Sometimes the best thing to do is shut up.
The knowledge comes from reading the off-site snarking board where the matter was discussed prior to his posting. (Yeah, yeah. It might have been pure coincidence that he posted exactly the same information within hours of it being displayed on that board although the trigger happened two days prior. And the sun might rise in the West tomorrow.)
The issue is not “how he could have posted” the information, but that he posted the information when we have a long-standing rule that questions about trolls and bannings and related issues should be taken up in private with the staff via e-mail.
We (the staff) clearly missed this one. Having it brought to our attention was appropriate. Making a public display calling for the banning of a poster was not appropriate.
This brings up an interesting point. It’s now been pointed out that at least some of the staff reads the off-site board. No problem there. Would the banning have happened based on the info from there if CarnalK handn’t have made his post or would you have had to get an email from someone?
Haj
Or how about if I actually posted anonymously over there? Seems for all the talk of “cowardly anons” you’re quite happy to go for the easier target. Fucking hypocritical, ISTM. I posted that info here in good faith. I did broadside Veb, just out of Pit attitude. But I didn’t make any accusations, she took care of that herself.
What precisiely did I post at anonpitmod that makes you so sure of my evil intents? This doesn’t have to do with my merely participating in a forum you dislike or that my website documents things you want swept under the rug?
It all depends on the situation. Had we come across the information from reading another board, it certainly would have been discussed, researched and weighed based on various factors. In this particular instance, I can’t see how the outcome of Desmostylus’ posting status would have differed.
Our job, however, isn’t to read the anonymous boards, so if–amongst the phantom complaints and the relentless character assassinations so prevalent there–someone posts something worthy, it’d be very easy to miss. Your best bet (and the appropriate action) is to send an e-mail to a moderator outlining your concerns. (Not that you suggested otherwise, hajario.)
Apparently, y’all’s only problem with what CarnalK did is that he posted publicly when y’all feel it should have been taken to e-mail. If that’s so, why did SkipMagic even mention the “gathering of malcontents?” It sounded like he wanted to stop people from posting information they get from there. Y’all can’t regulate where we get our information.
Or can you? It’s already been de facto ruled that we can’t post information gotten from ex-members. Why not rule that we can’t post information gotten from a snark board?
This board is getting ridiculous.
Oh for “Bob” sake!
- He posted something on the boards that should only be done in email. We don’t accuse people of being trolls here, we don’t hold conclaves to discuss if they should be banned or not and we sure as hell don’t turn the banning process into a circus. A warning was justified for this and this alone, though IANAM and this is just MHO, yadda yadda yadda. .
- This was a tiny step up from trolling. CarnalK goes to another board where collected Doper foibles are found and trotted out and finds that, lo and behold, Desmo had some warnings and might’ve been kept around too long. Does he alert the mods, the admins? No, his first step is to immediately stir up shit in a public forum. See, the snark boards exist only to stir up shit. If you take the fruit of their actions back with you to the Dope, you deserve a good kick in the ass and a warning.
- You anon-slugs will need to wait a while to hop up on the cross, I think that some resident SDMB christians, conservatives, liberals, smokers, non-smokers, animal rights activists, cat eaters, and of course God Smashers are still using it. You can be oppressed later my little angels.
Look FinnAgain, go fuck yourself. I did nothing remotely like trolling. I pointed out a moderator’s mistake, in a Pit thread about moderator bias. I guess the Staff and board’s image of perfection is chipped. So what? I’m the forgiving kind.
Mmm hmmm.
Which is why instead of keeping it private in email, you made it a board wide matter and attempted to get other people involved in talking about whether or not Desmo should be banned. Naw, you weren’t trying to stir up shit at all. Totally unforseen consequence.
Do I have to spell it out for you? This thread is about percieved moderator bias, what I posted directly related to something that might give rise to that perception. I didn’t post here to cause shit, merely despite it.
I’m more “light of day” guy for problems, not quiet backroom discussions. I’m afraid it’s a difference in philosophy we have.
Oy vey.
The poor, put upon snarker just giving out helpful information. Why oh why are they so mean to you?
Ah go suck a mod.
Do I get to choose which one? I’ve heard that Giraffe is just a love 'em and leave 'em type of mod, and that Veb cracks a mighty arbitrary whip… are you sure I can’t just talk with a mod and still be friends?
You don’t stand a chance with Giraffe anyway – he’s already got a girlfriend.
~sniffles~
Curses, foiled again!
You are SO 1930! Mail fraud is where the REAL money is.
Gee, Skip, it seems to me that his information was 100% accurate, and all of it available from these very boards. Was it me running a board like this, I’d be more concerned with doing the right thing rather than attacking the messenger because he embarrassed me by pointing out that I wasn’t doing my job properly. I suppose the thrill of executing the little boy who pointed out that the king wasn’t wearing any clothing is more important than putting on a pair of pants so that your dingle doesn’t waggle in the wind.
Dave, they corrected the problem.
In any case, it’s not our place as posters to discuss if another poster should be banned. It’s also not our place as posters to be privy to whatever deals and agreements have been reached by posters and mods in regard to continued posting on the Dope. There is no reason that his points couldn’t have been made in email, and a few reasons why they shouldn’t have been made on the Dope.
Personally, I suspect that it’s some of the anon sludge-mentality that caused this…That is, this served as a “Gotcha!”
I for one am not eager to see the reulting community if we allowed snarkers to continually pit posters against mods and stir shit up. I mean, really, do you want someone digging up every time you’ve been warned and starting a thread titled Weirddave, why hasn’t he been banned yet?
I’m sorry to see that you missed the posts where we explicitly said the information given wasn’t the problem, Weirddave. And embarrasment? It’s a busy message board we’re on, not an instance of showing up for class in our underwear. That we missed something only shows we’re human–I’m not sure why you’d expect us to be embarrassed by that, especially when it was taken care of. The correct thing was done in both instances where Desmostylus was banned and CarnalK was warned.
When you get a chance, make sure to read post #122 in this thread. tomndebb also addresses the content of your post.
Granted, it would be pretty poor policy to react to everything said by a crowd of mostly malcontents on another site, and personally I have no real love for the communities in question, seeing as how every time my name gets mentioned over there someone insists on making scurrilous accusations against me that are completely untrue, but it seems to me that if you find a gold nugget in a pile of shit, the correct response is not to throw out the nugget because of where it came from. I think Skip’s response is driven by the fact that a whole group of unaccountable gossips is now beating their chest and screeching about how right they were, and he’s indirectly responding to that. Personally, I say let them yell. IMHO the correct response would have been to say “Thank you for bringing this to our attention, looks like we screwed up and missed this one”, and then to have taken the appropriate action and left it at that. Just because monkeys are howling at you doesn’t mean you have to yell back or acknowledge their disturbing antics. Say thanks, do what needs to be done, and walk away. Simple and classy, with the added bonus of not contributing to the cacophony of white noise.