WrongPlanet.net working on updating terms of service

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WrongPlanet.net is working on updating the terms of service. As always, the most up to date version of the TOS can be found at:

http://www.wrongPlanet.net/tos.txt

Yes lets update the terms of service. For We need this for sure.

Yeah, it REALLY needed that "If you question the authority of the powers that be at WP then you face the firing squad" amendment.

I've changed that. What do you think?

I've been talking with Pyraxis about how we might decide to start paying the moderators. It truly is a thankless job. Well I'm going to thank you right now, if it means anything.

I do think I owe WrongPlanet an apology for a lot of what has gone one lately. I run WrongPlanet.net and it is my responsibility to keep things in line. Sure, I appointed moderators, and thats what they're supposed to be doing, but I think a mutual lack of trust throughout this community has created a problem. That's my fault because I run the site and I'm the one who should be responsible for ensuring that such an atmosphere exists. However, each and every one of you help shape our community for the good, and even the bad.

I think my mistake was not trusting the moderators enough. I think that's a mistake we all share. I think this lack of trust caused them not to have enough power to deal with many of the issues we've faced. I think I second guessed them too much because of that lack of trust. They also second guessed me. It went both ways. However, I run WrongPlanet and it is my responsibility to ensure this happens no longer. It was my lack of trust which led to a resentment among the moderators, and while my lack of trust was the cause, there was some undo bitterness resulting from the lack of trust the members placed in the moderators as well.

Some may say that they didn't deserve to be trusted, but I shouldn't have made those who I couldn't trust into moderators. I think the moderators I did appoint really really really wanted the best for WrongPlanet. I think we all want the best for this community but there was mutual mistrust between me, the moderators, and the community as a whole. I think we shouldn't try to place blame on where everything went wrong because I think everyone here will admit that we've all made mistakes and haven't had enough trust.

Whenever someone refers to wrongplanet as "my site" I've always corrected them. I'm merely the head of something that belongs to everyone equally. WrongPlanet isn't "my site." It's the community's site. Its your site Serissa, just as much as it is mine. I'm merely in charged of making things run smoothly in the administrative sense. Without each and every one of you guys, there would be no wrongplanet. WrongPlanet couldn't exist without the community. Quite a while back, I ran a poll about what made wrongplanet great. No one cared about "the features" or "the articles" as much as they cared about our uniqe warm and friendly community. We've started to lose the warm and friendly aspect of that but it isn't too late.

I know a lot of you will disagree with my decision to remove "The Truth" thread, but I stand by that decision. What we need isn't fingerpointing and blame. We need to reestablish ourselves as a united front. We're all aspies. We've gotten enough crap from NTs and bullies in school. Why do we have to give it to each other? Sure, we all have different opinions, but we've all been through so much and we have a level of understanding of each other that you rarely see anywhere, much less on the internet.

We got through the William Freund tragedy as a community and the recent troubles are nothing compared to those horrible series of events. We're strong and we can overcome any obstacles, especially these self imposed ones. I think WrongPlanet.net grew more quickly than any of us could have ever imagined. While this is probably the cause of a lot of our problems, I think it is also an opportunity for us to extend our warm friendly atmosphere that we had when we were small.

I think we've started to lose our unique spirit. You may think its too late to recover from this but it never is too late.When I heard that members were talking about how WrongPlanet was going to hell, I was really offended because WrongPlanet is a part of me and I thought others felt the same. Instead of working to better the community, people were deciding they should just jump ship. I strongly believe that this is a mistake. We need to unite once again and remember what has brought us all here together. I think we all lost sight of that; I know I did.

Serissa, I'd hate to lose you as a moderator. More importantly, I'd hate to lose you as a friend. I truly respect you and value your sense of humor, but more importantly, your heart.

Mockingbird, I know you think I've been lying. You've started to lose trust just as I did with the moderators. I hope you can muster up enough faith to believe me when I tell you that I have always run WrongPlanet with an emphasis on my integrity and the integrity of the community as a whole.

Vetivert, Ghotistix, and all of the other moderators who I didn't trust: I'm sorry for not placing enough faith in you and I'm also sorry that I had to remove your moderator status. I want you to know that I will strongly consider reforming the moderators, this time with one more thing; trust. But remember that it works both ways. I'm going to trust you not to think of WrongPlanet as a cesspool which is going to hell in a handbasket. I'm not going to monitor your PMs. I'm going to trust that you have the community's best interests in mind.

I thank everyone for taking the time to read this lengthy, although heartfelt, post of mine.

Alex, I don't think paying is a good idea. I honestly think it would be a good idea to work with the active moderators who you still have (Serissa, Pyraxis, I'd be willing to advise while setting things up, anyone else who's still around...) and come up with a new system of government, kind of like the Roman Senate. Having a group of people with different view points and strengths and weaknesses would be ideal, even if it's difficult to work together in the beginning. These people should be willing to put aside any personal agendas that they may have to do what's right for the community as a whole. They should also meet the requirements for any sort of moderating position.

Perhaps in addition to this "Senate"-type group, there would also be the moderating team, which is kind of like a police force, and put in charge of enforcing the rules. Police don't make the laws- the politicians (Senate) does that. The moderators would have to abide by the rules and work with the WP Senate (new name for the potential group) to run the government smoothly.

I think one of the problems that I saw with the moderators is that we all had our own biases. Most people did a good job about choosing not to get involved if they are biased, but it's important that the police officers (either in the real world or here) are completely unbiased.

Alex, now that you've apologised to some of the mods (it doesn't seem like you've apologised to Louisa), what are you going to do about it? You can say whatever you want and even mean it, but until you choose what you're going to do, it doesn't really matter much. Only apologising here isn't going to fix things for good, I hope you realise that.

I'll e-mail you with the rest of what I was going to say, if that's okay with you. If you have any questions or comments about anything I've said here (or otherwise), feel free to send me an e-mail. You have my e-mail address already and I also posted it in the mod's forum.

-Namiko

Alex,

Finally, a real response to what has happened the past few days. I got to thinking about what was going on and realized that the PM issue was more of a PR issue than an actual site issue. You are correct that 99% of the internet sites based in the US do not consider PMs private. However, I would bet that most of those sites tell its users in either the TOS or a policy statement. You did not and that is where the problem was.

I would suggest making sure that there is a statement in the TOS or policy thread stating that PMs can be reviewed by developers and will be looked at in cases of criminal activity or if a user is in danger. That will make sure that this kind of issue does not occur again.

I really do not wish to lose you as a friend either Alex. I also do not wish to leave WP. I however cannot afford to let the issues of a website stress me out. In fact, I told quite a few people that is I did end up leaving the WP forums, I probably would not join up on another AS related forum. The stress is not worth it.

I have more that I would like to discuss with you privately. I however will not be home tomorrow so I do not know when I will be able to talk to you.

I repeat my suggestion of 7. Or 9, if you think it's necessary. With the balance divided equally between members voted in by the community and members you appoint. And then you as the tie-breaker. It is important to have an odd number so that votes can't be tied.

Too many board members appointed by you, and the board loses its point of representing the site members' interests. Too many appointed by the members and it risks dissolving into a popularity contest. That's why I suggest an equal balance.

I also think that if you're going to appoint people, you should first make sure they are willing to make the commitment to vote within a certain time frame (two days?) whenever an issue comes up. Otherwise the votes will be pointlessly deadlocked waiting for an individual to chip in. If someone doesn't vote within the specified time frame, they are automatically counted as abstaining, and too many abstinances would mean reconsidering their commitment to the board.

Alex Im glad that you are finally started to take the members' best interest at heart. I will do anything I can to help you. If need anymore help give me a call.

I was glad to see the words "I'm sorry" and I'm looking forward to specific actions to follow up those words.

The big problem for me was the ads, I no longer use delphi forums because of the ads and I would have left this forum too, as would many others for that reason.

As to paying mods, I don't know if it would work as some mods hardly do anything and others do a lot, depending (I spose) on their own time limits or interest in the job, and this could lead to resentments or problems. How to you propose to fund payment?

Alex, right now, I'm very hurt as many here are. It's going to take alot to heal as individuals and as a group. If we can't trust and respect each other to speak freely, then what good are we to give a voice to the rest of the AS community?

"The only way to make sure people you agree with can speak is to support the rights of people you don't agree with." ---Eleanor Holmes Norton