RE: Mod Abuse, A Fresh Start. Options

[Defgeph]

Good evening everyone,

Every 6 months or so we get complaints about how we (The Moderators) moderate this website. Every time this issue is brought up it ends up a 10- 15 page screaming match followed by the topic being closed. I figured this would be the perfect time to start a new topic to change the tone of the previous thread. It ended with a hail storm of pointless comments. I did not want to jump right back into that part of the conversation.

That being said, this is now my topic. I am setting the mood of conversation and I expect it to carry on this way from start to end. If you cannot express you opinions in a mature/adult manner, your opinions are not wanted in this thread. Post will be removed from this thread, members will be warned.

On to the topic.

I read the OP's complaints about the moderating staff for this website. I think its great that people voice their opinions, more members should do it. We cannot learn or grow as a community if nobody raises an issue. We also cannot complain about so said problems without understanding how the management of this website works. Bringing up issues with out throughly thinking about them is waisting everyone's time.

So let's go over a few of these issues:

• Issue One: A recent For Sale thread was brought up in the discussion. A seemingly innocent thread to everyone. A guy wants to sell some lights, whats the problem ? Other members sell lights left and right, as they should. Everyone should have the opportunity. to sell 6th generation related items on this website.
  
  The main issue with this thread was, the member signed up that day and immediately started a For Sale thread. In our book thats not acceptable. There have been many instances that members have been scammed, ripped off, taken advantage of. This is unacceptable with the moderating team. So we take certain precautions to make sure that this doesn't happen. Like making sure we have reputable sellers on this website. We have rules that we follow that are not for the public to see.
  
  The reason for with holding some of the rules, is so scammers don't catch on to them.
  
  Below is a link to issue one
  HID For Sale Thread
  
  
• Issue Two: Another for sale thread has been brought up in this conversation. A member is thinking about selling his car. But its obvious to the people that know him that he is not thinking clearly. So other members that know him personally turn him in the right direction, to keep his car. Presure2 knows this member on a personal level. so he closed the thread. After the fact presure2 spoke with Daftboy on the phone and cleared his head right up.
  
  If this was such a big issue don't you think Daftboy would have made a complaint ? He was overwhelmed by the fact that all of his colleagues rushed to tell him he was making a mistake. Believe me I know, I wanted to sell my car at one point as well. I got kick in the ass for it, I moved on
  
  
  My question is why do you feel that it is your place to question something as insignificant as this issue ? Its not your place. It was something that involved Presure2 & Daftboy, they resolved the issue and moved on. Please do not involve yourself in other member's matters.
  
  A link to Issue Two below
  For Sale thread about a car
  
  
• Issue Three: The third issue to be brought up was topic closure, and or "smart comments", or "getting in the last word" before the close. I have some news for you we are moderators, our job is to close threads. Now, before you get all hot and bothered and hit the reply button, read what I type. Presure2 & myself have been moderating this website for a few years now. Let me emphasize the word YEARS. We have been doing this under the watchful eye of Coomer. We do not, I repeat do not get paid for this. Yep, we volunteer. In the beginning of our moderating tenure, we would remove pointless posts, warn members, let threads carry on into a flame war. This brings me lets say a year back, when we (the moderating team) were brought up because we would warn people that would cross the line. Members would complain about warnings, cry foul play. When in reality it was the people constantly disrupting the website that were complaining. So, we started to warn people less, members still were issued warning but not as frequent. After a more relaxed approach by the moderating staff, more pointless conversations spilled over from Off Topic into the other sections. This was not going to fly with us.
  
  So we started cleaning threads and trying to continue with the discussion. After going into the same thread 5 or 6 times deleting posts it gets old fast. Whats the next best thing ? Lock the thread. Nobody gets a warning that they will complain about and maybe they'll think about why the thread was locked, and try to be more mature the next time around. In the begining we gave detailed reasons for thread closings. They would always fall on deaf ears. So we stopped. Or sometimes our own frustration make it out in to the last post. This thankless job ain't easy, but we have excellent help from the members that use the "report a post button". I am happy every time you guys use this button.
  
  
• In closing:
  The moderators are die hard Celica enthusiasts, we don't like to see this place become a clubhouse. We would like to keep this the number one 6th Generation Celica resource on the internet. It has been that way because of our senor members and a strong managment team. We have a huge data base of knowledge, Highly experienced members, a online community that does not exsist on any other website. If we allow bickering or pointless posts to make their way into the main forum, we are not doing our job.

Remember, we are all here to share our experiences and love for a certain vehicle. It is this car that brings us all together. We would like to keep it that way.

If you'd like to have conversations that do not include the 6th gen, or want somewhere to goof off. Try AOL Instant Messenger, or Myspace. Goofing off will not be tolerated on this website any longer. We will be warning members again, we will continue to close threads. Please give Off Topic a break.


Thank you for reading my very long post. Remember, This is now my thread if you cannot act in a mature manner I don't want you in this thread. This goes for everyone. Now, if you have something you would like to add please feel free to do so.

Good evening,
DEF

[MaskedMan]

Just as lagos said, I too was disappointed to see some of the "stfu and gtfo" posts. I have been a member here for quite a long time now. Long enough to know that the main attraction to this site is not the information, but the kindness to new members. What I witnessed last night was a complete disregard to the feelings and opinions of new members.

I fully understand that the moderating team has been volunteering here for several years. Great appreciation for that. Closing threads and protecting the members of 6gc.net is your job. Just as writing tickets and protecting citizens are the duties of a police officer. There is no real nice way to do it, but some things must be done I understand. But as an authority figure, you should know that our members do look up to you. So rude comments before closing threads are unnecessary. Our members do learn from you and will only respond in such a way. Set a good example for our members and our members will become respectful. Years of being here is in no way an excuse for being disrespectful.

Threads like these come up every 6 months for a reason. And it is quite obviously as to why. People speak, and no one is heard. People speak, and once again, no one is heard. It seemed like the mentality of last night was "we are the way we are, we will not change". But isn't it the thoughts that has gotten the site to where it is today? Shouldn't we be constantly changing to meet the needs of our members? Remember way back when. Before we had the buyer reputation system, before we had the multimedia section, before we had high resolution photos as an option. What if we had just brushed those ideas off and told them to go to some other site which offers those things?

We need to hear the voices of new members. New or not, we are all humans, with ideas, with opinions. And they should be heard. We are all Celica enthusiasts yes. But we are so much more than just that. For each Celica, there is a driver, a person. We should always remember that.