Hasselbach
New Member
Hi everyone
I have taken a long time and let things pass not thinking it worthwhile to sign up and become part of the forum (it's one of the many oddities of ChatAve that one has to sign up again to use a feature that seems integral to the site).
Yet recently although I have come across too many moderators that, in my belief, are only here to "feel the power". It goes without saying they have their - so called - rules they are asked to follow, or hide behind when it comes down to justified critique. History although proves that those hiding behind rules others made are the ones who claim to have had no knowledge of some of the worst atrocities - but this is just a note on the side.
It appears (and I use this word deliberately) that, especially but not exclusively, the choice of vocabulary thought censurable is so ambivalent and open to interpretation it is perfectly suited to turn it round on the person using it. Appear, for instance, may be a website of dubious type but what is being ignored is that the word existed in the English dictonary way before even the infancy of the internet. And there is a cartload of words that fall into this category.
This wouldn't be so much of a problem if the administrators would a- trust that users know about the ambivalence of words and when to use them, and b - would stop being over politically correct (in fact, see the need to think for the persons using this site) and in turn hack-slash conversations, the main idea of a chatroom after all.
When you re being targeted for pointing out the non-logic of censorship in obvious cases and get kicked for "using censored words" then welcome to the world of ChatAve.
Some moderators, and I am not saying all are that way, are unable to do what can be considered an important part of their job: being a contact/mediator.
Instead of communicating serious concerns and suggestions for improvement they only want to have their "peace and quiet" and shut you off by turning the rules against you.
This goes so far that good mods leave/put down their jobs simply because they are fed up with the easy come easy go fraction - people who think it cool to have power for until they get bored with it and bugger off after a few weeks.
So there are some suggestions I pondered and that sound plausible, should administrators really care about the way the rooms on ChatAve are run.
I have taken a long time and let things pass not thinking it worthwhile to sign up and become part of the forum (it's one of the many oddities of ChatAve that one has to sign up again to use a feature that seems integral to the site).
Yet recently although I have come across too many moderators that, in my belief, are only here to "feel the power". It goes without saying they have their - so called - rules they are asked to follow, or hide behind when it comes down to justified critique. History although proves that those hiding behind rules others made are the ones who claim to have had no knowledge of some of the worst atrocities - but this is just a note on the side.
It appears (and I use this word deliberately) that, especially but not exclusively, the choice of vocabulary thought censurable is so ambivalent and open to interpretation it is perfectly suited to turn it round on the person using it. Appear, for instance, may be a website of dubious type but what is being ignored is that the word existed in the English dictonary way before even the infancy of the internet. And there is a cartload of words that fall into this category.
This wouldn't be so much of a problem if the administrators would a- trust that users know about the ambivalence of words and when to use them, and b - would stop being over politically correct (in fact, see the need to think for the persons using this site) and in turn hack-slash conversations, the main idea of a chatroom after all.
When you re being targeted for pointing out the non-logic of censorship in obvious cases and get kicked for "using censored words" then welcome to the world of ChatAve.
Some moderators, and I am not saying all are that way, are unable to do what can be considered an important part of their job: being a contact/mediator.
Instead of communicating serious concerns and suggestions for improvement they only want to have their "peace and quiet" and shut you off by turning the rules against you.
This goes so far that good mods leave/put down their jobs simply because they are fed up with the easy come easy go fraction - people who think it cool to have power for until they get bored with it and bugger off after a few weeks.
So there are some suggestions I pondered and that sound plausible, should administrators really care about the way the rooms on ChatAve are run.
- Listen and follow up the complaints users make, go by the number of complaints and see if they are justified, and if so, act on them (remove those moderators). Make the people in charge more accessible for the users, they are the ones who keep this place going.
- When you find people like a moderator because she/he does a fair and reasonable job, make the effort and repay those for their good work in order for them to stay on and continue the good work.
- Don't be fooled by the idea that censoring more automatically means more safety for those you want to protect. Often enough this is an alibi reaction, you don't want to be accused of carelessness, fair enough. But in fact you lose sight of your aim : being a medium of free speech communication.
- Avoid to ridicule yourself and get rid of the "View hot people on live cameras" adds. I mean, seriously? You cannot possibly believe people follow rules that you yourselves break - anyone posting this type of links is being kicked.
- And finally, accept that there never was, is, or ever will be anything perfect in this world. Not people, not these chatrooms. Trust the people coming here, for the majority is of the "good" kind. The ones that spam etc. can easily be ignored by the feature of same name.
