also only seen the one thread. If more was being discussed in the part of the mod forum we didn't have privy to, there's no way I would have been aware, so I'm not lying when I say I'm not aware.

Just to clarify.

Although, I really don't think I'm that interesting that y'all would have all kinds of things going on about me there.

I understand.

I also wouldn't want to know.