Let's discuss gullible moderators

[Hecz]

ah.... how do we know that guy didn't kill himself?

 

[RonJ]

ah.... how do we know that guy didn't kill himself?

We don't.

But a better question might be: Could the moderators have done anything to prevent it if this were a real suicide situation?

Probably not. But if our moderators were genuinely serious about their compassion, they would already have developed a protocol to follow for handling such a situation and would have implemented it.

I doubt that their chosen approach, which is still in the public record, could have been helpful, though Joe's post was probably most appropriate. However, sending the comment by PM rather than the public forum would have been better, in my opinion.

 

[Wreckless Hype]

Kitty's grand exit will surely be spoken about for time to come, even now we feed the troll. Thread probably didn't need to be left up, it instead turned into a Moderator playground while the OP painted the wall with his brains. I don't think there is going to be much in the ways of talking someone down off the ledge on the interwebs here. And if the only people you have left in the world to mention this genius plot to are online forum members, what do you really have left?

 

[XpL0d3r]

Post deletions can easily happen leaving no trace of the original content, especially in vbulletin. jus' sayin

True but....

Correct. The software allows for both hard and soft deletions. Hard deletion = gone.

The hard deletion option can be disabled for mods/global mods and retained by admins.

Greens cannot can't technically "delete" posts per say, just hide them from public view. Smods / Admins can, but we do not.

ah.... how do we know that guy didn't kill himself?

As of 11:39 est this morning, he was online. This only proves that no such thing happened before this time. Can't speak on his behalf after that time of course.

We don't.

But a better question might be: Could the moderators have done anything to prevent it if this were a real suicide situation?

Probably not. But if our moderators were genuinely serious about their compassion, they would already have developed a protocol to follow for handling such a situation and would have implemented it.

I doubt that their chosen approach, which is still in the public record, could have been helpful, though Joe's post was probably most appropriate. However, sending the comment by PM rather than the public forum would have been better, in my opinion.

A protocol? Like emergency procedures? You'd make a good shop foreman lol.

Really though, it's something that we've never experienced before, why would we have a protocol for it? You said yourself that there's a solid chance that no matter what we do, if this suicide situation were real, we wouldn't be able to do anything. However...

Kitty's grand exit will surely be spoken about for time to come, even now we feed the troll. Thread probably didn't need to be left up, it instead turned into a Moderator playground while the OP painted the wall with his brains. I don't think there is going to be much in the ways of talking someone down off the ledge on the interwebs here. And if the only people you have left in the world to mention this genius plot to are online forum members, what do you really have left?

... I will be the first to admit that leaving the thread up was wrong and that it could have been handled differently. The thread should have been deleted. It is now, and I apologize for the way it was handled.

 

[RonJ]

As of 11:39 est this morning, he was online. This only proves that no such thing happened before this time.

You'll find yourself stuck in a lot of blind alleys with this flawed logic^

I will be the first to admit that leaving the thread up was wrong and that it could have been handled differently. The thread should have been deleted. It is now, and I apologize for the way it was handled.

The truth will set you free. I have it quoted for posterity.

 

[joe7987]

If we banned every troll that came on the site, Ron, you would have been gone a long long time ago.

 

[RonJ]

If we banned every troll that came on the site, Ron, you would have been gone a long long time ago.

If you think I would be offended by this^ comment, I am not.

And you should actually read my posts in this thread. I was advocating for the opposite. Trolling can be good to forums. In my opinion, most trolls and trolling should be left alone, except in tech forums.

I only advocated banning kitty due to her extreme final suicide thread. Up until that point, it was fun for all.

Though I don't troll very often, when I do, it's restricted to the Off Topic forum, which in my opinion is an appropriate place for such activity.

Have ye never trolled Joe?

But if you and the crew deem it necessary to ban me, so be it. The action would certainly be a gift to Xplode.

 

[XpL0d3r]

If you think I would be offended by this^ comment, I am not.

And you should actually read my posts in this thread. I was advocating for the opposite. Trolling can be good to forums. In my opinion, most trolls and trolling should be left alone, except in tech forums.

I only advocated banning kitty due to her extreme final suicide thread. Up until that point, it was fun for all.

Though I don't troll very often, when I do, it's restricted to the Off Topic forum, which in my opinion is an appropriate place for such activity.

Have ye never trolled Joe?

But if you and the crew deem it necessary to ban me, so be it. The action would certainly be a gift to Xplode.

Except I would return that gift. You're one of the most if not THE most knowledgeable tech guy on the site. Banning you takes away that knowledge, thus taking away from the site. I know that most of your posts are positive and in good nature, whether OT or tech. You've submitted more site ideas than anyone else too, afaik.

Plus, banning you would kill moderator activity. I did find it funny that 9 out of 10 of the last visitors to your profile are or were at one point moderators

 

[lethal6]

Cary you spelt my name wrong. I'd go edit it myself, but Ronnie might create another thread about it if he found out.

In all seriousness though, even though we may not know the "proper" way to handle stuff such as a suicide note, does not me we should lock the thread and ignore it. On the very off change it's legit (it hasn't happened here, but it HAS happened on other forums), it's still better to reply in a serious manner.

Go google how to deal with a suicide threat online, and nowhere will you find "ignore it". It's a simple precaution. Nothing more, nothing less.

Sorry. Changed it to the correct spelling, I hope.

Reason I locked it and left it is because I knew that it was a trolling post. OP has been increasing in trolling activity and was looking for attention. Had it been a true thread and not some childish attempt at attention, I would have handled it differently. The fact that OP logged on this morning to check on the thread and see if any attention was given proves that it was a false thread. Problem is, 2 moderators that saw it and took it seriously had no clue what was going on last night and fell into the trap. In hind sight I should have deleted the thread and left it be so no trap would have been sprung, but I have been told that we want stuff locked instead of deleted so I left it. Damned if you do damned if you don't I guess.

(let me precede my comment below by saying that I think you are the only active moderator doing it right. You and you alone have the wherewithal to understand what tech forums are all about. I appreciate it.)

But if we step out of the tech forums into the realm of off topic, "trolling" is what's it's all about. If you lock, delete, edit all trolling posts, then this forum would be more of a ghost town than it already is.

I don't claim to have it all together and maybe it is a difference of moderating styles or site end goals but a lot of times it feels like I am the one doing it all wrong.

I will tell you that I have been moderating and admin on a couple different forums. 1 of them up unit this February when it shut down, I had been an admin since 2001 or so. I would still be hitting it hard if it hadn't shut down for some unknown reason (site was owned and run by a guy in Norway and he has gone silent since last August, the site shut down when the lease ran up in Feb.).

That being said, just because something is in off topic, doesn't mean that it is fair game. Doesn't work that way. Off topic just means that it is off the topic of all the other forum sections.

Again, we let a LOT slide. A LOT. Hell of a lot more than any other site I have moderated on. FFS we have a member here with more infractions than I have ever witnessed, yet he is still posting. Any other site would have booted someone after the set amount of parameters laid out in the rule section. That isn't to say if there was an infraction heavy mod (or staff) at that time, I couldn't tell you it was before my time.

Post deletions can easily happen leaving no trace of the original content, especially in vbulletin. jus' sayin

Yes, if they are hard deleted. That isn't our policy though and every thread has a log at the bottom for us moderators. None on the staff right now are rogue that I know of, so there would be documentation. Still need proof though...just sayin.

I can guarantee there is no conspiracy against you, but then again there is yet to be proof so I couldn't tell you if what you think is or isn't going on is true or not.

ah.... how do we know that guy didn't kill himself?

For the simple fact that he checked in this morning to see if there was any activity on the trolling suicide thread.

Only a matter of time until he posts in here. Or makes a fake account to post about it (as a friend or family member). Seen that happen before too. It's sick and it's sad, but people will do anything to carry the trolling through or to get attention they think they need.

 

[RonJ]

Except I would return that gift. You're one of the most if not THE most knowledgeable tech guy on the site. Banning you takes away that knowledge, thus taking away from the site. I know that most of your posts are positive and in good nature, whether OT or tech. You've submitted more site ideas than anyone else too, afaik.

Damn you Explode, now you've gone and deflated my whole diabolical plan.

Plus, banning you would kill moderator activity. I did find it funny that 9 out of 10 of the last visitors to your profile are or were at one point moderators

This^ brings me to a happy place.

 

[Hecz]

According to the Uban Dictionary, a place where i go to for when i want to get a good laugh, a troll is.


One who posts a deliberately provocative message to a newsgroup or message board with the intention of causing maximum disruption and argument

hahaha, ,Maximum...... That's funny.

:edit: there are several entries for the word Troll

2c. Noun
An old, unattractive gay man who hits on young men, and cannot seem to understand that they want nothing to do with him.

lol! I guess Joe is right, Ron is a troll

Troll
One of many unsung internet heroes who are almost entirely misunderstood. Contrary to popular belief, many trolls are actually quite intelligent. Their habitual attacks on forums is usually a result of their awareness of the pretentiousness and excessive self-importance of many forum enthusiasts. As much as people may hate trolls, they are highly effective - their actions bring much of the stupidity of other forum users out into the great wide open.
Man, that troll really owned those dumb forum users who take themselves too damn seriously.

LOL! i like that one.

 

[RonJ]

I guess you Joe is right, Ron is a troll

I guess this old gay man wouldn't be hitting on you given that you are clearly equipped with an old vagina.

 

[joe7987]

And nah, I don't really troll. I'm sure it'd be a lie to say I've never trolled, but it's not really my thing. I can appreciate a good trolling every now and then, though.

And we don't want to ban you. That's exactly my point!

 

[RonJ]

it'd be a lie to say I've never trolled...I can appreciate a good trolling every now and then, though.

Okay members, it's now documented here^ - even mods and admins troll. I can remember at least one of your well planned troll stings where I got caught in the spiderweb.

 

[joe7987]

Okay members, it's now documented here^ - even mods and admins troll. I can remember at least one of your well planned troll stings where I got caught in the spiderweb.

 

[OGstackadolla]

Mods are by far the biggest complaint I hear on other forums. I get along with most, if not all of them now, but it's really uptight over here

 

[lethal6]

Mods are by far the biggest complaint I hear on other forums. I get along with most, if not all of them now, but it's really uptight over here

Hahaha. Uptight? You OGs in here want to tell him about the days of biz and his crew. Never saw a bunch so quick to put out infractions.

Of the few mod staffs I have been on, this is by far the most lenient.

 

[RonJ]

...but it's really uptight over here

Maybe you should be more specific.

 

[RonJ]

Of the few mod staffs I have been on, this is by far the most lenient.

I do think, however, that Xplode could ratchet back the post edits in Off Topic areas of the forum, including the Shoutbox.

You frequently edit tech forum posts, but from what I can tell, those edits invariably benefit the poster.

 

[Bhikku]

yeah the shoutbox edits are really annoying