Current affair Greyhound thread

Discodog

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=110818507&postcount=2340

I am genuinely concerned by this post & the interactions with Dudara. I am not here to cause trouble or question Boards policy but something has emerged that has potential issues of censorship.

I strongly feel that I have been given a final warning for nothing. According to Dudara it is because of PMs from me & those received by Dudara from another poster.

I would like the content of these PMs to be made public & I am happy to publish mine. I am not sure if this comes under DR if so please can you move it.

In the interests of fairness I would ask that someone other than Dudara & Beasty deal with this.

To summarise. There has been an at times heated but withing the rules series of posts between myself & another poster. I admit that I fell for the trap, made one regretful remark namely "what drug are you on" & rightfully got a yellow card. I did query why the other poster wasn't sanctioned via a PM but got no response.

Since then all my posts have been polite, courteous & I have had no further warnings. I also reported several post by other posters that were in breach of Boards rules & were acted on. So rather than being disruptive I was actually trying to help the Mods.

I noted that the other poster had blocked me. I asked Dudara if I was allowed to respond to their posts & was told technically yes. Dudara asked me not to respond & I queried this for two reasons. Firstly it's censorship & secondly my responses are of interest to the whole forum. I stressed that I would always post courteously.

If someone chooses to block you that is their choice. But it can't mean that their posts are immune from comment. Otherwise someone could totally kill the thread & silence opposition. It's up to them to remain courteous & if they can't control themselves then they shouldn't post.

I am averaging one card per year so I am hardly the most disruptive poster on Boards.

Black Swan

Hi Discodog,
If I were you, and was experiencing some problems in the Current Affairs forum, I would start by PMing one of the mods. And if a resolution was not found, then go up one step and PM one or both of the Cmods: LEIN or Pawwed Rig. Unfortunately, I am not a CA Cmod, so all I can offer is a bit of advice to you, which may or may not be useful.

Discodog wrote: »

I would like the content of these PMs to be made public & I am happy to publish mine.

Please know that PMs are "Private" messages, and although you may share those you have personally written, other members are not required to do so, and may maintain their privacy accordingly.

Discodog wrote: »

I am not sure if this comes under DR if so please can you move it.

Dispute Resolution is reserved for appealing cards and bans, and nothing else. Other appeals are best addressed in this Help Desk forum.

Discodog wrote: »

In the interests of fairness I would ask that someone other than Dudara & Beasty deal with this.

These are both Admins, and consequently they are empowered to make final decisions. You certainly can PM them and ask for a different Admin, but once again, they may or may not forward it to another Admin as they can make final decisions themselves.

Discodog wrote: »

I did query why the other poster wasn't sanctioned via a PM but got no response.

Normally violations are dealt with on a case-by-case basis, and although there may be more than one member involved, mods have to be careful that they do not get caught up in a tit-for-tat dispute between members. It should also be noted that some mod actions to resolve a problem may occur by PM, which remain "private" and not to be seen by all. Also, forum bans can occur, but will not be noticed by members unless the mod makes a forum post accordingly.

Discodog wrote: »

I also reported several post by other posters that were in breach of Boards rules & were acted on. So rather than being disruptive I was actually trying to help the Mods.

The report function is the best way to go when you perceive a breach of the rules. All the forum mods receive copies of the reports, as do all respective forum Cmods.

Just my 2-euros worth Discodog. Hopefully some of these comments were useful.

Black Swan

Discodog

Black Swan wrote: »

Hi Discodog,
If I were you, and was experiencing some problems in the Current Affairs forum, I would start by PMing one of the mods. And if a resolution was not found, then go up one step and PM one or both of the Cmods: LEIN or Pawwed Rig. Unfortunately, I am not a CA Cmod, so all I can offer is a bit of advice to you, which may or may not be useful.
Please know that PMs are "Private" messages, and although you may share those you have personally written, other members are not required to do so, and may maintain their privacy accordingly.

Dispute Resolution is reserved for appealing cards and bans, and nothing else. Other appeals are best addressed in this Help Desk forum.

These are both Admins, and consequently they are empowered to make final decisions. You certainly can PM them and ask for a different Admin, but once again, they may or may not forward it to another Admin as they can make final decisions themselves.

Normally violations are dealt with on a case-by-case basis, and although there may be more than one member involved, mods have to be careful that they do not get caught up in a tit-for-tat dispute between members. It should also be noted that some mod actions to resolve a problem may occur by PM, which remain "private" and not to be seen by all. Also, forum bans can occur, but will not be noticed by members unless the mod makes a forum post accordingly.

The report function is the best way to go when you perceive a breach of the rules. All the forum mods receive copies of the reports, as do all respective forum Cmods.

Just my 2-euros worth Discodog. Hopefully some of these comments were useful.

Black Swan

Thank you for such a detailed & considerate response. It seems that an Admin can make any decision, irrespective of any rules & act how they choose without explanation. Maybe they shouldn't be Moderators if they don't have the same accountability as "normal" Mods.

The biggest continuous complaint is the inequality/fairness of moderation. One user gets sanctioned whereas others seem totally immune. I used to agree with the Mods that it didn't happen but now I see examples of where it clearly does. If there is blatant inconsistency & it's the same few posters that are given free rein, then it makes a mockery of the rules, charters etc. It also suggests that a few posters have connections or circumstances that make them immune from sanction.

Your comments regarding PMs are also a concern. Boards makes a play of it's openness & fairness when it comes to moderation. It is pointless if some can act entirely via PM & therefore in secret & beyond scrutiny.