Moderator actions

[Jdsk]

There's just been a deletion of a large series of posts and there's a related request to lock another thread:
viewtopic.php?p=1870207#p1870207
viewtopic.php?p=1870186#p1870186

The issues involved seem to include publicising bad things that some people do while riding bikes and derailment of existing threads. I'm also concerned about the lack of courtesy towards a new participant.

The discussion might well move on to whether moderators should act under a different user ID.

Please could we have some of the thinking behind the deletions.

Thankyou, and thanks for all of the work done by Moderators.

Jonathan (I've reported this post)

The forum guidelines:
viewtopic.php?t=3661

[Vorpal]

Corpulent_Porpoise deleted all of their recent posts on the thread and the replies and quoted material no longer made sense.

I consequently removed all of the content.

[Jdsk]

Thankyou

Jonathan

[Carlton green]

I find myself agreeing with JDSK

To my mind it’s a great pity that someone felt the need to throw their teddy out of the pram … a poor reflection on this normally good place. Moderators are sometimes between a rock and a hard place and ‘stuff’ happens. I’ve every confidence that Vorpal will have some wise thoughts on what’s occurred.

[Corpulent_Porpoise]

I deleted my posts in the hope of restoring some harmony to the thread. It had never been my intention to derail it and I had accepted the consensus of my fellow forum users who didn't agree with my suggestion. That's fine, I have absolutely no issue with that.... My back was put up though by a moderator who appeared to want to prolong the debate I had indicated I wished to withdraw from. I sent him/her a DM explaining my position and added some family history where one of my siblings was hit by a lorry driver (I don't want to go into details publicly) and left with life-changing injuries. The DM was ignored and the mod instead chose to keep the derailment going publicly and, IMO, in a vaguely confrontational manner. I responded to their last post and they deleted it. As far as I'm concerned, that means they were posting in their capacity as a mod, not a general forum member (one of you correctly pointed out the difference, which I acknowledged).

I don't do 'flouncing' and silliness in public so I sent a polite but strongly worded DM. That was also ignored.

I've cycled all my life, though have had a long hiatus due to injury. I've kept abreast of news though and am increasingly concerned about draconian legislation that is heading our way for sure. That is one of the reasons I joined this forum and was going to become a paid-up member of an organisation that I've always believed represents our interests pretty well.

I have no doubt the mods do a good job, and probably a fairly thankless one at times. However, the behaviour of one of them I believe was shoddy and, since my DMs were ignored and the mods represent Cycling UK, I've decided to renew my membership of BC instead. I've decided to withdraw from the forum too - no need for 'airport' comments, this isn't a flounce, I just believe that this isn't the forum for me!

Happy pedalling to all of you

Corpulent Porpoise

[PH]

I didn't follow the thread in question, but even so I think we have to leave the moderators to it. I don't always agree with their decisions, I sometimes feel the action taken was predictable earlier, I also think they sometimes act too soon and other times are inconsistent. That's how moderating is, either you have a long list of hard and fast rules which are acted upon (There's probably an app for that), or you have guidelines and accept there's some variation in the outcomes.
There are times when it's unclear if a moderator is speaking with a participant hat or a moderator hat on, be better if that were clearer, but it's no biggie.

[Jdsk]

I deleted my posts in the hope of restoring some harmony to the thread. It had never been my intention to derail it and I had accepted the consensus of my fellow forum users who didn't agree with my suggestion. That's fine, I have absolutely no issue with that.... My back was put up though by a moderator who appeared to want to prolong the debate I had indicated I wished to withdraw from. I sent him/her a DM explaining my position and added some family history where one of my siblings was hit by a lorry driver (I don't want to go into details publicly) and left with life-changing injuries. The DM was ignored and the mod instead chose to keep the derailment going publicly and, IMO, in a vaguely confrontational manner. I responded to their last post and they deleted it. As far as I'm concerned, that means they were posting in their capacity as a mod, not a general forum member (one of you correctly pointed out the difference, which I acknowledged).

I don't do 'flouncing' and silliness in public so I sent a polite but strongly worded DM. That was also ignored.

I've cycled all my life, though have had a long hiatus due to injury. I've kept abreast of news though and am increasingly concerned about draconian legislation that is heading our way for sure. That is one of the reasons I joined this forum and was going to become a paid-up member of an organisation that I've always believed represents our interests pretty well.

I have no doubt the mods do a good job, and probably a fairly thankless one at times. However, the behaviour of one of them I believe was shoddy and, since my DMs were ignored and the mods represent Cycling UK, I've decided to renew my membership of BC instead. I've decided to withdraw from the forum too - no need for 'airport' comments, this isn't a flounce, I just believe that this isn't the forum for me!

Happy pedalling to all of you

Corpulent Porpoise

Thanks for posting this.

Could we persuade you to stay and give us and Cycling UK a second chance?

And happy pedalling to you, whichever way you choose.

Jonathan

[Carlton green]

I deleted my posts in the hope of restoring some harmony to the thread. It had never been my intention to derail it and I had accepted the consensus of my fellow forum users who didn't agree with my suggestion. That's fine, I have absolutely no issue with that.... My back was put up though by a moderator who appeared to want to prolong the debate I had indicated I wished to withdraw from. I sent him/her a DM explaining my position and added some family history where one of my siblings was hit by a lorry driver (I don't want to go into details publicly) and left with life-changing injuries. The DM was ignored and the mod instead chose to keep the derailment going publicly and, IMO, in a vaguely confrontational manner. I responded to their last post and they deleted it. As far as I'm concerned, that means they were posting in their capacity as a mod, not a general forum member (one of you correctly pointed out the difference, which I acknowledged).

I don't do 'flouncing' and silliness in public so I sent a polite but strongly worded DM. That was also ignored.

I've cycled all my life, though have had a long hiatus due to injury. I've kept abreast of news though and am increasingly concerned about draconian legislation that is heading our way for sure. That is one of the reasons I joined this forum and was going to become a paid-up member of an organisation that I've always believed represents our interests pretty well.

I have no doubt the mods do a good job, and probably a fairly thankless one at times. However, the behaviour of one of them I believe was shoddy and, since my DMs were ignored and the mods represent Cycling UK, I've decided to renew my membership of BC instead. I've decided to withdraw from the forum too - no need for 'airport' comments, this isn't a flounce, I just believe that this isn't the forum for me!

Happy pedalling to all of you

Corpulent Porpoise

Thanks for this (^). If you feel that you’ve been treated unfairly then I suggest, that in this case, a PM to Vorpol (with details) would be appropriate. I had been following the later part of the thread and did wonder whether people were being reasonable towards you. IMHO the best resolution to all of this would be restoration of what is lost - which might not be possible - and the moderation team looking at what has happened. Vorpol can decide whether someone has overstepped the mark or got a bit too near to it … and then everyone can reflect on and learn from what’s happened.

[Psamathe]

I deleted my posts in the hope of restoring some harmony to the thread. It had never been my intention to derail it and I had accepted the consensus of my fellow forum users who didn't agree with my suggestion. That's fine, I have absolutely no issue with that.... My back was put up though by a moderator who appeared to want to prolong the debate I had indicated I wished to withdraw from. I sent him/her a DM explaining my position and added some family history where one of my siblings was hit by a lorry driver (I don't want to go into details publicly) and left with life-changing injuries. The DM was ignored and the mod instead chose to keep the derailment going publicly and, IMO, in a vaguely confrontational manner. I responded to their last post and they deleted it. As far as I'm concerned, that means they were posting in their capacity as a mod, not a general forum member (one of you correctly pointed out the difference, which I acknowledged).

I don't do 'flouncing' and silliness in public so I sent a polite but strongly worded DM. That was also ignored.

I've cycled all my life, though have had a long hiatus due to injury. I've kept abreast of news though and am increasingly concerned about draconian legislation that is heading our way for sure. That is one of the reasons I joined this forum and was going to become a paid-up member of an organisation that I've always believed represents our interests pretty well.

I have no doubt the mods do a good job, and probably a fairly thankless one at times. However, the behaviour of one of them I believe was shoddy and, since my DMs were ignored and the mods represent Cycling UK, I've decided to renew my membership of BC instead. I've decided to withdraw from the forum too - no need for 'airport' comments, this isn't a flounce, I just believe that this isn't the forum for me!

Happy pedalling to all of you :)

Corpulent Porpoise

Thanks for posting this.

Could we persuade you to stay and give us and Cycling UK a second chance?

And happy pedalling to you, whichever way you choose.

Jonathan

This poster has also deleted posts and thread title from other unrelated uncontroversial threads - toys out of pram. Pity some people are like that but is such behaviour really an asset to the forum?
Ian

[Carlton green]

This poster has also deleted posts and thread title from other unrelated uncontroversial threads - toys out of pram. Pity some people are like that but is such behaviour really an asset to the forum?
Ian

We don’t know what goes through the heads of others.

As for the mods we can but be thankful for the efforts that they put in.

[Cyclothesist]

I found this thread almost accidentally. I mostly hover around the technical and health related sub-fora. I replied to CP's thread on the Fizik saddle as it's one I have personal experience of. I was very surprised and somewhat bemused to find CP had subsequently deleted all of their posts except for a 'D' and changed the thread title to 'Deleted' without explanation. It meant the thread had lost the thread . I reported it with a reasoned explanation and just got an automated response from Vorpal saying the report was dismissed. No explanation or a link to here. TBH I thought that a little rude from a moderator, but moderation isn't easy and we all have bad days.

At least now I can see what's happened. It's easy to make a dignified point and leave. That's not what happened.

There are plenty of opportunities on-line to post clips of people doing stupid dangerous things with motorised vehicles and bicycles. They end up as a cesspit of hate, confrontation and spite. A quick look on Xwitter or Youtube will confirm. Careful moderation is needed to prevent that happening on this forum. I support a policy of not allowing such threads.
Thanks to Jdsk for this thread and his thoughtful insights on the matter.

[Sum]

C_P has said that they don't like flouncing hence their 'exit' went without explanation. However, in response to this thread of Jdsk's, C_P has offered a reasoned explanation for their leaving, even if I don't entirely understand it. Whilst they didn't explain why they deleted their posts, the simplest explanation is that it is simply a means of removing themselves from the forum, noting that it is not obvious how to delete one's account and they didn't have many posts.

It doesn't look like they're throwing neither teddy nor toys out of the pram, nor behaving in an undignified manner. I don't think it is helpful to make accusations suggesting otherwise.

[Bonefishblues]

Presses non-existent 'like' button

[sjs]

Presses non-existent 'like' button

Me too.

[Corpulent_Porpoise]

[/quote]
This poster has also deleted posts and thread title from other unrelated uncontroversial threads - toys out of pram. Pity some people are like that but is such behaviour really an asset to the forum?
Ian
[/quote]

Hello Ian,

Your post really made me chuckle. I've had a tough day and so reading your pious assumption over a glass of wine really helped me unwind, thanks.

I'd only been on the forum a week or so and my virtual 'footprint' was small. It seemed to make sense to delete all my content for two reasons:
* It reduces my online history a little (and I'm slightly paranoid about internet safety)
* If someone had replied to one of my other threads (especially the one offering a complete bike FOC) they wouldn't have received a reply and I didn't want to appear rude.

To my thinking it made sense to just put 'deleted' and leave it at that. Any further explanation would have made it seem (to me at least) as if I was going around saying goodbye and inviting comment - and that definitely would have been 'flouncing' in my book! I only replied in detail on this thread as Jonathan was kind enough to show some polite interest and concern.

I've now finished clearing my history and profile details so am almost done. No toys out of any prams. No flouncing out with tears coursing down my cheeks. No flames of anger pouring from my mouth and ears..... I'm just decided that the behaviour of one mod means I don't wish to become a member or use the forum. Nothing more or less.

Toodle-pip