A Tale of a Mod's Abuse of Power

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I saw that post before it was deleted. I found it intimidating and very offensive and it hurt me. it was the usual sarcastic swipe at anyone who asks for help, accusing them of blaming their aspergers, and specifically targetting the more emotionally vulnerable among us by posting it somewhere supposed to be a safe haven.

... and I come here, and find that the poster is capitalising on the censure he received for posting it he uses it as an excuse to make another swipe at the vulnerable, accusing us of not being able to "bear a little sharp jest", and making attacks against the moderators too.

I am completely disgusted by this, and I think the moderators should take much firmer action than they have. what is the point of having a haven patrolled by wolves? the poster is well known for his thinly veiled 'joke' posts, how can anyone posting there have any security or confidence that he isn't going to be using their sensitive and genuine questions for the basis of one of his tasteless posts for his own supposed 'humour', and showing (as he has demonstrated in this thread) no concern at all for the effect he has on anyone else's feelings?

Sarcasm does not belong, and will not be allowed in the Haven. This is not about censorship or an abuse of power. It is for the protection of members who need support and real advice.

I would have moved it to another forum, perhaps. But deleting a post of mine would offend me too. I suppose the problem is where is the line drawn between a harsh but sincere and thoughtful post, and an outright flame, intended to offend. And... much to my chagrin that kind of thing is too complex and subjective to have some perfect rule made for it. It is a "majority makes reality" kind of thing. But still, i would have simply moved the thread to a forum more appropriate for it.

For what it's worth, posts are not deleted on WP (except for duplicates), but are instead moved to the moderator forum, where a message is attached explaining why the post was moved. This allows all of the Mods to give an opinion on the issue (assuming there wasn't discussion in advance). Deletions are logged, so Alex would know if one of us was abusing our privs and trying to hide it from the other mods.

Having read the original post, I agree that it was not funny at all. It was a carefully worded condemnation of the Haven forum in general and the users who post there. Had the post been intended and worded in a constructive way then I'd agree it could have been moved elsewhere, but in this case there's simply no other appropriate forum.

I have frequent rows with the Mods, but here I support their decision. As I understand, The Haven is meant to be a "safe" forum, where people can go if they are feeling down. Posting sarcastic comments may be fine in other situations, but NOT here.

However, I do think that in some cases, the Mod's decisions should be more transparent and open to the input of ordinary members.

i titled a post i'm curious

and it didn't last long. But my curiosity was satisfied.

the post was simply a test to find out how many words are edited.

example, i think its a bunch of sh** that you would PURPOSELY act, so as to hurt other people.

What l learned is that they are actually pretty liberal around here, since from my listing of words there were many that weren't edited, which i thought for sure would have.

I am against all forms of censorship, i believe that personal liberties such as speech, press and art should be allowed in all forms. Yes there are trade-offss; prices that one must pay for freedom.
Take the good old USA for example. With the government granting personal liberties to its populus came a new era for mankind. allowing endless freedom spawned landmark inventions, civil right movements, women's suffrage. Still the market place of ideas , allowed to grow without intervention will ultimately produce the greatest that a humans abilitiy would allow. America has expodentially out paced the rest of the world for centuries.

On the other hand are the trade-offs;
America has had the greatest collection of serial killers the planet has ever known.
the wild west, no need to go into detail, but the point is with absolute freedom comes the absolute best that a man can aspire to, and the absolute greatest from the most evil of men.
Freedom is furtile soil.

I never read you post, but i think that rather than delete, could it have been moved?

And to the orange haired freak,
we all lack social skills, i am greatful that you haven't tried to hide behind that as your excuse, then i would have more contempt, because the rest of us don't have to try as a means of being considerate. We simply are too abrupt, honest, terse, etc... We don't plot ways to bring others down, we do it by accident. you would be a poor example for all of us. The way that i read your post to mean, you acted deliberate and with purpose. You aimed to hurt people and with out cause.

My reasoning is simple; If i say something that offends someone, i can assure you that was not my intent. but if you have the intent to personally hurt people then you not only lack the skills to act in a social manner, you also demonstrate Anti-Social tendencies. like the absolute greatest from the most evil in man.

Purpose driven actions when used to hurt others is all too telling about who you are. I wonder is it that ugly hair color that makes you so insecure. Your losing battle with consumption, or is it all the steps you've takin in life.

i would never post on a forum like waht it seems to be, because i don't believe in enabling people, or giving them excuses. Also i don't believe in disabling people who are already vulnerable. so i would say nothing at all.
For that, you should not be proud.


Some times its better to walk away.

[img]file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Owner/My%20Documents/My%20Pictures/New%20Folder/walkingskeleton.gif[/img]
[url]file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Owner/My%20Documents/My%20Pictures/New%20Folder/walkingskeleton.gif[/url]

NeantHumain, you're free to be sarcastic on the other forums, but violating the rules of the haven is no different than posting mature content in the general forum - it simply needs to be moved where it's appropriate.

SB2, I know the haven may look like a place for enabling and excuses, but in my experience it's more helpful long-term to support people when they're down, until they have the ability to stand by themselves. After a person has found some modicrum of balance, then is the time to come on stronger and slash back help that is no longer needed.

If a person is down and I know that telling them to quit making excuses would cause them to retreat or strike back, and end up worse than they were before, I won't say it - regardless of whether it's true or not. There's no point tossing out the whole truth when you're well aware it won't penetrate. You've got to do it in stages - and at least in my experience, the first stage has to be the most careful. Not necessarily the most gentle - I've met people who would much rather hear that I'm only talking to them to fulfil my own selfish desires, because understanding the fact that I like them would be far more dangerous than being used again. The haven isn't necessarily about gentleness. But it's about positive intentions and forward motion - whatever it takes to bring that about.

excuse me? personal attacks are not allowed - please remove these.

and could you also remove the links you've posted - they bugger up the page format, and they don't actually go anywhere!

thanks.

Vivi
(as Admin)

SB2, red hair isn't ugly, you asshat.

Maybe if you primitive f***s weren't so busy taking the piss out of someone's hair colour, they wouldn't turn out insecure.

You lot always come out with that! It's a pathetic excuse that you use to justify the unjustifiable, usually.



Complete rubbish. I got an official warning days ago, and none of you lot are willing or able to explain exactly how I've broke the rules.

Edit: actually, vetivert did via PM earlier — offer that is — but I'm still waiting for the exact details of my crimes to be explained. However, that was after numerous PMs on my part trying to get some sense out of ghotistix and BeeBee.

I tend to agree; but like I've said previously, I do like Neanthumain's humour. He just needs to exercise a little more discretion.


Like moderators singling me out for trumped-up racism allegations that they can't explain?

I suppose you're referring to me, although my hair is actually red, not orange. You seem angry, understandably so. I was angry, too, because my will was imposed upon. That's the one thing that really bothers me. Being called an "orange haired freak" only has a very slight effect on me.

I was not plotting ways to bring anyone down with my post; my post "Inadequacies" was not directed against anyone or any group. I suppose, at bottom, I wanted to provide a slight prod for people to start making something of their lives. I know I personally would never feel I had lived a fulfilling life if I never did more than make posts on WrongPlanet.net, collect welfare, and discuss how I couldn't cope in the world because my senses were always on overload.

To say I have antisocial personality disorder is perhaps a bit mistaken, but I would agree with you that I probably didn't handle the situation as best I could. I let pride get ahead of me. I do not like bending my will; I feel the utmost resentment in doing it. I like to do good out of free will, not compulsion.

How did you find it intimidating and hurtful? Myself, I enjoy reading sarcastic humor because I find it entertaining. Take a look at the horoscopes on The Onion some time. They are a little offensive maybe—but also hilarious!

In all honesty, I find this all so amusing more than anything. I know many of you have become angry with me now, but I am not hurt. I do feel a mild amusement, though. See, that's the problem. We're on different planes. I am becoming increasingly bored with the sameness of the posts made here and becoming more provocative to stir things up a little. I do believe I've outgrown the WrongPlanet.net forums. I am not in need of emotional support of the kind many people seek here. I'm in need of pleasure and fun.

As a rule, insulting people's sensitivities makes them feel either defensive, or too inadequate to make something of their lives. If you want to encourage people to make something of their lives, there's an old cliche: you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. You could tell them of all the wonderful things that would come of making something of their lives. Like being able to say, "Yeah, b**ch, who are you calling ret*d now?" Or whatever appeals to them. Maybe just not feeling so angsty all the time.

I also figure that most of the people around here are dang sick and tired of being made fun of...so after all that battle-weariness, it's a bit much to expect more than a negative emotional reaction from either them or those who are looking out for them.

And if you're just bored, carry on. Things are probably going more or less as you'd want them to, or at least as well as you could hope for them to...if you troll or provoke, you'll get reactions, and usually have some kind of moderator action taken against you. If you like that, fine.

Considering that you had a similar incident not to long ago that you got in a ton of trouble for, that ":kiss:" remark was even dumber than what NeantHumain did.

Vetvert mistakenly replied.

I do not know this man from Adam. It seems like i was critiquing a piece of crap, ahem i mean art. I didn't realize thay this was the Haven forum, i thought it was the general discussion forum. I offered an opinion, not a personal attack.
I happen to be petrified of clowns and that's what his avatar looks like, A Euro version of Ronald McDonald, it is Freaky, it freaks me out.

I would suggest a little less judgemental behaviour, for the sake of your percieved duties, as your lofty title allows, presumably.

I also wan't it to be clear that,
That you were NOT giving me a warning, rather an opinion. If that is the case then i respect your opinion, and perhaps i need to brush up on my diplomacy skills. In the future, i MAY use less descriptive type words when directed at people, that would be a personal choice. I would refuse to be censored about such trivial matters as someone over stepping their authority.

Sophist, submitted this picture of a skeleten walking on some-ones "i am a million post's richer" themed type post. I thought it was hilarious, and i also thought it appropriate to my final statement about sometimes its better to keep walking.

Currently i am a computer ret*d. Give me a couple months to obsess over it and i guarantee that i will be highly functional. as of the current level of my skills, i made an error, whilst following the steps to add an image to a post. It was not meant to go anywhere, it was meant to be in your face.
I actually believe that your reaction to my reaction to the topic could best be discribed by the title of the subject post. I do not care for a retraction, nor an apology. I care only in the pursuit of what's just and correct. The only reason for this response.




Two things yhe must know about being a leader.
1. Make the people under you believe that they are in charge.
2. Know that you are.