A little clarification from last week...

This week I've been catching up with some of the discussions that took place last week. Last week I was on vacation, so I missed a fair amount of activity around here.

I'm starting this thread to answer some of the questions that came from Toni's (Scheidgirl___OREGON) thread I have a question for Eric B an/or any of the FE's 

I want to answer these questions not only for future reference, but also because I think you all deserve to know the correct answers.

So, here it goes... I've numberd the questions and then given "My answer" below each to try to make this as neat as possible...

1.
Why was the Thread entitled ' What happened to our chat room' locked. Was this an administration decision or the person that started the thread?

My answer: Sorry, I'm not sure. I was on vacation. I believe it was locked by "administrator." He, along with a couple of other co-workers were covering for me while I was away.

Administrator was the lead developer on the Taste of Home forums. He's great, but might not always give the same answers using the same tone I would give. Sorry if he came across as terse; I'm certain that wasn't his intent. (When I say he was the lead developer, I do so because today was his last day here.)

2.

Here are a few posts that came right after Toni's initial post...

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Toni, you dear, brave woman! Can you be banned just for asking???

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We'll soon find out, won't we?

I wonder if the author of the locked thread will be banned

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That is a possibility, I guess.

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My input:  No one is going to be banned or given a temporary time-out for asking a question.

I'm not sure why the fear of being banned for unwarrented actions has become so common. The people who were banned last week were ReneeC and Adria_NyxxTX.

Renee was given a few days off for posting a photo of a (painted) male's anatomy. Adria was given a time-out for showing an animation of a man dancing in a diaper and suggesting it was me. Frankly, and I've admitted to her, she may not have deserved five days off, but at the time I had very limited Internet access and was trying to calm the (what seemed at the time) fire storm or the start of one.

The only people who get banned around here are people who are constant threats to other members (and they are warned several times before the trigger is pulled), spammers, trolls, etc. The odds of you getting banned for making one comment is very slim. It'd have to be a doozie. And again, very rare.

3.
do field editors have anymore pull than us common posters????

My answer:  Field Editors do not have moderator status and cannot delete posts, lock threads, or ban members. Basically, they have the same access you do. However, because they are (in a sense) brand ambassadors for Taste of Home, several Field Editors do act as eyes and ears for me, telling me when there's a user that needs help or a thread that should be looked at. But anyone can do that.

4.

Another reader's comment in Toni's thread went like this...
So all it takes is a couple of people to hit the old abuse button and the PTB will just pull the trigger... good to know. Didn't anyone think that this brilliant policy is rapidly going to deteriorate into a grudge match for personal vendettas? 

My answer: I can to see through such things. Just because someone uses the Report Abuse button doesn't mean something is automatically removed. I'd like to think we're all adults here and wouldn't gang up on each other to create grudge matches.

Did the week go as smoothly as I would have liked? No. But I hope that answering some of these questions that were presented before "administrator" jumped in and threw down the hammer will help set some of your minds at ease.

Thanks,
Erik

 I missed all the hoopla...as usual...LOL

I hope your vacation was a nice one...

Thank you.

See??? Told ya he was on vacation and 'administrator' was somebody filling in!

*sigh* Sometimes I am just so very brilliant...

Thank you,Erik. I,for one,appreciate your willingness to answer these,and other questions. I hope you enjoyed your vacation.

One question....if nobody had asked if Adria's dancing man was you,would it still have resulted in her being banned? I guess what Im asking is,was it the picture,or the comment?

Hopefully we can all be adults and move on.Seems to me Erik,you are just doing your job.I'm pretty sure this won't be the end of this.Good luck!

I also hope your vacation went well.

I truly appreciate you taking the time to address some of the concerns raised while you were away, Erik.

I hope you returned from vacation well rested as I'm certain some days here may tend to seem like weeks for you!   

Best regards to you & your's,

Krissy~~~

ErikB:

I'm not sure why the fear of being banned for unwarrented actions has become so common.

I can't speak for everyone, but I would say because the banning has become so common! JMO

ErikB:

Sorry if he came across as terse; I'm certain that wasn't his intent. (When I say he was the lead developer, I do so because today was his last day here.)

that's sad, sigh...he had a certain kind of charisma that is nearly impossible to find these days.

perhaps he'll join us again from his new venue....we can dream

MOMTLJK:

One question....if nobody had asked if Adria's dancing man was you,would it still have resulted in her being banned? I guess what Im asking is,was it the picture,or the comment?

I'd say it was overall annoyance on my behalf... At the initial image posted by Renee (sorry if I'm throwing you under the bus, Renee, I don't mean to), the crappy internet service I had (meaning I couldn't stay on top of things), and then when Adria's photo came along and suggested it was me.

Erik

Thanks for answering....I appreciate your honesty.

mammaw123:

ErikB:

I'm not sure why the fear of being banned for unwarrented actions has become so common.

I can't speak for everyone, but I would say because the banning has become so common! JMO

Can you name all the people who have been banned here recently (that is, since mid-May when I started here)? And I mean banned for good.

I do the banning, and the only one I recall (besides spammers and accounts set up as fall-back/secondary accounts by some members) is StarbuxBabe. Now, there may be some like WindGlitter or MeFluffy that you think are just regular members who have been banned, but in truth, those accounts are second accounts from other members... and that's something I'm trying to eliminate.

I'm not sure how the practice started around here, but several members have several accounts. Some keep two running in paralel to one another. I'm not sure if others just created them to have an account to fall back on in case they ever got in trouble with their primary account. Either way, the policy is one account. If you get banned temporarily, take your medicine. If you're banned for good, you've been warned repeatedly and wore out your welcome.

Erik

MOMTLJK:

Thanks for answering....I appreciate your honesty.

No problem. I'm also trying to get beyond the notion that I'm big brother or the big bad wolf.   I not only believe that our members should respect one another, but that I should respect our members. The more trust I build within the community, the better off the community will be.

Erik

You appear to have a handle on using both tact and diplomacy in putting out fires.

BTW, is that your real picture?  Just wondering.  How did you luck out on getting to handle problems with so many females? lol