God, I'm turning into HeroicFool, but there is something about a train wreck that I just can't resist. Besides, I can't discuss the guidelines, I might as well do something productive.
OK, so it's not productive... spoil sports
Well, let's get started...
First off, thanks to
Kosh for getting it. We may not always agree and we give each other a wide berth most of the time, but I thank you for just getting the real issue.
Topaz said:
She wasn't banned, she was warned. It was the three warning in a row that had her banned. I understand what you were saying (and her argument as well, and what happened was not right) but Cait might have been able to avoid this if she had PMed the mods, IMO, which according to the guidelines is not warnable. She had also stated repeatedly that she knew she was getting banned for her actions, yet did them anyway.
Topaz, I did discuss it with an Admin
[LoP] in an msn chat. I also discussed it with
Appreciate in another msn chat when we were trying to solve a personal upset.
But, that's not the half of it, there are no less than 8 staff/former staff members on
Shal's friend's list, and at least two of them mentioned to me that they had seen it. ALL of these people [and my apologies to my best friend, I'm not angry with you for this, just making a point] condoned Shal's behavior by their inaction.
I don't know if
Corwin himself is on her friend's lost, but he is Shal's roommate, I'd assume he had the information--making it maybe 10 staff members who might have known about the entries, 3 I am sure knew. [and of course Shal herself, because she made the entries.] And of course that doesn't count the regular members who are also on her Friend's list and might have seen it.
In any event I did tell Staff a long time ago. I never heard about it again, and in the interim there were additional posts that flamed
G by name, and made snarky remarks about posters without mentioning names, but any regular there would know who the remarks referenced.
Staff knew. So I did follow the rules. [for all the good it did me]
I stated that I would receive the warning and that it would trigger a ban. I said that not because I felt I deserved it, but because I saw the irony that I would be warned [suspended] for bringing the issue to the board, while Shal, who is the real wrong-doer, will get off scott free. There's an irony there, especially if you are a former SS'er. Members get warned for outing misconduct by staff.. wow deja vu!
And by that reasoning, should people that insult other people on other boards be warned *here*? It's a really slippery slope IMO. People who hate a particular mod, for example, might be tempted to hunt throughout the Internet for any information that might discredit them, for example TK off the top of my head. All in all, it is also my opinion that people should take others at face value here.
And so we should just allow this? I remember the battle over this issue when Ro did it. All of the reasoning then is applicable now. People might scour the Internet to find remarks. So what? If a member has the time and the inclination AND can find a remark a mod made about someone on EI, then more power to them. We shouldn't just turn a blind eye and do nothing when we stumble upon something. And I did stumble upon it. I opened my friends list and there it was, first item. I hadn't even had my coffee yet.
Something like this instills anger into the board and the community. It's a ticking time bomb waiting to go off. And you all wonder why there is so much criticism of staff? You wonder? Or in my case this particular moderator. I should just ignore it and repeat after the EI zombies "I trust the staff. They can do no wrong". I don't think so. Not when I can see how this particular one conducts herself on a *regular* basis.
There is a world of difference between members insulting each other on other bards and a moderator taking pot shots in her journal where only a select few will be likely to see it. There is an even bigger difference when it comes to being an EI moderator. The very reason we have WD's is to protect members from moderator abuses like this. Shal just found another venue to kick back with her friends and insult members.
She also had the protection of the "bring nothing from other boards" to insulate her. Notice when I did, I got a warning. Nothing like shooting the messenger.
But let's take a look at this rule as it applies to This warning. Did I really bring non-EI conflicts to EI? I don't think so.
Her remarks were certainly located off site, but the comments were as a moderator and they were about me as a member at EI. How is that a lj issue? It's an EI issue. The fact that it was off site is immaterial in this case. She was being specific, and it was about our interaction on EI.
It wasn't about how we interact at TK. It wasn't how we interact on live journal. If it were, I probably would accept that the rule was applicable. But it isn't.
So next time guys, I won't bother with letting staff know they have a moderator flaming members publicly. I won't bother letting members know. I'll just let you crash and burn just like SS, while I say "I told you so."