Impartial moderation >?

Morlar

I just recieved an infraction from a C-mod. That is not the main issue. I am 99% sure nothing would be done about this (below) but I figured I would mention it here anyway.

The thread is in 'Rip Off Ireland' forum here;

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055793124

basically someone was charged €950 for 3 months of broadband & is not a happy camper as a result.


The thread includes several posts from broadband forum moderators saying how this is normal, stop complaining, it's your fault etc.

The thread has since degenerated into multiple insults being slung at the original poster (who I do not know nor connected with) 2 of these posts I reported this afternoon as they seemed to be ganging up on the guy and it seemed out of line to me.

Here are the 2 posts I reported ;


1 (from a broadband forum mod)
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=63952136&postcount=100

I'd kindly request you leave the crazy tinfoil hat conspiracy theorys

I request that you retract this tinfoil hat crap you keep coming out with

More of your inane ramblings not based on fact

If any users comes onto this forum or for that matter any forum on boards with such a complaint then they'll be told that they are an idiot first

Nothing was done by the mods about that one.

2

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=63954133&postcount=114

Originally Posted by Nody View Post
if you are not a troll you're behaving like one .... I can't assume that you are anything but a troll

Nothing was done by the mods about that one.



I then made a comment in a thread 'post reported' (on the 'I can't believe it's not troll' one).

That recieved a reply of

Originally Posted by Cabaal View Post
While the OP "may" not be a troll there actions certainly do come across as troll'ish,

I thought that was yet another insult slinged in the OP's direction about which yet again nothing would be done from the moderators so to that I replied '

Cabaal wrote: »

While the OP "may" not be a troll there actions certainly do come across as troll'ish, again this isn't speculation its based on the facts at hand.

At the same time, you "may" not be a complete retard. See how that works ? There are a group of people on here inexplicably giving the OP a hard time and what I find also strange is that the moderators have no issue with this.

What he said was not 'backed up by facts', what he said was ;

Originally Posted by Nody View Post
if you are not a troll you're behaving like one .... I can't assume that you are anything but a troll

That is essentially saying 'YOU ARE A TROLL'. Except not using those words in that order. In many forums on here most posters would be banned or at the least infracted for that.

Of course as you all guessed by now ..........................I was the one infracted, which is probably fair enough. But while the broadband forum posters who are repeatedly having a go at the OP for not being happy with a comms supplier were not dealt with ?


So roll forward a few hours and I recieved a PM from a C-mod saying I was infracted. I replied observing that no one else slinging the 'troll' insults around were infracted - the C-mod then replied via PM


"There's a world of difference between calling a troll a troll, and calling someone a retard.'

ie the C-mod is calling the OP of the thread a troll.

So to my mind this explains the poor moderation on the thread, the allowing of posters to repeatedly have a go at the OP. The issue I have with this is that I consider that forum 'Rip Off Ireland' to be part (ie a subforum) of the Consumer Issues forum, ie for Consumers to air concerns etc and if someone has an issue with a broadband supplier they should not be hounded and repeatedly called a troll by people who happen to include moderators on the broadband forum.

I see it as a not so amusing lack of impartial moderation. So flame on!!

jor el

Draw whatever conclusions you want from my PM, oh and thanks for publishing a PRIVATE message without prior consent, says a lot about your character, the simple fact is that you called another user a complete retard, it deserved an infraction. No one else got personal the way you did.

BuffyBot

First of all, the Moderators of the Broadband forum are not mods of the Rip off Ireland forum, which makes them just normal users there, just like you.

So - you got an infraction for implying another user was a "retard". Not on, at all and as a sanction, an infraction is not out of line in the least - infractions are merely nudges to guide you to acceptable behaviours, something you shouldn't be unfamiliar with considering it's not your first.

ie the C-mod is calling the OP of the thread a troll.

I'd see it as the CMod trying to explain something to you.

So to my mind this explains the poor moderation on the thread, the allowing of posters to repeatedly have a go at the OP. The issue I have with this is that I consider that forum 'Rip Off Ireland' to be part (ie a subforum) of the Consumer Issues forum, ie for Consumers to air concerns etc and if someone has an issue with a broadband supplier they should not be hounded and repeatedly called a troll by people who happen to include moderators on the broadband forum.

It's a discussion forum, not a support group. If you post, you have to accept that people will disagree with you, and they are entitled to do that. We don't neuter the opionion forming brain cells of our Mods, and there is no reason that we should - if they're behaving in a non-abusive manner, they are entitled to take part in robust debate, just like all other users.

Morlar

BuffyBot wrote: »

It's a discussion forum, not a support group.

I never said otherwise.

BuffyBot wrote: »

If you post, you have to accept that people will disagree with you, and they are entitled to do that.

I never said otherwise to that either.

BuffyBot wrote: »

We don't neuter the opionion forming brain cells of our Mods, and there is no reason that we should

Obviously I never said you should.

BuffyBot wrote: »

- if they're behaving in a non-abusive manner, they are entitled to take part in robust debate, just like all other users.

Calling a poster a Troll is the 'new robust' rather than plain old abusive ?

When I called the other person a retard it was in the same form of language as the broadband moderator had used to call the OP a Troll.

That was not the first time in that thread such insults were thrown around, also, worth pointing out that it was only After moderators had repeatedly refused to step in that I used the same language to point out how robust/unacceptable this was.

As I said the infraction was probably fair. My primary issue is that others (including broadband forum moderators) have been calling the OP a troll repeatedly without fellow moderators doing anything to keep it non abusive. In addition I find it strange that a thread in Consumer Issues> Rip Off Ireland about mobile broadband gouging is so top heavy with people who support a comms co in charging €950 for 3 months broadband. As I did say the main issue I have is not that 'it's not a support group', or that 'people disagree', or that 'mods aren't neutered' it is what I see as consistently biased moderation throughout a thread.

BuffyBot

Calling a poster a Troll is the 'new robust' rather than plain old abusive ?

I wouldn't class troll, in that context, as abusive.

That was not the first time in that thread such insults were thrown around, also, worth pointing out that it was only After moderators had repeatedly refused to step in that I used the same language to point out how robust/unacceptable this was.

Then you should have addressed the issue via PM with the forum moderator, and if not happy with their response, the CMod. The thread is not the place for it.

In addition I find it strange that a thread in Consumer Issues> Rip Off Ireland about mobile broadband gouging is so top heavy with people who support a comms co in charging €950 for 3 months broadband. As I did say the main issue I have is not that 'it's not a support group', or that 'people disagree', or that 'mods aren't neutered' it is what I see as consistently biased moderation throughout a thread.

Maybe they just happen to be the most interested and knowledgable people? Naturally a thread like that is going to gather people with an interest/knowledge of the subject matter in hand. Most people don't tend to post in threads where they have no knowledge of the subject matter. The fact that these users are moderators on another forum has no relevance to the issue at hand.