Post by Boudreaux on Oct 28, 2014 11:53:29 GMT -5
Steve -
I have been a subscriber to your magazine and a member of the GON forum for MANY years. I enjoy the magazine monthly, but have recently become unsettled with the actions of your moderators on the GON Forum.
Specifically, you have a moderator who goes by Unicoidawg on the forum. As you can tell by his user ID, he is a rabid UGA fan. Unfortunately, he lets this bias show through in his moderation on the Sports forum.
He allows UGA fans to "type around the censor" or "TAC" on a regular basis, and even does this himself in violation of clearly stated forum rules:
The Forum will act more harshly toward those who intended to achieve a violation of the intent of the Forum rules by "typing around the censors" (TAC) by replacing vulgarity with phrases, symbols, or words such as "!@&)!@$*" or typing profanity in reverse order, etc. If you cannot communicate without using profanity or vulgarity then this is not the place for you. If you occasionally feel the need to be emphatic about making your point then use one or more of the many emoticons we have available, but do not resort to profanity. Acronyms that contain abbreviated forms of unfit language or profanity will not be tolerated.
This moderator allows the frequent use of "DGD" and "GATA" by UGA fans. Anyone who has been around a UGA crowd for five minutes knows that these acronyms stand for "Dam_ Good Dog" and "Get After Their As_". When I see these rules violations, I report them using the "report a post" feature. The response to me being a good citizen on the GON forum was a scathing PM from Unicoidawg about me reporting a post. I am happy to share the unaltered conversation with you, but basically he told me to shut up or move on. He explained that I had no idea what the poster meant when he typed DGD or GATA. I explained that in the context, it was quite easy to determine the intent, and it was to type around the censor, which is a clear violation as stated above. I reminded him that he gave me a warning for typing POed, and he had no idea what my intent was. In the context which it was used, it could have meant Pretty Offended.
Unicoidawg admitted in his reply to me that he knew WDE stood for War Dam_ Eagle, but did nothing to moderate it, as this was the Sports forum. I have re-read the rules stated above, and do not see where the Sports forum, or UGA and Auburn fans, are exempted from typing around the censor. If you use his logic of not knowing what the intent of the original poster is, than there can be no typing around the censor! This forum allows a user to have the name NOYDB as well. You need moderators who are fair, equally enforce the rules, and put aside their biases when moderating. Your forum will continue to lose good, quality members who are asked to leave by moderators when such members point out - in private - the inequities of their moderating.
Another bias Unicoidawg has shown is against me personally. Not only in the private message inviting me to leave, but in a warning given to me for "calling out a moderator". Written forum rules clearly state "Do not use the open forum to "call out" a mod or admin for implementation of the rules." Unicoidawg was "mixing it up" with a few members on the Sports board, and got out-witted by a GT member. I simply told Unicoidawg not to let his moderator tag go to his head because that did not make him an expert on wit. I did nothing to "call out a mod or admin for implementation of the rules". This was a back-and-forth posting on which he was on the losing side. Because I jumped in and pointed that out, he grossly overstretched the "calling out" a mod to give me an infraction. (The only one I have in numerous years of forum membership.) This was an overt abuse by a moderator who enjoyed mixing it up until he started losing the argument, then he decided to end it with the abuse of his power.
Since I have been asked to leave the forum by this moderator, I will also be leaving your subscriber list. As much as I enjoyed the magazine, I will not associate with an organization that does not enforce rules and allows the enforcers themselves to be rule breakers. I ask for an immediate cancellation of my subscription and a refund of the unused portion. If you would prefer, the unused subscription amount may be donated to Delta Waterfowl, Ducks Unlimited or SEEDS. It's not the money, it is in-fact the principal of the matter!
I have been a subscriber to your magazine and a member of the GON forum for MANY years. I enjoy the magazine monthly, but have recently become unsettled with the actions of your moderators on the GON Forum.
Specifically, you have a moderator who goes by Unicoidawg on the forum. As you can tell by his user ID, he is a rabid UGA fan. Unfortunately, he lets this bias show through in his moderation on the Sports forum.
He allows UGA fans to "type around the censor" or "TAC" on a regular basis, and even does this himself in violation of clearly stated forum rules:
The Forum will act more harshly toward those who intended to achieve a violation of the intent of the Forum rules by "typing around the censors" (TAC) by replacing vulgarity with phrases, symbols, or words such as "!@&)!@$*" or typing profanity in reverse order, etc. If you cannot communicate without using profanity or vulgarity then this is not the place for you. If you occasionally feel the need to be emphatic about making your point then use one or more of the many emoticons we have available, but do not resort to profanity. Acronyms that contain abbreviated forms of unfit language or profanity will not be tolerated.
This moderator allows the frequent use of "DGD" and "GATA" by UGA fans. Anyone who has been around a UGA crowd for five minutes knows that these acronyms stand for "Dam_ Good Dog" and "Get After Their As_". When I see these rules violations, I report them using the "report a post" feature. The response to me being a good citizen on the GON forum was a scathing PM from Unicoidawg about me reporting a post. I am happy to share the unaltered conversation with you, but basically he told me to shut up or move on. He explained that I had no idea what the poster meant when he typed DGD or GATA. I explained that in the context, it was quite easy to determine the intent, and it was to type around the censor, which is a clear violation as stated above. I reminded him that he gave me a warning for typing POed, and he had no idea what my intent was. In the context which it was used, it could have meant Pretty Offended.
Unicoidawg admitted in his reply to me that he knew WDE stood for War Dam_ Eagle, but did nothing to moderate it, as this was the Sports forum. I have re-read the rules stated above, and do not see where the Sports forum, or UGA and Auburn fans, are exempted from typing around the censor. If you use his logic of not knowing what the intent of the original poster is, than there can be no typing around the censor! This forum allows a user to have the name NOYDB as well. You need moderators who are fair, equally enforce the rules, and put aside their biases when moderating. Your forum will continue to lose good, quality members who are asked to leave by moderators when such members point out - in private - the inequities of their moderating.
Another bias Unicoidawg has shown is against me personally. Not only in the private message inviting me to leave, but in a warning given to me for "calling out a moderator". Written forum rules clearly state "Do not use the open forum to "call out" a mod or admin for implementation of the rules." Unicoidawg was "mixing it up" with a few members on the Sports board, and got out-witted by a GT member. I simply told Unicoidawg not to let his moderator tag go to his head because that did not make him an expert on wit. I did nothing to "call out a mod or admin for implementation of the rules". This was a back-and-forth posting on which he was on the losing side. Because I jumped in and pointed that out, he grossly overstretched the "calling out" a mod to give me an infraction. (The only one I have in numerous years of forum membership.) This was an overt abuse by a moderator who enjoyed mixing it up until he started losing the argument, then he decided to end it with the abuse of his power.
Since I have been asked to leave the forum by this moderator, I will also be leaving your subscriber list. As much as I enjoyed the magazine, I will not associate with an organization that does not enforce rules and allows the enforcers themselves to be rule breakers. I ask for an immediate cancellation of my subscription and a refund of the unused portion. If you would prefer, the unused subscription amount may be donated to Delta Waterfowl, Ducks Unlimited or SEEDS. It's not the money, it is in-fact the principal of the matter!