Barney Fife is On It!

Well today Gave me a new appreciation of the great mods at TSD (of which I know @Bama Samurai and @RyX are two) and I wanted to publicly thank them for keeping this place orderly without going all “Barney Fife” on people.

I’ve heard a few people talk about mods on other internet forums banning people for seemingly benign or ridiculous reasons, but thought to myself “That doesn’t make sense. There must be more to the story than that.” Well today was my turn to be educated...

This morning I got a nasty PM on another site threatening to toss me and giving me a verbal bludgeoning for a faux pas on my part which I could have easily addressed and corrected without the mod being a complete &$@!- about it. When I asked for clarification on how/where to correctly post what I wanted to communicate (a genuine question) I got another nasty response, followed by a second verbatim posting of the rule I had apparently broken and a closing line of “let me know if this doesn’t make sense”.

Really? Apparently someone took not making the safety patrols a bit too hard and has been dwelling on it while they wait for spots to open up at the IRS field office or the HOA enforcement board. Holy cow, dude, it’s an internet hobby forum. The rest of us are doing this for fun...

Anyway, thanks again for the great job you do, TSD mods! I don’t know if you get thanked for it very often, but what you do and the way you do it (or in this case don’t do it) is much appreciated.

 

I've had similar experiences in the past - where the mod in question decided that their own TOS didn't actually mean what was written in the TOS.

 

I didn’t mind being corrected. There was just no reason for anyone to be nasty and condescending about it.

 

Depending on the forum - and it's not limited to shaving - a lot of mods seem to operate this way by default. I suspect it's a 'top down' issue, based on the attitude of the owner of the site. I've lurked on a few that I wouldn't even dare to post to, even just to get a clarification of an existing solution to a problem.

 

That can be good or bad. In the case of TSD our Joanna @Queen of Blades is interested in the lively discussion of our wet shaving hobby. There are Rules, but they are common sense courtesy based. When numbers 3 & 6 are followed there isn't much for me as a Staff member to do but enjoy also being a Forum member.
Most times a kind word and helpful suggestions guide members to enjoy their visits. Think of me as a (former) Boy Scout with an electronic mop (120 volts) keeping the halls of The Shave Den shiny and clean.

 

I agree- the tone set at the top is the tone you experience as a user. I also agree that TSD is in a league of their own( in the best way). I have posted 10 times more in 1/4 of the time than I posted on a previous forum( b4 I knew about TSD).

 

Yup - I think it has to do with how the forum is started. Was it started to challenge another, or to just try to fill a perceived need?

 

At least you don't throw bricks.....

 

Knowing how really nice a guy you are to act like this toward you is insane. I say Fword'um.

 

Yep.This place is pretty mellow.On another shaving forum I was involved in a debate and was civil throughout and got a suspension with no warning.On an automotive site people were commenting on a special edition truck,I made a few comment(politely pointed out some facts) that was counter to the fawning of most of the posters and had all my postings in the thread deleted with no communication from the mods(hmmm...wonder if the truck company was a sponsor?).On another shaving site I seen a member who was doing some light hearted experiments get banned because the member was not being scientific according to one mod.I was rather enjoying the members antics.Nowadays that site is rather moribund.

I LIKE IT HERE!

 

I don't have any experience with other Forums. I joined another one a year before this one, but I never posted anything. Just didn't seem that fun. Then I found TSD. It feels like home here.

 

Don't know, haven't researched the matter. Not that it's a bad question, but I'm moving forward so I haven't looked back.

I got booted and banned from my first forum. Hard to believe, right? Tried a couple others but the vibe just wasn't "me". Though I'd looked at TSD I had an issue with the interface - I am just color blind enough that I couldn't comfortably read the text. In the lower left corner is the word "Vintage". Hover with a cursor and Style Chooser gave me the Cool Blue option.


Muppet hide leather strop, ROFL!

 

Ive been posting on forums like this for the past 20 years and have even been a moderator on a few. Sometimes, mods get a little carried away and what little power they have goes to their head. They expect things to be a certain way and when things get carried away, they want to pull out the ban hammer, instead of simply editing a post and PMing a user, politely explaining to them how to correct their behavior.
This site seems pretty chill, Ive been on a few forums (especially automotive ones) where people seemed to go out of their way to argue with each other.

 

Thanks Fuzzy. The funny thing is that I really enjoy interacting with the members there and have had nothing but productive friendly discussions there. There was no argument or anything. I simply posted in my soap review thread that I had an extra of the soap I'd reviewed that day and so I would be using up the one and selling the other. I made the same post here in my soap review thread on TSD. I hadn't posted a BST listing as I hadn't had time to take the required pics with username yet, and before I could, I was told I couldn't mention that I'd be selling something in any thread outside of the BST thread. Furthermore I could not refer to the existence of any BST posting or potential BST posting in any other thread on the forum. I was told "giving a heads up is not welcome". Um. OK. Apparently this is a capital offense in some places. I don't get it.

 

For mistakes, gentle reminders generally suffice. The only reason for stiffer disciplinary action, is for blatant disregard for the rules. Some think the only tool is a hammer and to them every thing is a nail.
I’ve always found this place to be kind and respectful. We generally can agree to disagree even when it comes to Williams

 

This is the only forum I post on anymore. Here we can have fun and joke while being respectful and not get kicked off for the slightest perceived error.

 

Wasn't talking about any forums in general. More that the origin of a forum can infect the mod behaviour. If it was just created to fill a slot, it tends to be more laid back.

 

My experience has been that anyone who wants the hassle that comes with being a mod an internet forum is crazy and unfit to be a mod of an internet forum.

 

If it is the lack of sanity that is the qualifying mark of being a mod; then we'd all be mods.

 

Kinda like the inmates running the insane asylum