An Open Letter- Page 2

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 9/21/06 at 12:00am

Aha!! I've figured it out. Papa is the secret mod!

Everything has become clear now.

[Chanticleer148]

Posted: 9/21/06 at 12:03am

Someone needed to do the job.

[Craig]

Posted: 9/21/06 at 12:04am

Well said Papa.

Of course, the ironic (for lack of better word) is - that when a post is deleted, no one here (non-mods) can determine who deleted a post. So even if our volunteer moderators were "out" - it wouldn't make a difference. Like Papa said - it would just mean they were the "face" to launch attacks and criticisms at. But the thing is - it would be unfounded, because posters here wouldn't know what and if who they are pointing their fingers at is even accurate.

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 9/21/06 at 12:07am

Can moderators read your PMs or your passwords?

Can they see your "settings" page which has your password?

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 9/21/06 at 12:11am

mmmmm, i love it when she wears the "big girl" panties.

c'mon, you knew it was coming when you typed it.

[Craig]

Posted: 9/21/06 at 12:12am

No, moderators do not have access to passwords, PMs, etc.

Rest assured, your information is private!

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 9/21/06 at 12:13am

And I will now take this opportunity to petition Craig to:

A. ban Papa as he royally cramps my posting style

and

B. unlock the meltdown thread so those of us not involved in ensuing meltdowns can comment on the hilarity unfolding.

[StageManager2]

Posted: 9/21/06 at 12:13am

Come on, nom! What do you think this is, Big Brother*?

*1984 reference, not the show

Updated On: 9/21/06 at 12:13 AM

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 9/21/06 at 12:15am

you know what the best cure for cramps is, right, colleen?

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 9/21/06 at 12:15am

^

all the evidence you need.

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 9/21/06 at 12:16am

Thank you, Craig & Rob.

And everyone else who volunteers to run this site.

I'm really happy we can talk about Off Broadway and Theatre in general on the Main Board. It's much more fun that if it was just a place where people dumped advertising to hype shows.

[wonderwaiter]

Posted: 9/21/06 at 12:26am

The moderators who use the moderator screen name post in the simplest way to make the point crystal clear.

Okay, I don't want to sound disrepectful when I say this, but my original point was that the people using the moderator screen name were terse at best in their explanations. Obviously, in certain threads that's not an issue because they were just begging to be deleted from the get-go, but there have been more than a few threads that have seemed perfectly innocent which have gotten deleted with no explanation. And at least a couple of times when that has been questioned, the person using the moderator screen name has come back to say "We reserve the right to remove post for many varied reasons."

I understand that we can always PM someone to find out why our thread was deleted, but in the more innocuous cases I think an explanation from the moderator would go far further in helping everyone to understand the subtleties of appropriate posting. In those cases, I feel like the simplest possible explanations don't make it crystal clear. They only create the kind of misunderstandings that lead to vitriol against "moderator" (as we've seen played out here tonight.) A simple explanation of why THAT INDIVIDUAL thread was getting deleted would reduce the amount of similar threads and add to the general knowlege of posters, as well as cutting down on the "Why was my thread deleted?" posts.

It just seems like a simple sentence at certain points could reduce a whole lot of BS later down the road.

(Before posting, I refreshed the page to see what had been posted while I was typing. Many great points were made, but the main question still stands - wouldn't it be better to educate posters on a by-case example? Rather that letting animosity grow like this? Strictly meant on a thread-by-thread basis.)

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 9/21/06 at 12:33am

If the thread doesn't have anything really nasty or obscene in it and it's getting stopped for some other reason, it would be nice if you would just lock the thread and leave it there to pass into oblivion eventually.

Otherwise it's weird to go looking for a thread and not be able to find it. You think it's your eyes or on another board, it's confusing. Plus sometimes it was cute and funny and it would be nice to still be able to see it.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 9/21/06 at 1:19am

well said papa

zone, I would hate to see you not here.......

I would love for you to learn the use of paragraphs....as that was too strung together for me to read the whole thing.

[ZONEACE]

Posted: 9/21/06 at 2:00am

Well, it is certainly nice to see this thread still here.

As I have said, I understand this is Rob and Craig's world and we are just in it.

I also understand that the various moderators are volunteers. My suggestion would be, why not allow people to volunteer, and then make it a publically known thing that they are moderators (like how under craig's name it says Multimedia Editor). I'm sure if you opened up to volunteers you would get a fair number of respected and responsible members that would answer the call. I'm after today (in the eyes of those in charge) I am neither a respected and responsible member, but if I were, i would be one of the first to volunteer. That way there is some accountability for their actions.

As several people have said already, many times the nameless Moderator gives no reason for disappearing innocculous threads. That is not the hallmark of good leadership. It is instead, as I have expressed multiple times, that it is the hallmark of an abuse of power. This is in no way a condemnation of Craig or Rob, because, as many others have made clear, they both do a great job.

That's all, I have made my peace, I'm long since passed my anger and frustration.

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 9/21/06 at 8:12am

The solution to all of our problems is simple. The anonymous Mods could be distracted for some time by simply diverting their attention to the problem of removing JerseyGirl's freeloading foreigner.

[Chanticleer148]

Posted: 9/21/06 at 9:40am

This is great. Keep it going.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 9/21/06 at 11:45am

Chanticleer, The Teacher, wrote, "And who says that there are any standards at all?"

The irony screams so loudly it makes the ears ring.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 9/21/06 at 11:51am

that's because you were up late playing with the monkey.

[Chanticleer148]

Posted: 9/21/06 at 1:03pm

"playing with the monkey" sounds like her standard for excellence.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 9/21/06 at 1:07pm

Oh, after reading that, I'm going to channel Chanticleer and for the first time EVER I'm going to hit the "report abuse" button because of his complete inappropriateness.

I understand Chanti thinks he gets a frequent flier mile every time he hits it and thinks he's halfway to a trip around the world right now.

[Chanticleer148]

Posted: 9/21/06 at 1:12pm

You thought he was here?

She's offended by the imposter...

Bombshell, baby.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 9/21/06 at 2:03pm

Oh my, somebody hacked into Chanticleer's account? Oh no. I bet that means it has to be deleted.

[RobbO]

Posted: 9/21/06 at 2:14pm

if that's the case...for the love of paypal, can someone please hack into erikaamato's account?

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 9/21/06 at 2:22pm

Oh, Namo, without my glasses, I saw "Chianti" instead of "Chanti." Please be careful with your use of diminutives!