Here comes the new boss, same as the old boss - 2

What exactly has happened to the moderation here in the Ubuntu forum? A thread with a title similar to this was started questioning what the OP of that thread considered excessive action on the part of moderators who had closed a couple of his threads.

That poster, in the course of his discussion, used a term referring to WWII police. That reference notwithstanding, the thread had developed into, what I believe, was an evenhanded weighing of the issues pro an con for closing threads.

In comes a moderator who takes personal exception to the use of that single WWII reference, pronounces his/her disgust, and promptly closes the thread.

Is this moderator following that poster around the forum, or was that moderator having a bad day? There are other means of pointing out inappropriate language (if you can call the poster's language inappropriate) other than shutting off the healthy exchange that ensued.

Is the use of that term so much more offensive than all of the disguised use of curse words that goes unchallenged on the forum? Does the language in question violate forum guidelines, or, have all moderators been empowered to wield their thread-closing powers to impose their own arbitrary language standards upon any thread they happen to review?

Why is it ok to curse (by masking the words with one or more *'s), but a reference to a historical reality is met by a moderator who abruptly closes the thread?

. . . Or, was this action taken because the community has become so thin-skinned that it cannot tolerate criticism from fellow forum participants, even when that criticism occurs in the context of a thread that examines and makes defense for both sides of the issue?

The balance of the "offending" poster's words were not pointed in any nationalistic or ethnocentric direction.

My family includes members from both sides of that terrible WWII conflict, so my sensitivities are not immune to bruising from reminders of that terrible time in world history, and, while my personal feelings to not refute or justify those of the moderator, there are other ways of pointing out language to which you take exception other than stifling the exchange of ideas.

I, personally, find the actions of this moderator reprehensible and self-serving. Closing that thread did nothing to improve this online community.

Caruso

Please provide links so the administrators can see what you're talking about and don't have to go searching.

hikaricore said: Please provide links so the administrators can see what you're talking about and don't have to go searching.

I am not certain how to provide a link, but the thread's original post can be found here:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1062844

. . . and thank you for responding. I do not seek to start a war here, but do consider myself a fairly conscientious participant, a rather intensive user/supporter of Ubuntu, and, while I am in no way perfect, believe that I take a fairly even approach to problem solving inherent in moving beyond the status quo in things having to do with computers/computer operating systems.

Have a look at the thread and decide for yourself whether the tone of the OP or any other contributor was so egregious as to warrant a thread closing. I'm guessing that a more subtle expression from the moderator in question that the analogy used by the OP was excessive would likely have been met with acknowledgement from the poster. Instead, the moderator has succeeded in further "dignifying" the criticism (based on justified or perceived experience) from the posters in that thread that moderators are abusing the power granted to them to close threads which they find objectionable.

Again, I appreciate your response, and apologize that I'm not yet familiar enough with the resolution center to have posted this and my previous message there. I will check it out.

Respectfully,

Caruso

Hi,

As I've stated in recent Res Center threads regarding this thread, we have a dedicated procedure for handling disagreements with the staff. We welcome everyone to raise their concerns to be looked at by us or higher bodies in our community, but at the same time we cannot allow such discussions to take place in an arbitrary conversational manner on other parts of the forums.

We here welcome criticism but just ask for it to be done in an orderly, constructive fashion, and the Forum Council has set up a mechanism for which we feel this can be effectively accomplished.

Does this address your concerns? If not, please let me know :)

First of all, thanks for your reply. I guess this thread is in the Res Center, so it's ok for me to reply here.

Your response does not, however, address my main concern. If you follow the link in my previous post to the thread in question, you will see that a moderator jumps into the thread and, in his first sentence takes issue with the OP's choice of language. His second sentence seems directed at all of the thread contributors: "The staff are voulunteers doing a job to make this a good place for all, Dont like it , then go away."

If his underlying reason for intervening and closing the thread was because it occurred in the wrong area of the forum, he failed to even mention the issue.

Believe it or not, many of us (myself included) are eager enough in our participation here, that we fail to spend any significant time reading terms, conditions, and requests concerning forum organization and where to post what. That's no excuse, and, speaking for myself, at least, if reproof is warranted, I'll accept it and comply thereafter.

. . . but for a moderator to tell us to leave if we aren't satisfied is hardly in keeping with the spirit of this community. If the police reference is against the rules, tell us so . . . I don't see how shutting off the discussion does anything to solve that problem. Again, if you review the thread, that language, unfortunate as it is, did not result in turning subsequent replies into ethnocentric rants.

Without being too redundant, the moderator's behavior only confirms what the OP was complaining about in the first place - some moderators seem to use their thread-closing authority to impose their personal stamp of disapproval of thread content, specifically criticism to which they take personal exception.

I understand that moderators volunteer their time, and, no doubt, the efforts, while not totally thankless, garner fewer expressions of gratitude than what is appropriate, but none of that justifies closing threads just because you disagree with the views expressed.

So, I've chewed on this long enough. You probably get my point by now. Thanks again for getting back to me and for letting me air my view.

Respectfully,

Caruso

jdong said: Hi,

As I've stated in recent Res Center threads regarding this thread, we have a dedicated procedure for handling disagreements with the staff. We welcome everyone to raise their concerns to be looked at by us or higher bodies in our community, but at the same time we cannot allow such discussions to take place in an arbitrary conversational manner on other parts of the forums.

We here welcome criticism but just ask for it to be done in an orderly, constructive fashion, and the Forum Council has set up a mechanism for which we feel this can be effectively accomplished.

Does this address your concerns? If not, please let me know :)

Wish I could edit the above. Next to last paragraph, "no doubt, THEIR efforts,"

Sorry, Caruso

Well I am a volunteer too, but volunteer or paid I totally agree with you that the "take it or get the heck out" approach is not right. I concur with you that the wording/reasoning used by our staff was not appropriate but at the same time, the thread should not have continued on anyway (due to the mentioned conflict resolution processes).

We understand that the community isn't here to read guidelines and contracts before saying a word, so mistakes / incorrect procedures do happen and we're here to sort it out in a productive matter. It's when both sides take offense to what each other's saying that we end up making a mountain out of a molehill and escalate a simple misunderstanding way beyond what is necessary.

But back to the original thread, it was not closed because we disagree with the views expressed, but because the views weren't expressed in a process outlined by the forum guidelines and the Forum Council charter, and the attitude with which it was expressed was disrespectful and not in line with the Ubuntu Code of Conduct.