If you're referring to me, trust me, I don't think it was the 'evil' moderators, but rather the 'squeaky wheel' syndrome... Those who complained the loudest and the most got what they wanted, despite whether it was right or wrong. And now they can pat each other on the back about their victory

I'd be the last to knock the moderators, that's a thankless job I've done before. The mods here were just reacting to the most vocal group of haters. I'd imagine there are a number of mods on pinecam, and stuff like this always comes down to a vote. Must have been a interesting vote to say the least, as it's obvious it wasn't a unanimous decision (as much as some would like to make it sound like it was).

Really, I'd imagine some view my posts on this subject as disruptive to the 'peace and tranquility' of the site. Are they busilly PM'ing the moderators for my banning as we speak?
Based on all I've seen said about Haystacks and why he was banned, I fit the criteria.

crc...I think we agree...not talking about you. people just need to sit back. enjoy

Geez, CRC, lighten up, will ya?

You say the mods have a thankless job and then you jump in and presume to know what led to the action that was taken. And I can tell you that you are wrong in your supposition, posted as fact.

Newsflash, CRC: Of course the moderators don't always agree. Would you want to visit a site where they all did? Once the decision was made, the moderator who was against it deferred to the majority. This isn't the Supreme Court where a decision is rendered and a discenting opinion is published, too. You try to make it sound like the moderators are hiding something by not publicly disclosing the vote. It's nobody's business. All anyone needs to know is it was from the majority and all the moderators stand behind it.

You are the perfect example I was looking for in my previous post when I mentioned that some people get upset if the mods do take action. And Tillerbee is the perfect example of another group who gets made if they think the moderators don't act fast enough. It really proves there is no right and wrong in this sort of situation. It's all subjective. All I can assure you is that no action will be taken arbitrarily and that a lot of thought and discussion goes into each one. When I was running this thing myself, I just did it -- no questions asked. Having moderators in this position now makes it much fairer, IMO.

You say you'd be the last to knock the moderators and then you proceed to knock them. It's a little like a guy saying, "You know I'm not a racist, but did you hear the one about....?" as he proceeds to tell a racist joke, thinking his saying he was not a racist makes it ok.

Then, we have a whole discussion on people jumping on Haystacks and why they bear some responsibility and then Guest1 proceeds to call him the village idiot and then say it's cruel to shun him. Why isn't it cruel to call him (or anyone else) names?

Pinecam is just a Web site, for cying out loud -- one of many in the area. Don't take it so seriously. As I've suggested before, people should push away from the computer desk every once in a while and take a walk or something.

Then, we have a whole discussion on people jumping on Haystacks and why they bear some responsibility and then Guest1 proceeds to call him the village idiot and then say it's cruel to shun him. Why isn't it cruel to call him (or anyone else) names?
HEY PCG take a minute...Its all for fun you know.

I'd say you're completeley mis-reading me Pinecamguy, there is no 'lightening up' needed. I don't take any of the web stuff seriously, but does that mean I can't have an opinion?

PS - where on earth did I 'knock the moderators'? With all due respect, perhaps you need to follow some of your own advice and "push away from the computer desk every once in a while and take a walk or something" I sure wasn't trying to push your buttons.

Doing that now, CRC. I apologize if I misunderstood your post.

OK kids, let's all back up and play nice.
If you don't like Pinecam then go away. The occasional disruption can be shrugged off, but there seems to be a lot of focus on this disruption. In my opinion, there is enough to b##ch about in life that really is important. I dont mean to say that we can let things run rampant, But pick your battles, IS THIS THE HILL YOU WANT TO DIE ON??

Why isn't it cruel to call him (or anyone else) names?

He chose to be a loser.

I think it is because this is a community website and we are all neighbors - I think it is best we don't call each other names.

agrees with soozee and that is in the terms of service

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PCG,

First, thanks for your invitation to me to offer some alternatives to moderating the forums.

My reference to the ?Soup Nazi? was based on the similarities between the fictional episode on the Seinfeld television series and what I observed on Pinecam. ?Soup Nazi? had a rigid set of rules that he enforced at his whim. He also baited some of his customers (no bread for George) apparently hoping for a confrontation where he could assert his power and ban them from his apparently delicious soups.

I actually enjoyed reading Haystacks? entries. It was obvious to me that he was just trying to ?jerk some chains and push some buttons? and it was predictable that so many people would be sucked into the trap. Haystacks is a pretty smart guy to get the sort of reactions I read on Pinecam and he obviously enjoyed it. I didn?t find anything about his posts particularly offensive, especially since most of them were obviously outrageous attempts to spar with the other posters. All told, it was only a battle of words from mostly faceless people that you probably wouldn?t recognize even if they sat next to you on the bus.

My alternatives for moderating the forums:

- Lighten up. Life is too short to exasperate yourself with minor annoyances. Pinecam is offered as a public forum and the only things exchanged are words and ideas.

- One of the forums offers the caveat ?This is where you can discuss politics and religion. Posts that result in threatening personal attacks will be deleted by moderators. Not for the faint of heart. If you insult posters, you'll probably be insulted back. Enter at your own risk.? I think that warning should apply to all Pinecam forums.

- Use the ?Ignore? button. Diversity is one of the things that make this a great and interesting country. It would be a dull world (and message board) if everyone agreed on everything. If you don?t enjoy someones' posts ? don?t go there. I?ve often wished for an ?Ignore? button for the entire Political/Religion forum. That forum bores me to death. Just an endless thread of arguments and only rarely have I ever seen someone say or post ?Gee! You?re right, I never thought of it like that!?

- ?Don?t feed the trolls.? Pinecam offered Haystacks a virtual smorgasbord of delicacies.

- Perhaps ?Don?t bait the trolls? and ?Don?t humiliate the trolls? should be added to the list of suggested treatment of trolls.

- If you must have rules to prevent ?anarchy,? enforce them uniformly and silently. Anarchy seems unlikely since you are the administrator of the web site and server and have the ability to allow or remove any post.

You also asked me ?If someone walked into your business and attempted to disrupt it, would you let them hang around as they drove your customers away??

- Although we are in different lines of business, there are some similarities. Occasionally I get a ?know-it-all? customer that is annoying to me. I find that if I just let them ?run off at the mouth? it soon becomes obvious to everyone present what their personality is. They usually quickly run out of disrupting things to say and start repeating themselves and the end result is that they only dig a deeper hole.

- Arguing with them, challenging them, baiting and humiliating them would only lower me to their level and prolong and enhance the annoyance.

- I rarely offer my opinions or advice to these types of people. It?s wasted effort.

- I don?t post polls on whether to ban them from my business. It?s like throwing gasoline on a fire. If they don?t get a reaction that?s encouraging to their efforts to be disruptive they usually go away and never come back.

In summary, there will always be disagreements between people and there will always be people that enjoy more than a mild interest in provoking reactions from other people. You probably won?t ever be able to change that but there are many other more rewarding things that you can accomplish.

well it nice to see that things dont change that much.... all we need
now is to play nice in the same sand box and keep the cats out.
or in other words play nice you all.. this is a fun place and I like to
get a taste of home. but can do with out all the haters..